gumbo

Hi -
My girlfriend and I are travelling to Krakow by car early in July. Would any anybody have some recommendations for decent hotels/pensions at a reasonable price. Any tips for good Restaurants also appreciated. As we only sleep in the room, a good clean place preferrbly on-suite is fine, but we like to eat well. Is it easy to get safe parking?
Plenty of questions, all answers apreciated!

GSteed

The quality and ambiance of your accomodations will depend on the price. Families often camp! Minimum cost. Parking in the city proper may cost more than your room. Settle at motel outside of Krakow. Leave car there and take bus into the city. Otherwise I recommend "SASKI". Often you can find a "home stay". Parking will be a problem but it is always solved. Try your local library and read some up-to-date guide books.

Georgine

Dear Gumbo,

I can recommend the Hotel Pollera to you. I believe the prices are quite reasonable, and it is located inside the historic center---one block inside the walls, 1/2 block from the Opera House, and about 3 blocks from the train station. The main square is about 4 blocks away.

They offer free parking. I believe it is at the open air lot which is directly across the street from the hotel. It is a very safe location.

Their web site is: http://www.pollera.pl

You can check out the photo gallery, prices, and they have an e-mail contact if you want to find out about the location of the "free parking". Also, inquire if they will be offering any specials during your stay.

The rooms are very comfortable and the buffet breakfast is generous.

You will eat well in Poland at very reasonable prices. Try a "dairy bar" for lunch --no meat, but great pierogi, haluski, soups, and crepes for dessert. They are scattered all around the historic center.

I will try to locate the names of some of the restaurants we enjoyed the most.
Our choices were all modest to moderately priced.

Georgine

Dear Gumbo,

The correct web address for the Hotel Pollera is:

http://www.pollera.com.pl

Sorry for the confusion!!

tmh

We stayed in town across from the train and bus depot as we did not bother with a car. As GSteed said, the hassle of cars was more than we needed plus public transportation was easy and inexpensive.

We stayed at Hotel Eurojski (sp) and we used Lonely PLanet as our guide book.

Kwoo

I also recommend the Hotel Saski. Stayed there last Oct and loved it. It was $93 for a triple room, included generous breakfast. Located in Old Town, one-half block from Rynek Glowny.
Dining is very inexpensive in Krakow! We ate at Smak Ukrainska at #15 Kononicza St. (Ukrainian food). $35.00 for 3 people, including soup, salad, main meal & drinks. Accordionist & violinist, located in rustic cellar.
Had lunch at cafe on same street as Hotel Saski, not too far from Saski. Can't remember the name. $8.00 for 3 people, incl drinks!!
also try Pod Aniolami, little more upscale than Smak Ukrainska. $60 for 3 people, incl appetizer, main meal & drinks.

picapica

We stayed a couple of years ago at the Hotel Alef in Kazimierz (the Jewish Quarter) and loved it. The food there was also wonderful. It was walking distance to the Wawel, but I think we took a taxi to the cloth market. I remember that the city is fairly compact and that we didn't really need a car (although we hired a guide w/ van to take us to Auschwiz/Birkenau which was very much worth it.

There were several restaurants in the Jewish district that had great food. And we also had a fun time in a nearby bar, the Propaganda where we sampled local vodka. I found the in your pocket guides to be good resources for Prague, Warsaw and Krakow. I think they can be found at www.inyourpocket.com, but we picked them up at the train station. We also ate at Smak Ukrainska and enjoyed it very much. Krakow is one of my favorite cities.

tomboy

You might get more bookings if you were to describe a less costly, less time consuming way to get from Ostrava or Zilina to Krakow. 140€ one way is too much money for a 5 hour train trip that takes 1-1/2 hours by car. But the car theft in Poland makes auto rental costly as well. Are there no car rental companies just across the border from Cesky Tesin (which is east of Ostrava)?

alisgan

Hi,

I have just returned from my third trip to Krakow. The first time I stayed in a hotel and it was a disaster. The room was dirty; the neighbours were drunk and noisy. I will not mention the price!

The second time round, I found a review of a Skalka holiday apartment in the Old Jewish Quarter on the Been There website. We decided to take it and we never regretted it. The apartment is located next to the Skalka church (absolute marvel – an obligatory visit during your stay in Krakow), couple of minutes from the Vistula river and the Wawel castle. As a matter of course, on the third occasion we rented again the same apartment.

As I have already mentioned the location of the apartment was superb, there was plenty of parking spaces just in front of the house.

Owners' website: http://www.krakowholidayapartments.com