THE BASICS

Country: Poland
Language: Polish
Currency: Polish złoty (PLN)
Getting there: From the airport, a taxi is between 35-70zł and it takes 25-35 minutes.
Cheap direct flights from Gatwick on EasyJet. A great travel app to download for Krakow is here.
Taxis: Everywhere and easy to catch. Alternatively, download the Free Now or Uber app.
Power: Type C – Europe.
Best time to visit: Anytime! In the cold, it’s equally as beautiful.

Notes: Vodka is cheaper than water.

I fell in love with Poland the moment I started eating!
I know there’s so much more to it than the delicious food, which I discovered quickly! I remember arriving late at night and heading straight to our Airbnb and finding somewhere to eat. The waiter suggested something called a Tatanka which would soon become my new favourite drink and it was cheaper than the bottled water. It is vodka, apple juice, cinnamon, and fresh oranges. We then went on a late-night pierogi crawl to a 24-hour dumpling restaurant for dessert. A must visit.

Besides the delicious food...Poland is abundant in history. Heartbreaking history.

It’s extremely important to experience and understand what happened in Poland and it will educate your soul and heart with what humanity is truly capable of. The polish people are strong, kind and guarding of their history and culture. We love Poland. We’ve got Warsaw and Gdansk next on our list.

WHERE TO STAY

I had heard before visiting that it was best to stay in either the Jewish quarter (Kazimierz) or the Old town. We found an Airbnb in the old town and it was a perfect location. Either would be fabulous and are all within walking distance of each other.

We stayed just off the main square just so we were central enough to do and see everything.
I recommend again to use Airbnb for this wonderful city. Great prices and beautiful apartments. Check out our Airbnb Guide.

WHERE TO EAT

Pierogi (Przypiecek)
24hr restaurant – it’s traditional polish dumplings sweet and savoury 24hrs a day.
It is also so cheap.
We lived there.
Here’s the menu

Karma cafe
Specialty coffee and decent brunch! Close to the main square in the old town.

PINO
We loved this place. Vodka cheaper than water, nice food and a range of cuisine! Not just polish. It was kind of difficult to find a table at the traditional polish restaurants around...we thought there would be more. There’s a lot of German/Austrian influence etc as well so it all blends into one but PINO is fabulous! Remember to try a Tatanka – vodka, apple juice, cinnamon, and fresh oranges!! I’m hooked.
Their website is here.

Krowarzywa
Delicious vegan Burgers - their website is here.

Slawkowska 1
Fabulous restaurant right off the old square. We had steak with fresh strawberries and balsamic. YUM. Their website is here.

Domowe Przysmaki
We couldn’t get into this restaurant! We tried and tried and even tried to book ahead of time. Nope. It looks incredible – try your best for true Polish cuisine! Check it out on TripAdvisor to see their incredible reviews.
Their website is here.

Charlotte
French restaurant in the old town. Yum yum yum. Coffee and pastries!

WHAT TO DO

Krakow museum
Krakow Museum is inside what was once Oskar Schindler’s factory. I can’t recommend this enough. Firstly the museum is fabulous but to walk amongst the history of what Oskar Schindler did for the world, is something you can’t experience anywhere else.

You need to book tickets. They will either sell out or you might have to line up for a few hours to get in which is always, a waste of time. Why wait in line, when you don’t have to?

The museum has a few locations. You want Oskar Schindler’s Factory and it’s located at Lipowa 4, 30-702 Kraków.

Direct ticket link here.

Jewish Ghetto memorial
Plac Bohaterów Getta, 30-001 Kraków, Poland
The Ghetto memorial of course, is worth visiting.

Wawel Castle
This is the castle in the centre of Krakow. Check out their website here for visiting hours and everything you’ll need to know.

It’s worth just walking around even if you don’t have tickets for any of the inside rooms

Salt Mines
This was the highlight of our weekend. It’s incredible. I haven’t seen anything like it! I will warn anyone who gets claustrophobic. The mines are 327 metres underground and you walk downstairs to get to the first level. Once you’re down there, it’s quite obvious there aren’t many ways out. Once you get over that initial realisation, you will forget.

Here is the tourist route online which is the regular English guided tour.

Buy your tickets ahead of time for 93zł here.

Be sure to select the foreign language tour and choose English or the language of your choice. I’ve heard it’s not essential to book online and English speaking tours depart every 30 minutes. All tours are guided, but it’s a good guided tour.

Auschwitz
We booked a group tour from Krakow to Auschwitz which included the guided tour at both camps. I can’t recommend this tour...but if you haven’t hired a car there are so many tour operators organising day trips to Auschwitz from Krakow. Check out Viator Krakow for some easy options. Honestly, as long as a company can get you there, book a guided tour with a guide and take you back to Krakow then it’s all you will need and might be easier for you than hiring a car.

If you’ve hired a car then experiencing Auschwitz will be better as you won’t be rushed and will have all the time that you need.

If you aren’t going with an all-inclusive tour then you should know that entrance is free for both camps but they do require you to reserve your time slot and date.

You can do that here.

This is also where you can select the 3.5hr general tour for a 70zł per person with an educator (tour guide). I do recommend this option even though our tour guide was terrible and had no idea how to use her microphone. I don’t believe their guides are like this normally, we were just very unlucky. Of course, you can select any of the other tour options listed on their website.

For more information on visiting, this is their official site here.

Notes – there are two camps. Auschwitz and then Birkenau. After the guided tour which includes both camps, you will be rushed back onto the bus. This is why we recommend hiring a car and visiting yourself .That way you will be free to revisit anything you might want to, or just be able to take your time as it’s quite an overwhelming experience and will affect everyone in different ways.

It’s an important place to visit.

“Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed,” Mr. Wiesel wrote. “Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God himself. Never.” - Elie Wiesel