Krakow (Poland) > Reviews > You will have a Cracking time in Krakow

Author's product rating:   

Advantages:	Beautiful Historic City, Cheap Food and Drink, Cellar Bars, Biggest Square in Europe, Good position in Eurpoe so there are many opportunities for travel .
Disadvantages:	The Traffic

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

***WHERE IS KRAKOW?***
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I visited Krakow in September 2006 and spent 7 days there in total. Krakow is a medieval city in southern Poland. For those of you who don't know, Poland is in Eastern Europe and is bordered by Russia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Germany, Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Poland's location therefore is ideal for people who wish to travel. We originally intended to visit the Ukraine, however we did not manage to book our train tickets in time. Therefore we booked train tickets to Prague in the Czech Republic. I will talk a little more about this later in my review where I will compare the two cities of Krakow and Prague.

***WHEN TO VISIT***
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Krakow has cold winters; the average minimum temperature in Krakow in January and February is -5 Celsius. But temperatures can be much colder than -5. I don't think this necessarily means you should avoid Krakow during the winter months. I expect that Krakow would be even prettier with snow, and I am sure there would be very few tourists during this period.

Spring in Krakow is more bearable, with temperatures in April ranging from 3 - 13 degrees Celsius. Krakow can have very warm summers, I remember looking at last summer's weather forecast and the temperatures were up to 30 degrees celsius (July/August). But the more usual temperatures for Krakow in July are 15-24 degrees Celsius.

We visited Krakow in September and most days were warm and sunny, with a few days reaching 26 degrees Celsius. So we had perfect weather, and September is also when there are fewer tourists (in comparison to July/August). Therefore I would definitely recommend visiting Krakow at the end of summer. However, I am sure you will enjoy your stay in Krakow, whatever time of the year you visit.

***HOW TO TRAVEL TO KRAKOW***
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We flew to Krakow from Stansted by Ryanair. You can fly to Krakow at a reasonable price. Alternatively, if you fancy travelling around Eastern Europe and visiting Krakow, then you can do so by train.

You can purchase train tickets which allow you to visit European countries. With an inter-rail pass you can visit certain zones in Europe. If you want to visit Poland then you will need to choose zone D which allows you to visit Poland along with Bosnia-Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, and Hungary. A search on the Internet will provide you with more information about European rail travel.

***WHERE TO STAY IN KRAKOW***
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We stayed in two different places whilst in Krakow. We stayed in the Rainbow Apartments for the first three nights. The Rainbow Apartments are in Kazimierz which is about a 20-minute walk from the main square in Krakow. Kazimierz is the Jewish quarter of the city and is where the film Schindler's List was filmed. Therefore in this respect the Rainbow Apartments were in a nice location. The downside however was that we felt that the Apartments were a little too far from the main square of Krakow.

The Rainbow Apartments were clean and modern and generally a nice place to stay. The building itself is very old and run-down, so I am sure some people might be a little worried when they first arrive at the Apartments. Personally I liked the old building as it had character. Another good thing about the Rainbow Apartments is that the owner will pick you up from the airport. Even though we arrived at the airport early, he was there waiting for us.

The second place we stayed in Krakow was the Wera Apartments (Wera Guesthouse). The location of Wera Apartments was excellent (about a 5 minute walk from the main square and also the railway station). The owner of Wera actually lives in this building and she was nice and helpful. Our room was a good size and very clean, although the decoration was a old fashioned. The main downside was that there was only one bathroom here to be shared with three bedrooms. Rainbow Apartments had two bathrooms shared between three bedrooms, which was better.

***WHAT TO DO IN KRAKOW***
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The Main Square
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We were told that the main square in Krakow is the biggest in Europe. It is beautiful. The most noticeable building in the main square is probably the old Cloth-Hall (which is 700 years old). If you want to buy amber and silver jewellery, chess or backgammon sets, salt candle holders from the Salt Mines, among other things then visit the Cloth Hall. Upstairs in the Cloth Hall is Krakow National Museum with 19th century Polish art.

The Basilica of the Virgin Mary's can also be seen in the main square. You can look inside the Basilica for 4zl although this was not something that we did. There are apparently 12 chapels inside.

