Two-Day Trek: Krakow, Poland
An irrepressible spirit can be felt all over this southern Polish city.
Known for both its medieval charm and its midnight carnality, there’s a strong sense of pride and personality in this emerging Eastern European hangout.
THURSDAY
We touched down just after noon, and after getting through passport control and withdrawing cash, we were disappointed to see that it was nearly an hour until the next train to the main station, Krakow Glówny. Track modernization work, which began in September 2017 and has no definite end, means that there’s only one train an hour taking the seven-mile journey, so taking a cab may be a better option.
After using the time to grab lunch and buy our tram passes for the day, the train finally arrived, and we connected to the No. 3 tram just outside the station to get to the Jewish Quarter and our hotel, the Puro Krakow Kazimierz (Halicka 14A), which was built in January 2018 and may be the most technologically advanced hotel we’ve ever stayed in. We didn’t linger long, however, as we had tickets to visit the Wieliczka Salt Mine, located eight miles southeast of the city center, which we reached easily by the No. 304 bus.
The mine, which began operation in the 13th century and only discontinued commercial production in the late 1990s because of falling demand, is open to visitors via two means: the tourist route, in which tours are conducted in several languages every 15 minutes, and the miner’s route, which is a more hands-on, into-the-mine exploration with limited openings each day. Although we would have preferred the latter, only the two-hour tourist route was available for our visit, and so we climbed 500 feet down into the mine and hiked nearly two miles around the shafts, listening to our tour guide explain the history of mining in the region, stress the importance of the mine to the local economy and urge us to lick the salt off the walls.
What To Know
Date of visit: April 18 to April 20, 2019.
Airport location: Seven miles west of the city center, but ongoing long-term work on the tracks mean there’s only one train an hour.
Walkability: 8/10. Getting around is easy and effortless thanks to a city center that’s both very compact and flat.
English: Above average, even if the tone of voice among the locals is more irritated than welcoming.
Must-See Attraction: It’s vital to take a day trip to the Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps, which are located about an hour’s drive west of the city.
Traveler’s tip: If taking trams and buses, buy the weekend family ticket for two or more people. Valid all day Saturday and Sunday, it will pay for itself on the fifth segment of your group’s journey.
After returning to the city, we made our way just a stone’s throw from our hotel to Hamsa (Szeroka 2), a fantastic mezze restaurant offering a variety of Israeli and Middle Eastern dishes. We indulged in a platter of hummus, jibneh and muhammara, then each ordered chicken and beef kebabs.
FRIDAY
A near-dawn wake-up was necessary in order to begin our arranged tour of the Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps, which are about an hour west of Krakow in the town of Oswiecim. Driving is certainly an option, as it piecing together an itinerary via train, but we decided that for the ease and convenience, we’d book a local tour guide to take us to the complexes and offer a more intimate look at one of history’s darkest hours.
Not much needs to be said about the significance of the site, which stood at the heart of the Nazis’ Holocaust machine. Although much of Auschwitz still stands, a good portion of Birkenau was destroyed once the allies liberated the camps. A good tour of each will take about two hours; prepare at least half a day for the journey, but visitors could easily spend much more time exploring (and enduring) experience.
Back in the city around mid-afternoon, we had planned to spend the rest of the day exploring Wawel Hill, the castle and cathedral complex that was the center of Polish power for much of the past millennium. Instead, as we’d find over and over again, the Easter weekend meant nearly the entire fortress was closed, leaving just the state rooms, where rulers received and entertained their visitors, open to visitors. Those visiting at other times of the year can see the private apartments, where the royal family lived; the stunning cathedral and its royal tombs; the treasury and armory; the Sandomierska Tower, which offers sweeping views of the city; and the Dragon’s Den, a cave under the complex that gave birth to the legend of the Wawel Dragon.
With a bit of extra time, we made our way north, along picturesque Grodzka Street, toward Rynek Glówny, a massive square that’s the largest in all of Europe. Along the way, we stopped at Krakowskie Paczki (Grodzka 6) to pick up a paczki, a fluffy, jam-filled doughnut made of a rich dough and topped with a thin layer of icing. Then, after walking to the end of Florianska Street, which is essentially the north-side continuation of Grodzka Street, we checked out St. Florian’s Gate, a 13th-century symbol of the city that remains from the old walled defense.
An hour remained until dinner, so we completed a loop of the western side of the city center, stopping first at the dazzling Church of St. Francis of Assisi, which is known for its replica of the Shroud of Turin and its beautiful multicolored murals. Close by are the Archdiocesan Museum and the Deanery, where Pope John Paul II lived and worked during his time as the Archbishop of Krakow, though neither were open to visitors that day, either. We circled through the campus of the Jagiellonian University — spot the statue of Nicolaus Copernicus, who studied there — and took a quick jaunt over to Jordan Park, which is dotted by the busts of famous Poles as well as a statue of Wojtek, a bear that, incredibly, served alongside Polish officers during World War II.
We capped our long day with dinner at Babci Maliny (Szpitalna 38), a rather kitschy, folksy traditional Polish restaurant with borscht, golabki and, yes, pierogis on the menu.
SATURDAY
Our intent was to begin the day with a visit to the Museum of Pharmacy, an offbeat collection of old laboratory equipment and instruments on Florianska Street, but it was closed for Easter Weekend. Thus, we backtracked to Rynek Glówny and explored the Cloth Hall, a shopping arcade in the center of the square, and the surrounding Easter Market that had been set up for the weekend. We also ducked into St. Mary’s Church, the city’s best-known landmark, which has mismatched spires because the one on the north side served as a watch tower beginning in the 15th century, then walked down Grodzka to the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, known for its ornate organ gallery.
After grabbing lunch in the market, we caught the tram and headed across the Vistula River to Ghetto Heroes Square, a plaza rebuilt in 2005 that features 70 metal chairs meant to symbolize the hurried departure and continued absence of the Jews who were forcibly evacuated from the surrounding ghetto in the 1940s. Just down the street is Oskar Schindler’s Factory, popularized by the Stephen Spielberg film “Schindler’s List” and now a museum that not just honors Schindler’s bravery and the Jewish residents of the city but also its overall role in World War II.
Back across the river is the Old Synagogue, the oldest still standing in Poland but now a museum, and the Museum of Municipal Engineering, a former tram depot that is also a transportation museum but was, of course, closed during our visit. With time to spare because so many of our planned attractions were not open, we decompressed across the street from the depot at Stara Zajezdnia Krakow (Swietego Wawrzynca 12), a restaurant and beer garden.
Our final dinner of the weekend was back near the market square at Pod Aniolami (Grodzka 35), a longtime family restaurant offering Polish and Slavic food that descends three levels into a stone cellar resembling something from a fairy tale. That dinner — more pierogi — concluded our trip, with a return back to the airport, this time by cab, to follow.
Verdict: Although it’s clearly a place to avoid during holiday seasons (the country is predominantly Catholic and shuts down almost entirely in devout observance), it’s a charming smaller city — one I hadn’t known much about before visiting but would like to see once again.
► Want to prepare an itinerary like this? Contact Zac to work together to prepare the right trip for you!
Disclaimers: All products, services and experiences were paid for and arranged by the author and the vendors named herein had no editorial oversight of this piece. All photographs were taken by and remain the property of the author; contact for republication rights.
