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Kraków's Old Town is a friendly ground for shoppers—and any time you need to take a break from retail therapy, you can easily find a place to refuel with a cup of coffee, a snack, or a beer. You will find a mix of crafts and specialty shops next to department stores and brand-name fashion and leisure-wear stores. Popular souvenirs to take home include folk crafts such as wooden toys or chess boxes, pottery, and glass, Easter eggs and Christmas ornaments, designer amber jewelry, and Polish-made vodkas and liqueurs. Most shops are open weekdays from 10 to 6, Saturday from 9 to 2.
For regionally produced goods, head to the middle of the Rynek G?ówny, the main Market Square. At the booths in the Sukiennice (Cloth Hall), you'll find tooled leather goods, wood carvings, regional costumes, amber jewelry, and the embroidered felt slippers made in the Podhale region. Unexpectedly for such a central location, the prices at Cloth Hall are moderate.
Kraków abounds with galleries, where you can buy—or simply look at—contemporary Polish art. When walking around the Old Town or Kazimierz, you will stumble upon an art gallery every 100 meters or so.
In the streets leading out of the Market Square—notably Floria?ska, Szewska, and Grodzka—you will find bookshops, small clothing boutiques, more jewelry and souvenir shops, and some delicatessens. Local brands are often disguised behind English-sounding names, such as a popular fashion chain called Reserved (both women's and men's clothing), the more upmarket Simple and Solar (ladies' attire only), and 5-10-15 for kids. For a more concentrated shopping experience, head for one of Kraków's shopping malls.
This is the most pleasant and most centrally located shopping mall in the city. It's within walking distance of the heart of Kazimierz and the river and is open seven days a week.
Next to Kraków's main railway station, this mall has, among its many shops and cafés, Kraków's first Starbucks café.
On the northern side of the Cloth Hall, the shop sells beautiful everyday objects and affordable artworks.
Gorseletka specializes in handmade corsets, made to measure. Old-fashioned and fancy as they are, these tailor-made undergarments can prove surprisingly comfortable.
Among the city's delicatessens, you'll find the best selection of international gourmet food and wine in the Likus Concept Store—but it comes at a price!
You'll find a selection of English-language paperbacks in most large bookshops, but for English-speaking readers, Massolit is the real thing. The converted apartment contains a little café that will tempt you with coffee and cakes, and several rooms filled to the brim with book-laden shelves offering endless browsing opportunities.
This health foods store sells both food and a selection of natural cosmetics—local as well as imported.
This hatmaker will take you on a journey back in time to the days when it was unthinkable for a lady not to own a hat—or several hats, for that matter.
Fresh fruit, vegetables, cheese, and meat can be found in Stary Kleparz, an open-air market with permanent booths and stalls just outside of Planty Ring.
A statue of Adam Mickiewicz marks the eastern entrance to the Renaissance Cloth Hall, which is in the middle of the Main Market Square. The Gothic arches date from the 14th century, but after a fire in 1555 the upper part was rebuilt in Renaissance style. The inner arcades on the ground floor still hold traders' booths, now mainly selling local crafts and souvenirs—anything from amber jewelry, wooden chess sets, and embroidered tablecloths to Kraków-theme T-shirts and toy dragons. On the first floor, in a branch of the national museum, you can view a collection of 19th-century Polish paintings. The gallery was thoroughly renovated, and it reopened in 2010. Upstairs, a very pleasant Café Szał has an open terrace where you can sip your coffee while observing the busy life of the Market Square below.
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