Beautiful, compact, and best of all: cheap!
If all of the places we are traveling to this year are our babies, Krakow was our first child. We couldn’t stop oohing and aahing over how pretty it is, all of the city’s surprises and little delights, and how we felt like we were starting to get the hang of this whole backpacking thing. Krakow felt so exhilerating and adventurous and are-we-really-doing-this-y. In Krakow, we felt like traveling toddlers ourselves: just learning to walk on unsteady legs, conquering milestones–first trip laundry! First grocery store! First rental car return!–and enjoying those small victories. And despite our fragile emotional state and first-timer status, Krakow definitely doesn’t need our rose-colored glasses to be objectively great. This is an awesome city, and if you are slightly allergic to hordes of tourists (nothing against tourists: we love our people, but crowds suck) and sky-high European prices, Krakow is the blessed answer to those concerns. It definitely has tourists, but compared to other cities we have since been to, it is beautifully uncrowded. Plus, we were there in August, height of the tourist season, and it was STILL totally manageable.
Krakow is the whole package: charming, compact, and most importantly, cheap. The architecture and atmosphere of the city means that simply walking around is a pleasure. The big attractions like the Schindler Factory and Wawel Castle do not disappoint, but also feel accessible: while they are crowded, the admission tickets don’t break the bank, you can still have a moment to yourself to take it in, and you aren’t fighting for oxygen amongst the other tourists. We didn’t stay in the center, yet were able to walk absolutely everywhere. In terms of cost, the zlotys took usvery far in regards to eating out and accommodations, plus the word zloty is really fun to say.
WHAT WE LOVED IN KRAKOW
Our Air BnB!: We absolutely loved our cute little Air BnB in Krakow! It has an amazing price, a full kitchen, fabulous shower, a really nice host, comfy bed, and is in the perfect location. We loved being in the Jewish quarter, and we were a 15 minute walk to Old Town and a 15 minute walk to the Schindler Factory in the other direction. Granted, it didn’t have air conditioning or an elevator, and is on the 4th floor. The stairs didn’t bother us, and we are trying to get over our air conditioning addiction. It was quite hot when we were there, but with a fan and the windows open, we got by.
Touring the Jewish quarter: after a LOT of Holocaust, sadness and feeling generally defeated, it touched my heart to see beautiful, intact synagogues in the Jewish quarter in Krakow. The story of the Jewish population of Krakow during World War II is deeply tragic, and the fact that these buildings weren’t destroyed was so surprising to me that I started crying looking at the lovely ceiling in the Remuh synagogue. There are several synagogues in the Kazimierz district, and the Jewish cemetery next to the Remuh Synagogue is also incredibly moving. There was also a Jewish museum in the neighborhood that we sadly didn’t get to (blame it on the heat? I don’t know, that’s what I blame everything on), but looked amazing.
Walking around Wawel Castle: It’s hard to miss Wawel Castle: we both unintentionally ended up there during a morning jog, and it looms over the center from every direction. We got an excellent overview of the castle from our free walking tour, everything from the dragon legend and King Casimier the Great to how it was used during the Nazi occupation. Most awesome, it is free (!!!) to walk around the grounds, along the walls, and into the big inner courtyard. We especially loved spotting the dragon sculptures jutting out along the rooflines because if Daenerys Targayen had rain gutters, they would look just like this.
Taking a free tour: our sister-in-law Michal recommended taking a free walking tour in European cities, and that has been the best advice! These friendly, umbrella-toting experts are usually hanging out in big squares, and you don’t need a reservation. You can just show up and tag onto the tour that interests you! In Krakow, the tours meet in front of St. Mary’s Basilica, smack dab in the middle of the Rynek Glówny. We both did Old Town and Wawel Castle tour, and Ben did the Jewish Quarter tour while I immersed myself in meaningful exploration of a city I’ve never been to before hung out at Starbucks (hey, a tired, overheated girl has gotta do what she needs). Afterwards, you tip the tour guide for their enthusiasm and expertise, and you leave 10 times smarter about the city and country than you were before.
Harris Piano Jazz Bar: This jazz club off the main square was a Lonely Planet recommendation, and half of the people there were most likely tourists. We DID NOT care. The cave-like space was fabulous (it was literally a stone cellar full of happy tipsy people), we both enjoyed our very large beers, and the band was killer. I’ve actually never been to a jazz club before, so of course I enjoyed this American tradition for the first time in Poland. Na Zdrowie!
The Schindler Factory (we watched the movie first): I had never seen Schindler’s List. But since we are immersing ourselves in European Jewish history, and Holocaust history, we decided to watch it during a quiet night in our Air BnB. Watching the movie was tough (we needed a zapiekanka break midway through), but it made our visit to the Schindler Factory much more meaningful. A few things I noticed about the museum:
- This is one of the most popular attractions in Krakow, so we were happy we got there right when it opened. We walked right in, but when we left there was a huge line. The museum is also a lot of smaller rooms, and little hallways so the more crowded it is, the more difficult it is to see the exhibits and read the description.
- The museum is not just about the Schindler story. It is about the Jewish community in Krakow and the lives of all Krakow residents during World War II. There is a ton of information and exhibits (we were particularly moved by the exhibit about the Krakow ghetto) and only one of the displays is devoted to the specific story of Oskar Schindler and the people he, along with brave Jewish leaders, saved.
- It is hot in the museum, and I didn’t see any water fountains. I didn’t bring my water bottle and seriously regretted it.
- We saw a bunch of people with little kids, but there really isn’t anything in this museum for kids. Teenagers may be interested in the exhibits, but there are no kid-friendly parts. The exhibits are very text-heavy.
