I also write on dooyoo under the same name. I'm 20 and am currently at Newcastle Uni studying Speech...
I also write on dooyoo under the same name. I'm 20 and am currently at Newcastle Uni studying Speech and Language Sciences! Thanks for all your ratings!!
Member since:17.06.2003
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Krakow is located in Southern Poland and was the capital city 1038-1598. It is currently the capital of Malopolskie (Lesser Poland or Little Poland), a province in South Poland. It's Poland's third largest city and in 2007 had a population of over 750,000 people.
Our visit
I visited Krakow for the weekend in February, with my parents, auntie and uncle to celebrate my uncle's 50th birthday. We went on the Friday evening and returned on the Monday night so we had about 3 whole days to explore. I'll go through each day to give you an idea how much you could see etc in that time scale and within this I'll describe the place.We didn't land in Krakow until about 9pm on the Friday so we didn't see much. The taxi driver that drove us from the airport to our hotel told us about the tours they do, e.g. Auschwitz and Birkenhau, and the Salt mines so we found out a bit about the area even though we didn't see much. I'm going to talk about day 1 as the Saturday.
Day 1
We got up quite early so we could start exploring the city straight after breakfast. The Holiday Inn, where we were staying, is located in the city centre so it didn't take long to get there.
We headed to the Market Square and it didn't take long to get there from our hotel. We had a look round the main square and we also looked at the indoor market (Sukiennice - cloth hall).
Sukiennice was once the main focus of Krakow's trade. It was effectively the first shopping mall in the world but now functions as a place for tourists to shop. The Cloth Hall is quite large and looks beautiful from the outside. There are lots of little stalls on each side selling a range of souvenirs, from pens and wooden toys, to amber jewellery and walking sticks. I bought the majority of my souvenirs in here and I found it was reasonably priced compared to souvenirs in other countries I've been to. I really enjoyed looking inside The Cloth Hall as I found the souvenirs to be a little bit different to those of other cities I've visited. The atmosphere was really pleasant and we spent at least an hour inside. I didn't buy everything I wanted on this visit, as I knew we would be returning before the end of our visit.
When we came out of The Cloth Hall we wandered around the square. We saw some small electric cars, which resembled golf buggies, offering tours of the city. As we didn't really know where to go next and we fancied a sit down we decided to enquire about the price. The man told us that 1 and half hours would cost 250pln (about £50 for the hour and half, working out at about £10 each). The price decreased per half hour the longer you decided to go, with 1 and half hours being the maximum. Depending on the length of time you paid for, the tour was slightly different, offering more sights for the full length of time.
The electric cars sat five people plus the driver. Two passengers had to sit so that they would be travelling backwards and my auntie and I agreed we would sit here. The tour started in Main Market Square and there was an English tour guide recording playing telling us about what the sights. Due to the position I was sitting and the noise of the surroundings, I couldn't hear the recording all the time but my parents and uncle said it was quite interesting.
We left Main Market Square down one of the side streets and I enjoyed taking in the surroundings. For the first 15 minutes or so we drove up and down most of the side streets leading to and from the square. This was quite good as we could see the square from different angles as well as viewing the side streets (most of which were shops etc).
As there was only the driver and us in the car, he stopped for us whenever we wanted to take photos, (which, since we were travelling with my dad, was quite often!). The driver spoke quite good English and he told us about the sights we could see.
There are many churches in Krakow and we saw a large number of these when we were in the electric car. Some of them look really magnificent from the outside although we didn't go into any.
As our journey was nearing the end, we past Schindler's factory, which was unfortunately closed. The driver told us that when it is open there isn't really a lot to see, just Schindler's office. I got out the car with my dad and we went close to the gates and had a look. It was quiet and I felt quite emotional thinking about what happened here years ago.
On the evening of our first day we had a meal in the Market Square. There are lots of places to eat here, but we picked a restaurant that appealed to us all (which was actually quite difficult as there were 5 of us with different tastes!) It was a steak restaurant and was really nice. It was reasonably priced as well.
Day 2
We felt, we couldn't go to Krakow without visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau so we decided we would visit here on the Sunday - our second day.
We booked a taxi from the hotel and he drove us there and back. It took about an hour to reach Auschwitz from our hotel but the driver spoke quite good English and he told us what about the area we were visiting.
Auschwitz was quite quiet when we arrived, as it was relatively early in the morning. We went inside and paid to get in and the taxi driver told us he would wait outside for us. He informed us we had a few hours to spend here then he would take us to Birkenau (Auschwitz II), which is about 3.5km away from Auschwitz I.
