Suggestions for Krakow Itinerary
 

We will be spending three days in Krakow, arriving May 20. Can you tell me about your stay there and recommend an itinerary or some special sights to see?

I bought an EyeWitness Guide for Poland which has a section on Krakow in it, but for some reason, I'm not getting much of a "feel" for the city yet and don't know what to expect.

I don't want to go to Auschwitz - too heartbreaking for me to contemplate - and the saltmines don't hold any allure for me. We love architechture, interesting walks in town, people-watching, art, churches, and history. We generally shudder at the prospect of shopping but like fun window shopping and handcraft shops, though we seldom buy.

Can you share your experience with me, suggest some neat things to see, and recommend some good moderate-priced places to eat?

Okay, folks. I'm checking in early for the night. I want to wake up in the morning and find my little itinerary stocking stuffed with good ideas.

Hi Mary Fran,

I think when you arrive, you will find it's a great city for walking and seeing the things you mention.

Start with the central square, Rynek Glowny, you will find it beautiful and interesting. In the northeast corner is the Kosciol Mariacki (St. Mary's Church). The interior is awe-inspiring, not only because of the polychrome wooden alterpiece, but because of the devotion of many of the Poles for whom this is a holy place.

In the center of the square is Cloth Hall (Sukiennice) - you can spend an hour or two walking through the craft stalls. Our favorite things to buy are wooden carvings and Christmas items.

You can take a horse carriage ride tour around old town, or a "golf cart" like motorized ride. (Tours in English can be selected). It's a fun thing to do, and will give you a good overview of Old Town with ideas of places you wish to return.

There are lots of open air restaurants surrounding the square. A meal at any of them is a great place to people watch and enjoy the historic architecture.

Travel east from the corner of the Cathedral, down Florianska street to see St. Florian's gate and the Barbican. Turn left (when facing the Florian Gate) and walk past the "artist wall" with displays of paintings to see the Czartoryski museum - only takes about one to two hours to see the whole thing, but DaVinci's Lady with Ermine makes it a "must see" in my opinion.

So, you could spend a whole day doing this, or maybe only half a day if you like to move quickly.

Again, orienting to the old town square - in the exact diagonal corner from St. Mary's church is one of the oldest universities in Europe - the buildings are fascinating. The inner courtyard of the Collegium Maius is another very special place, and if memory is correct, there is a university bookstore within the courtyard. My favorite Krakow baroque church is in this area - St. Anne's.

Another day's activity is touring Wawel Hill - the Castle and the Cathedral. Along the street that connects the old town square with Wawel Hill (Grodska street) are a number of churches that we enjoyed - Sts. Peter and Paul, the Dominican and Fransican monasteries - great, colorful mosaics - and our favorite restaurant - pod Aniolami.

Hope this gets you started, Mary Fran. The old town/central city of Krakow is very accessable and it is pretty easy to orient yourself, especially from the main square. You can keep yourselves busy walking, touring, eating and shopping for at least three or four days.

Best wishes.

In the college courtyard is a clock which opens and "performs" at certain times (maybe only once or twice a day -- I think the time is posted in the courtyard). Watching this, with only a handful of other people around, was a highlight for us.

Hi Mary,
You've received good advice so far. Krakow is a wonderful walking city and much less touristy than other popular European towns.
I did all the things that SusanEva mentioned, and I would add a stroll thru' the Jewish quarter as well. It's very interesting.
I went to the Town Square every day. It's the heart of the city. There are many outdoor vendors besides those in the Cloth Hall and it is filled with locals shopping and going about their business. For me, that was a large part of Krakow's charm - more locals than tourists!! You can sit in an outdoor cafe and people watch.
I'd also suggest you reconsider visiting the Salt Mine. It is absolutely fascinating, like an underground city. You can take a local bus, which takes a half hour each way. The whole excursion takes a few hours.
You will love Krakow. It quickly became one of my favorite places.

FWIW, I thought the saltmines would be about as interesting as a bottle stopper museum, but once there found it fascinating. The English-speaking guide was excellent, as were the exhibits.
Also, tho it doesn't sound like you'd be at all interested in it (if window shopping lights your fires), we stumbled upon the Ethnography museum, in the Kazamiercz district. It included an amazing display of regional folk dress/costumes; the intricacy of design and color was amazing, especially considering the crude tools people worked with in those centuries.

