Krakow - Trip Report
 

After leaving Romania, we flew to Krakow for 3 days. I’ve posted my photos of Krakow at pbase.com/msallen/Krakow

We stayed at the Pod Roza, which was just 1-1/2 blocks from the old town square. We loved the hotel. It had been recently re-decorated – the rooms were large with high ceilings, large windows and a recently renovated bathroom. I know that this hotel has gotten mixed reviews. I believe there are a couple of rooms that have no windows, which would make it very dark. So, if you stay there, make sure you book a room with windows. The location is great!

On our first day, we took a tour of the old town and the Jewish quarter. We took one of the “golf cart” tours that can be picked up in old town square. It is similar to a golf cart that pulls about three or four carts behind it with each cart holding about 6-8 people. We were the only ones on our tour so we could whenever we wanted to for photos or to get a better look at areas away from the old town square. For me, it was the ideal solution as there would have been a LOT of walking, more walking than I could probably do. The architecture was amazing in the old town area.

We spent the rest of the day just wandering around the old town and when we wanted to take it easy we’d stop at one of the many outside cafes for a cup of tea to relax.

On the second day we took a tour to the salt mines that were absolutely fascinating. It was unlike anything I’d seen. But, be prepared for the amount of steps you’ll be going down as you’re touring the mine. To get to the “first” level it is 400 steps straight down, then to get to the “second” level it was a combination of lots of steps and downward walkways. Luckily, they have elevators to take you to the top. On the very bottom level is a chapel with crystal chandeliers. Apparently, there are a few folks who get married in this chapel. Throughout the mine there are amazing carved salt figures.

We had some delicious food while in Krakow. One of our favorite restaurants, Café Camelot, was right across from our hotel. It was primarily breakfast, lunch and dessert food and the interior of the restaurant was charming. We also had some good Italian food and pizza at various restaurants around the square. Another favorite was Da Pietra where we had great pasta.

On our last day, we relaxed a lot, and soaked up the ambiance of the old town and did a lot of shopping. Looking back at the other destinations we visited, we liked the shopping the best in Krakow, especially the jewelry. We loved Krakow.

After Krakow, we headed to Prague for a couple of days before going to Moscow.

Thanks for the report and the link to your wonderful pictures - I am hoping to go to Krakow in 2007, and to Romania this fall. Sounds like you had a great trip.

Hi nan. Other than your tour of the old town, is it easy to walk around the main sights?

Thanks for the report and the heads up on the Pod Roza, where I had just reserved for our trip. I never thought to ask for a room with a window ;) I will write and see what they say.

Thanks for the report. Krakow is a lovely city and I'm sure we'll start seeing more and more reports ahead. Would you mind telling us what the Pod Roza charges for their rooms? We had dinner there and thought it looked like a great place to stay.

Julie, I've stayed at Pod Rosa, and as I said in the prior post where you mentioned having dinner there and commenting on the decor and hotel, the dining room has nothing to do with the guest rooms. They aren't alike in any way. Now it is a nice place to stay, and I liked it very much. But I wouldn't choose it based on the dining room, just so you know. In fact, if you like the dining room, you might not like the hotel as the dining room is rather modern and spare, and the guest rooms are not like that. So your interest could be exactly the opposite of what you want.

They have a website which gives a better idea of the hotel, I think. I paid around US$120 a couple years ago for a double, and when searching for next month when I'm going again, I think the rates were around $125-150 for a double.

I don't know about rooms without windows, I never heard of that and am lucky I didn't get such a thing. I thought that was illegal in most cities. Now I did have a room with a window that overlooked an interior space so it was not light at all, and some people might be saying that is not a window as it's not to the outer wall of the building. I liked that a lot, as it gave you ventilation and some light, but was not noisy as it would be if the window looked onto the street. The interior space that window looked onto was very large, it wasn't some small airshaft or courtyard like you find in some Parisian hotels, for example (or some other places I've been). In fact, although I decided to stay elsewhere this trip (the Grodek). The Pod Roza was cheaper than the Grodek.

Christina, thanks very much for your very complete reply and forgive me for not recalling that you'd already provided me some very useful info about this hotel in relation to its dining room. I appreciate your refreshing my memory. I'm afraid that's becoming increasingly necessary as I age.

Julie, since they'd just remodeled the room, at least our room, the bathroom was very modern with a lot of space. I think we paid about $150-$175 a night for a double. I, too, booked online but obviously didn't get the deal that Christina got.

Venetian30, you can do as much or little walking as you want. I believe it would have been a couple of miles of walking if you decide to walk to the Jewish section of town from the old town square. In terms of old town, you can walk as much or little as you want to. We found the "golf cart" tour to be ideal for us.

thank you for the update! I will be there next week and can't wait!