If you want a good view of the main square in Krakow then take a trip up the Town Hall Tower which is 70m tall. I have heard that this tower is leaning, however I didn't notice this when I was there.

If churches and towers are not your thing, then there are many shops to visit in Krakow Main Square. In addition, there are a number of restaurants and bars in the main square and the little streets leading off the main square. You can also see the horses and take a ride in the carriages.

Wawel Castle
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A short walk from the main square is Wawel Royal Castle. There are five separate sections to the castle which you can visit:

The Royal Chambers
Royal Private Apartments
The Crown Treasury and Armoury
The Oriental Art
The Lost Wawel

According to the Lonely Planet, the Royal Chambers is the most impressive.

Kazimierz
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Another thing to do in Krakow is to take a trip to the Kazimierz region which is a short tram ride from the main square. As mentioned earlier this is the Jewish Quarter, and you can join a tour of the area where Schindler's List was filmed.

The Planty
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The Planty is a green area which circles the Old Town, and it is a nice place to relax on a park bench. It is quite interesting to watch people walk by. You will however notice quite a lot of strange people in the Planty sleeping on benches. When they wake up they will most probably ask you for money or cigarettes!

***FOOD AND DRINK IN KRAKOW***
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Food
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There is something for everyone in Krakow: Chinese, Indian, Polish, Mexican, American, and Italian to name a few. Therefore if you don't fancy trying Polish food then you don't have to. Below is a list of just a few of the Polish foods you can try in Krakow:

- Beetroot Soup.
- Stew (Bigos), which contains cabbage and various meats.
- Pierogi - which are dough filled with ingredients such as meat or cheese.

The Polish also like fish dishes (e.g. Carp, Trout, Herrings, eel), and I noticed that cucumber, cabbage, and beetroot all feature strongly in the restaurants along with dumplings and meats such as veal.

If you do want to try a main meal at a Polish restaurant then there are two that I recommend. The first is 'Kuchina Staropolska U Babci Maliny' which is a traditional Polish restaurant and has a huge menu (including one in English). It is cheap, the food is served quickly and the servings are a good size. Unfortunately I cannot remember the name of the second restaurant. But it was situated round the corner from the Theatre and had an outside seating area. We had a good meal here with two drinks each for approximately £10.

If a Polish dinner isn't to your taste then I am sure you will enjoy the cheap Polish cakes that you can find. Cheesecakes are particularly popular in Poland. One day I decided to buy something that looked like an over-sized croissant from a Bakery. It had light sprinkles of icing on top and the centre was filled with butterscotch sauce. It was lovely and was a bargain at 12 pence!

If you fancy a snack in late evening then try one of the many Kebab stalls where you can find chicken kebabs with a choice of salad fillings and chilli sauce, or pizza, and pies etc.

Drink
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If you like Vodka then Krakow is definitely the place to visit. The vodka is very very cheap and the servings are very generous. Try apple juice and vodka, it is a nice change to vodka and orange. You can also get flavoured vodka, I tried the honey one, but I can't say I really liked it.

***NIGHTLIFE***
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You can find some nice cellar bars in Krakow which have a good atmosphere and of course cheap drinks. We found a nice Irish bar off of the main square. Krakow also has Jazz clubs and nightclubs. It may also be worth mentioning that cigarettes in Poland are dirt-cheap and you will notice that most people smoke.

Although the Poles are quite heavy drinkers, we never saw any trouble during our stay in Krakow. It is a safe city and we felt comfortable walking around. The only time I felt unsafe was when crossing roads as you have to avoid trams and cars. If you use a pedestrian crossing don't assume that every car will be happy to stop!

***PLACES WITHIN SHORT DISTANCE OF KRAKOW***
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We decided to visit Auschwitz and also the famous salt mines, which are both a fairly short distance from Krakow (no more than an hour). You can also visit a place called Zakopane which is a mountain resort. It is a popular place for skiers and hikers.

Auschwitz - Birkenau
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Auschwitz is a place that many people say you should go if you visit Poland. I am sure most of you have heard of Auschwitz. Jews from all over Europe were transported to Auschwitz. Many were forced into hard labour whilst others were sent straight to the gas chambers. It was not only Jews who were murdered here, but also Romanies, Poles, Soviet POW's and a host of other European nationalities (Source: Poland The Rough Guide).