Hi,
You already got some great tips here.
Old Town Market Square, St. Mary's Basilica, Wawel Castle and the Cathedral, Czartoryski Museum, Jagiellonian University etc. are all must-sees.
Make sure to walk up ul. Kanoniczna to the Wawel Hill. It's such a picturesque little street. I also love ul. Retoryka (it's located outside the Planty Park surrounding the Old Town).
I'll be travelling to Krakow again this coming August. I found some info on a little museum that looks very interesting.
It's is located in the Hipolit Townhouse. The museums appears to be very interesting, showing the interiors of Krakow's burghers house of the past. I believe the museum is closed on Mondays & Tuesdays.
http://www.mhk.pl/english/oddzialy_dommieszczanski.php

Also, I agree with tomboy. The Salt Mines are fascinating. Truly one of a kind place on a world scale.
http://www.kopalnia.pl/home.php?acti...language=&

Good bookstores in Krakow:
Empik on Rynek Glowny (Main Market Square)
and Massolit Books at ul. Felicjanek 4
http://www.massolit.com/

Another unique thing to do would be to attend a performance by Ardente Sole, a court-dance assemble.
Unfortunatelly, they will be on an international tour when I'll be there but maybe they have some performance planned in Krakow in May. You can e-mail them at:
[email protected]
for schedule.
http://www.ardentesole.art.pl/


Krakow is also great when it comes to food choices.
Some of my recommendations would be:
Szara at Rynek Glowny 6 (szara.pl)
Jama Michalika (more of a cafe) at ul. Florianska 45 (jamamichalika.pl)
Cafe Camelot at ul. Sw. Tomasza 17 (cherubino.pl/camelot.htm)
Wierzynek at Rynek Glowny 15 (http://wierzynek.com.pl)
Pod Aniolami at ul. Grodzka 35 (podaniolami.pl)
Copernicus at ul. Kanoniczna 16
Pod Krzyzykiem at Rynek Glowny 39 (podkrzyzykiem.com)
Good bar:
Wodka at ul. Mikolajska 5 (you can sample dozens of different vodkas)

Enjoy Krakow!

Thank you for the great suggestions. I'll put the saltmines on our must-see list. I've e-mailed Ardente Sole to find out if they'll be performing during our visit. That looks like fun. Lots of other great ideas here. Thanks so much. I'm feeling much more in control now, with some good things on our itinerary.

Any other ideas or photo links would be welcome!

One more question: What kinds of meals did you most enjoy in Poland? What special treats should we look forward to on the menu?

Make sure to take the guided tour of the University too. We were lucky enough to attend a classical music concert in one of the churches. This one was nice because it was directed at the local populace and not just the tourists as so many are in other cities. We just saw signs promoting the concert and walked to the office where they were selling the tickets. By the way, we felt rather underdressed in our usual tourist attire and wished we'd stopped back at our hotel to put on some slightlier dressy clothes (not that we take anything remotely fancy with us).

I can't remember the name of the restaurant, but it was on the main square and we are at the cheaper poor step-child branch of it. There was an appetiser of crepe like pancakes with a wild mushtroom filling. To die for! We ate at this place 2 nights in a row just for the pancakes. Polish home style cooking is very, very good; so long as your aren't looking for trendy cuisine, you'll eat well and need to walk around the main square at least 200 times to walk it all off.

One night we were tired and all the restaurants were packed so we decided to just try a pizza place. DON'T! I prefer vegetarian pizza, but my husband thinks pizza isn't piza without meat, so we ordered the sausage. It was sliced hot dogs on pizza. I have never had anything so gross in my life. And, this was in an Italian reastaurant on the main square.

One more thing. Don't rely on Eyewitness guides. I much prefer Rough or Cadogan guides.

We were in Krakow less than two weeks ago...our favorite restaurants were Chimera (not the salad bar, but the very attractive cellar restaurant). Just off the main square. Their hot chocolate was fantastic--move over Angelina's!
We also had some nice light meals and excellent drinks (and good, nontouristy crowd) at Cafe Botanica. Very cool decor. Another great hot chocolate spot. The Tribeca Cafe, right on the main square, is a nice modern place for coffee, drinks, fresh juice, light snacks.
In the Jewish Quarter, we had dinner at Alef's with live Klezmer music. Pretty restaurant with good food. Note: the Jewish Quarter is having a renaissance with lots of Jewish restaurants and Klezmer music--but very few of the bands and restaurants actually are run by Jews anymore. Sadly, it's become a Jewish quarter (mostly) without Jews. If you want to buy one of the wooden Jewish character carvings, skip the main square stalls and buy one by Jakob Regula (sp) in the Jewish information center/bookstore in the Jewish quarter. You can really see the difference in quality between his work and the carvings sold in the main square.
Another thing not to miss is the poster gallery across the street from the U.S. consulate. Krakow has a very impressive tradition of graphic arts. The owner of the shop is a real authority on Polish graphic arts, has written several books on the subject, and will be coordinating an exhibition of Polish posters to take place at the end of April in Indiana University (PA). We bought a nice selection of posters from him that he packaged and mailed for us.