As I went outside into the camp I was surprised at how silent it was. People had told me previously about the silence but I wasn't expecting it to be so quiet.
We walked towards the main gate, which reads "Arbeit macht frei" meaning "Work sets you free". At the time of my visit I didn't know what it meant but I felt uneasy walking the gate.
Many of the barracks are open and have been converted into exhibitions, which have images and information about the concentration camps. Some of the barracks have large displays of items that were taken from the prisoners. These include shoes, suitcases, human hair, pots and pans, and spectacles. The display of hundreds of suitcases really affected me (and my mam) as I though of all the people who took their belongings with them in their cases, as they didn't know the horrors that lay ahead.
As we were walking around between the barracks more visitors were starting to arrive. The sun was shining and I did hear a few birds sing but not as many as you would expect to hear on such a warm day.
Birkenau, the mass killing camp, really moved me. We walked along by the railway line that brought the prisoners to the camp and we walked in silence. We also visited the gas chambers and some of the barracks here. I was emotionally drained and exhausted by the end of our visit and I couldn't stop thinking about it for days.
I feel like I have more of an idea about what actually went on in the concentration camps though I still cannot imagine just how terrible it must have been. It has made me think about how lucky I am and I often find myself thinking about my visit and the hundreds of thousands of people murdered in these camps.
Day 3
We visited Wawel Hill on our last day, as we were not flying home until late evening. We read that it is free entry on a Monday but the castle was actually closed. The cathedral was open so we decided to visit this.
Wawel Castle and Cathedral are located on Wawel Hill in Krakow, Poland. The hill has had religious function for a long time and the cathedral in located adjacent to the castle. The cathedral has a 1000-year history and it was once the coronation site for the Polish Monarchy. Nearly all Polish Kings and national heroes are buried here and this was also the cathedral of Pope John Paul II before he left for the Vatican. The Bell is rarely used except in special circumstances, such as when Pope John Paul II died in 2005.
I got into the Cathedral half price using my student card (£1 instead of £2). The Cathedral was beautiful and it was a lovely morning out.
We then had lunch in Market Square (The same restaurant we went to on our first day) and did our last bit of shopping in Cloth Hall.
We travelled home that evening, after a lovely weekend in Krakow.
Weather
It was between 8 and 17 degrees Celsius when we were there and the sun shone most of the time we were there. The wind was cold though. We spoke to a couple of Polish people who said in February 2 years ago it was minus 25 degrees C and the cars wouldn't start. We were expecting it to be a lot colder than it was when we went but it was really pleasant. It was actually warmer than it had been in England before we left!
Prices
I think the prices were very reasonable. The souvenirs were quite cheap and the amber in the market was very reasonably priced. We ate out 3 times in Market Square and each time it was very reasonable. There was five of us, and each time we each had a main meal, 4 of us had deserts and we all had a couple of drinks and 2 of us had coffee and it was only about £60-£80 (?) which is much cheaper than we could have got in England.
People
All the people we spoke to were friendly and helpful. The staff in the hotel were all helpful and the taxi driver who drove us to Auschwitz was really nice. People in the shops and restaurants were also really nice and I felt welcome the whole time I was in the city.
Overall Experience
I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Krakow, it was beautiful and the weather was nice for the time of year. It is not one of my favourite cities but I might go back in the future. I would recommend a trip to Krakow, as it is a beautiful, historical place.
Great review. I was born in Poland and went to Auschwitz a few times. First time as a child on a school trip and it was a scary experience at that age
danielleg1989 12.10.2009 22:24
Brilliant review x
lora44 01.09.2009 16:47
Excellent review - really informative. I really like Krakow - visited this summer. Unfortunately didn't get to visit Auschwitz, but will no doubt go back one day and so will try and visit then. The salt mines were amazing too! xx
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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
HannahBoo 14.04.2007 (14.04.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
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Krakow (Poland)
Advantages: Fantastic architecture with a diverse mix of styles, very good nightlife and arts scene, excellent place for buying anything antique. Disadvantages: None really. I wish Krakow stays just the way it is. Only the Kazimierz district requires some restoration work, but that's already underway.
From_The_Continent 29.04.2001 (06.05.2001)
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Krakow (Poland)
![Cities of the World Krakow Poland [DVD] [NTSC]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/127098402.jpg "Cities of the World Krakow Poland [DVD] [NTSC]")
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