It is hard to describe what it is like to walk around Auchwitz and Birkenau. We began at Auschwitz and the first thing you notice are the gates with the words 'Arbeit Macht Frei' (Work Makes Free). As I walked through the gates I looked at the buildings which did not look all that old - this is a reminder that this did not happen that long ago. We looked inside a few of the buildings and I have to say that the most shocking thing to see were the piles of human hair behind glass stretching across the whole length of one room. The smell was noticeable the moment we entered. You will also see the piles of shoes, glasses, and suitcases, all of which are set behind glass piled up ceiling high.

After Auschwitz we took a short 5/10-minute journey to Birkenau. The size of this place is shocking. When you arrive and walk through the entrance you instantly notice the railway line that brought people into the camp. We saw the sleeping quarters where the conditions were awful and cramped for those who had to sleep there.

The Salt Mines
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The Salt Mines of Wielicza are worth a visit: Wielicza has been entered by UNESCO in the World Heritage Register. The Salt Mines are only 10 kilometres from the centre of Krakow and we chose to travel there by bus. It was quite busy with tourists here which was the downside and we were in a guided tour with 70 people: which was far too many. Nevertheless this is an interesting place to visit, and the Chapel of Saint Kinga is beautiful. This Chapel is carved in rock salt and has lovely chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. If you do decide to visit then it is worth noting that you will have to walk down a lot of steps (I think over 300) to get into the mines, then there will be a fairly long walk through the mines (it may take between 2-3 hours).

***TRAIN TRAVEL (OUT OF POLAND)***
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As I mentioned earlier in this review, there is the opportunity to travel outside of Poland by bus or train. We travelled by overnight train from Krakow to Prague in the Czech Republic. I would advise you to book your tickets in advance as you may have trouble getting tickets otherwise.

The journey to Prague is quite a long one. We got on the train in the evening (about 10pm) and arrived in Prague early morning. But because you sleep on the train, the long journey does not really matter too much. We slept in a 4-sleeper, but we did notice that there were some carriages with 6 people sharing (they looked very cramped!). Be aware that you will be woken up in the early hours once you cross the border and will have to show your passport to the guards.

We booked our accommodation for Prague on the Internet before we left Krakow, and we stayed in Florenc which was not too far from the centre. However, if you decide to arrive in Prague without booking accommodation I don't think that you will have a problem finding somewhere.

I have decided to do a short comparison of Prague and Krakow in this review due to the fact that I have heard the saying that 'Krakow is the new Prague'. This comparison can be found below.

***COMPARISON OF KRAKOW AND PRAGUE***

First of all I have to say that Prague is much more touristy than Krakow and this is almost immediately apparent. Charles Bridge in Prague is particularly busy with tourists as is the main square. We were warned that there were pickpockets on the bridge, so be aware of this if you visit. However, I felt as safe in Prague as I did in Krakow even though we were warned about pickpockets.

The main square itself is lovely, although in my opinion not as lovely as the large square in Krakow. There were however some parts of Prague that were more beautiful than Krakow.

Another downside to Prague is that in some parts you will find that you are hassled to go to strip clubs - this is something that did not happen to us in Krakow. It is probably the fact that Prague has become popular for stag weekends that has contributed to this

In regards to food and drink, the choice in Prague was equally as good as Krakow. The beer in Prague was dirt cheap (and cheaper than in Krakow) especially in the supermarkets. The vodka in Prague however was more expensive than in Krakow.

I did not feel that there was as much to see in Prague as there was in Krakow. Therefore I felt that the three nights that we spent there was sufficient to see what we wanted to see. Prague however is well worth a visit. If you do not like it touristy then February is apparently a good time to visit. Overall, Prague is a beautiful place with lovely architecture around every corner. However because Krakow is quieter I would probably recommend Krakow more than I would Prague. Hopefully Krakow will not become too touristy in the next few years.

***CONCLUSION***

Krakow is definately worth a visit. It is a lovely city with much to see, and its location is ideal if you want to travel to other Eastern European cities. You will find Krakow an attractive, cheap, and interesting place to visit.