Krakow in June---Vienna, too? other suggestions for City people
Apr 13th, 2010, 08:51 AM
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Krakow in June---Vienna, too? other suggestions for City people
Planning on Krakow in June of NEXT YEAR...I have about ten days to travel. Would Vienna be a good second city? four days in Vienna? six in Krakow -that gives us time and room day trips.
Apr 13th, 2010, 11:14 AM
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I enjoyed both cities very much. It might make sense to reverse your allocation of days - 5 or 6 in Vienna and 3 or 4 in Krakow, depending on what your travel arrangements are and what you want to see and experience. Enjoy!
Apr 13th, 2010, 11:19 AM
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Hi; We took a direct train from Krakow to Vienna. About seven hours. In Vienna, view this hotel with a great central location. www.kvu.at This site has a very good download of Krakow. Richard www.inyourpocket.com
May 9th, 2010, 07:21 PM
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I visited Kracow for four days in 2008 and I would say that four or five days is about right. Be sure and visit Wawel Castle ( one day ), the St. Mary's Bascillica, The Wieliczka Salt Mine , Auschwitz concentration camp and the Market Square. Make sure you have your walking shoes on, it is a beautiful city and there is lots to see. You can also take a bus trip to Zakopane in the mountains, that is a beautiful trip. I am sure there were many sights that I missed. Enjoy your time there.
May 10th, 2010, 01:27 AM
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Alternatively, you could stay in Poland for the time; Warsaw is an interesting city, and quite a contrast to Krakow. (For some reason, and I really don't know why, I'm not a huge fan of Vienna.) I stayed four days in Krakow and was able to see a fair amount in that time; here's the trip report if you'd like some idea of the pace: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-july-2006.cfm
May 24th, 2010, 09:27 AM
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That said, if you do go to Krakow, yeah you should visit Auschwitz (although Terezin, outside Prague, is less museum-like and has a bigger impact) and other main sites, but you should see a couple of things off the main trail too.
First: take a trip with Mike's Crazy Guides through Commie Krakow and to Nova Huta. Insist that they take you to the Ark Church (Arka Pana). They'll know the story of it and it's an interesting one.
Second: make sure you see the daVinci -- there are only a few cities in the world that have a daVinci painting in them and Krakow is one (Lady with an Ermine at Czartoryskich Museum) and the small museum that houses it is not overrun with tourists like the Louvre and the painting is not encased in glare-reflective lucite or whatever the Mona Lisa is stuck behind.
Third, go to Szambelan (http://www.szambelan.com.pl/), which makes great vodkas. It's right off the Market Square, around the corner from the Hotel Wentzl.
Fourth, visit Kazimierz, the Jewish Quarter. We ate there a bunch.
Fifth, everyone who visits Krakow sees St. Mary's and its interior deserves a wow. But you also should see St. Francis' Basilica because the stained glass windows in there are fantastic -- and if you check my posts here, you'll see I'm not blown away very easily.
First: take a trip with Mike's Crazy Guides through Commie Krakow and to Nova Huta. Insist that they take you to the Ark Church (Arka Pana). They'll know the story of it and it's an interesting one.
Second: make sure you see the daVinci -- there are only a few cities in the world that have a daVinci painting in them and Krakow is one (Lady with an Ermine at Czartoryskich Museum) and the small museum that houses it is not overrun with tourists like the Louvre and the painting is not encased in glare-reflective lucite or whatever the Mona Lisa is stuck behind.
Third, go to Szambelan (http://www.szambelan.com.pl/), which makes great vodkas. It's right off the Market Square, around the corner from the Hotel Wentzl.
Fourth, visit Kazimierz, the Jewish Quarter. We ate there a bunch.
Fifth, everyone who visits Krakow sees St. Mary's and its interior deserves a wow. But you also should see St. Francis' Basilica because the stained glass windows in there are fantastic -- and if you check my posts here, you'll see I'm not blown away very easily.
May 25th, 2010, 09:22 PM
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<< Second: make sure you see the daVinci -- there are only a few cities in the world that have a daVinci painting in them and Krakow is one (Lady with an Ermine at Czartoryskich Museum) >>
This museum is closed for restoration. Don't know when it will be open so check the web site.
For Wawel, the tickets to the Royal Apartments sell out early in the day so go early to see these rooms. They were much better than the State Rooms. If your time is limited then just see the Royal Apartments (guided tour only). The tickets are timed as they only allow about 10 to 12 people on each tour.
For the Cathedral (on Wawel hill) buy a ticket for the crypt, tower, and other rooms that require a ticket) at the booth across from the Cathedral before entering.
The Salt Mines took 5 hours door to door so plan for that amount of time. They were very crowded when I was there and we had to wait several times for the previous tour to finish before we could continue. We also had to wait for the elevator to exit.
Be aware that the Salt Mines have 800 steps down. The web site only mentions the first 380 which you do at one time. The other 400 steps come in various stages. The risers are low so it's easy to do but if you have mobility problems you might want to keep in mind the number of steps.
I think 5 days in each city would be good. The interesting part of Krakow is small and compact and you can walk from the length in 15 minutes (or less if you are a fast walker) from the Florenska Gate to Wawel.
Either Vienna or Prague for your second city would be a good choice. I love them both.
This museum is closed for restoration. Don't know when it will be open so check the web site.
For Wawel, the tickets to the Royal Apartments sell out early in the day so go early to see these rooms. They were much better than the State Rooms. If your time is limited then just see the Royal Apartments (guided tour only). The tickets are timed as they only allow about 10 to 12 people on each tour.
For the Cathedral (on Wawel hill) buy a ticket for the crypt, tower, and other rooms that require a ticket) at the booth across from the Cathedral before entering.
The Salt Mines took 5 hours door to door so plan for that amount of time. They were very crowded when I was there and we had to wait several times for the previous tour to finish before we could continue. We also had to wait for the elevator to exit.
Be aware that the Salt Mines have 800 steps down. The web site only mentions the first 380 which you do at one time. The other 400 steps come in various stages. The risers are low so it's easy to do but if you have mobility problems you might want to keep in mind the number of steps.
I think 5 days in each city would be good. The interesting part of Krakow is small and compact and you can walk from the length in 15 minutes (or less if you are a fast walker) from the Florenska Gate to Wawel.
Either Vienna or Prague for your second city would be a good choice. I love them both.