Chill time at Cheder: When I’m traveling I commonly need a place to sit, snack, recharge my batteries, and read or have computer time. On our 2016 road trip, we mostly did this at Starbucks, and to pretend I haven’t succumbed to that green umbrella-ed lure internationally would be a flat-out lie. However, if you aren’t into going to Starbucks in a foreign country (because you are a better person than me), we really loved this coffee shop right around the corner from us in the Jewish Quarter. They had delicious drinks, good snacks that were Middle-Eastern influenced, and good WiFi. We spent a couple of happy hours here.
Boccanera, a romantic Italian restaurant in Old Town: There are a ton of restaurants around the Rynek Glówny. We tried to avoid them because they seemed a little tourist-y/we were intimidated by trying to snag a table at one, but one night we stumbled across this restaurant a few blocks off of the main square. It seemed crowded and delicious, so we resolved to come back. I’m so glad we did! Our food was great, the prices were great, and eating outside with the beautiful buildings of Old Town around us made for a magical last night in Krakow. We insisted on waiting for an outside table even though the host told us they were full, and I’m glad we did.
Zapiekanka at Plac Nowy: A wise friend who had spent significant time in Krakow recommended this delicious Polish street food, and luckily the best place to get them was quick walk to a square in our Kazimierz neighborhood. Zapiekanka is a sort of marriage between pizza and Quiznos: a giant piece of french bread with all kinds of toppings, and toasted to perfection. Plac Nowy has an octagon shaped building with every side selling these sandwiches. We picked the longest line, split 1 zapiekanka, and it costs $2.43. Cheapest and best dinner of our trip.
Mleczarnia ogródek, a beer garden near Plac Nowy: After our amazing street food dinner, we weren’t quite ready to go back to the apartment and continue with Schindler’s List, so we popped into this bustling spot next to Plac Nowy. I don’t know why we don’t have these booze gardens in America: there were a cozy little tables under twinkle lights strung between trees, and a stall selling extremely cheap wine and beer. Ben got a beer and I got a giant carafe of wine that was probably meant for four people to share, and it cost $11. We loved the atmosphere and it was a perfect pairing with our zapiekanka dinner.
Jogging or relaxing in Planty Park: On our last day in Krakow, we got up early and went jogging in Planty Park, which is this lush ring of green beauty around the Old Town. It is where the medieval walls used to be, and no offense to medieval walls, but the park is much better. There are non-cobblestone paths crisscrossed with fountains and Wawel castle looming over you. It is a great place for a walk or a jog. I also spent some time reading on a bench in the park while Ben was on his second walking tour, and made friends with the floppiest golden retriever. Dogs + shade is a great formula in my book.
STUFF WE DID, BUT THAT I WOULD SKIP
Paying to do stuff at Wawel castle: We paid for tickets + the audio tour to get us into various parts of Wawel castle, including the chapel and the bell tower. Everything was interesting and cool to look at, and juggling my camera and the audio tour made me look like Peak Tourist, but given our budget goals, I wouldn’t spend a quarter of our daily Polish budget on this again. Especially because it is just as nice to walk around the outside, marvel at the gold domes, and spot the dragon rain spouts. We got way more information about the castle from our delightful tour guide, so I would just stick with walking tour if I were to do it again.
Going to Ariel to listen to klezmer music: We loved hearing klezmer music all around us strolling the Kazimierz district, and we read in a guidebook (99% certain it was Lonely Planet) that this was a good restaurant to go to for listening to klezmer. This funny experience was a good example of listening to the guidebook instead of our intuition. When we showed up for our reservation at 7:30 (the music was supposed to start at 8), the place was empty….yet the other restaurants in the square were packed and we could already hear music wafting out of those establishments. We should have just turned around and found a table at one of the restaurants where smarter tourists than us were already enjoying accordions, clarinets, and fiddles. Instead, we sat there awkwardly under a comical amount of rabbi portraits, ate overpriced bad food, and waited until 8:40 for the band to show up until we got grumpy and left. I loved listening to Klezmer when we finally found it, but I would just go where the music seems best instead of blindly trusting guidebooks.
Dropping off our rental car in the city center: We rented a car in Katowice to get to Auschwitz, which I’m glad we did because Auschwitz is pretty far from Krakow and Katowice, and that also meant we could take our time. However, dropping the car off in city center Krakow was a comedy of errors: between finding a gas station, battling trams and traffic, winding our way around the tiny one-way streets of Old Town. We finally managed to find the “guy” (the rental car agent in Katowice goes “I have this guy, don’t take it to the address listed…” hahahaahah) in an random hotel parking lot like we were instructed. We were so exhausted that we just left the car, without signing any paperwork of doing anything official other than handing the keys of an expensive vehicle to a random stranger. Luckily, the guy was legit, but the whole drop-off experience took over an hour that we could have been stuffing our face with pierogies. If I could do it again, I’d drop the rental off at the airport and then take public transportation into the city.
Stay at Hotel Mikolaj, or any hotel in Old Town: We were slightly off on our Krakow dates when we booked our delightful, and delightfully affordable, Air BnB. So, we had to find somewhere to stay the night for our final day in Krakow and we picked this hotel in Old Town. I’ll be honest, I picked it primarily based on the fact that it had air conditioning. Krakow was getting really hot and I was missing that refrigerated air against my body. There was nothing wrong with the room, but it costs triple what our Air BnB cost, obviously didn’t have any of the amenities (hello, full kitchen and washer!) and we still had to walk up four flights of stairs to get to our room. Considering how compact and walkable Krakow is, I wouldn’t pay a premium again to stay in Old Town when staying in Kazimierz was much cheaper and a 10 minute walk away from Old Town.