I would rethink skipping Auschwitz. Yes, it's an appalling part of man's history, but you really should see it. The guides are excellent.

Mary Fran:

Surprised that although St. Mary's was mentioned several times, no reference to the hourly trumpet tune from the tower. This is one of the most unique performances in all of Europe. The trumpet (or bugle) blast ends in mid-flourish, abruptly, signifying that the lookout was killed by an arrow piercing his throat, from the bow of an invader, in c.14th century.
The Kasimierz district is the old Jewish section of Krakow and now sports several Jewish-style cafes with musical entertainment, Polish and Yiddish folk tunes of yore...on the very streets where more than 50,000 Krakow Jews were rounded up and "transported to oblivion" in the period of 1939-1944, including those 1000+ who were snatched by the enterprising Oskar Schindler and put to work in his nearby enamel factory.

I would recommend that you "splurge" one night (although prices are relatively inexpensive compared to the west) at "Wierczynek" just off the main St. Mary's square. Upstairs elegant emporium harkening to the "between the wars" days. Excellent choices of Polish dishes....waiters are a throwback to that period.

The salt mines are indeed fascinating...but if you can brace yourself for a few hours, Auschwitz is a place which everyone should make every effort to visit. If you have a car, it's only 30 miles west..if not, there are many bus tours or transportation options.

Stu T.

I also highly recommend a visit to Auschwitz. I was there last March and took the tour. It is VERY moving and everyone should see the atrocities that took place as a reminder it should not happen again.
Excellent hot chocolate also in the cafeteria of the university down the stairs just to the left of the famous clock in the courtyard.
You'll LOVE Krakow!!

Hi Mary_Fran,
You're welcome.
I think Ardente Sole looks fascinating. They have many Polish-themed court dance performances in their repertoire. Many of the shows are a combination of dance and pantomime. They are working on their Web site right now and I think it¡¦s only in Polish at this point. For pictures click on the section ¡§repertuar¡¨ and you can go from there.

Some other links that maybe helpful to you are:
1. http://www.culture.pl/en/culture/

I really like the following site:

2. http://www.what-where-when.pl/

2a. http://www.what-where-when.pl/top10/index_3018.htm

2b. http://www.what-where-when.pl/top10/index_top_10.htm

2c. http://www.what-where-when.pl/top10/index_2474.htm

3. http://www.Cracow-life.com



You asked about some Polish specialties. Check out the following:

http://www.what-where-when.pl/polish...lish_taste.htm

I love so many different Polish foods. Just to name a few, try some pierogi (they come with variety of fillings such as cheese, mushrooms, sauerkraut¡K or sweet varieties with the ones with blueberries being my favorite); Polish soups are wonderful (Zurek ¡Vrye soup, barszcz czerwony - red beetroot soup, kapusniak ¡V sour cabbage soup, and wild forest mushroom soups being some of my favorites); kopytka z maslem are tasty yeast dumplings in butter ¡V similar to gnochii only betterƒº; crepes, bigos ¡V hunters¡¦ stew, paczki (something slightly similar to doughnuts, again much better tasting than doughnuts, the best ones are filled with rose-petal jam); knedle ze sliwkami (type of dumplings with plum filling); golabki (stuffed cabbage leaves ¡V either with mushroom or tomato-based sauce); pierniki (gingerbread, I¡¦m not sure if you are going to Torun, the birthplace of Mikolaj Kopernik ¡V Nicolas Copernicus. Torun has centuries-old traditions of gingerbread making; you can find gingerbread in Krakow also, even you are not planning on visiting Torun on this trip, try store ¡§Kopernik¡¨ at ul. Grodzka 14).
Btw, if you are looking for sweets there is Wawel brand store right on the Market Square at number 33.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...041502453.html


Btw, I¡¦m thinking julies maybe talking about Nalesniki (¡§Crepes¡¨) at Pl. Mariacki 2 (a little square right of the Main Square). They serve tons of delicious varieties of crepes.

There are actually a few good pizza places in Krakow, one of them being Cyklop:

http://www.cracow-life.com/krakow/wh...tails/9-Cyklop

Btw, Wierzynek is one of the oldest restaurants in Europe. It dates back to 1364. Make sure to request a table next to a window (great views of the Market Square).

I bought some hot chocolate powder at Wawel. In a pretty tin, I haven't tried it yet. We actually went in there primarily to escape an aggressive panhandler. They're not common on the market square, he was the only aggressive one we encountered anywhere in Krakow.

While you are there pick up one of the books on Krakow legends. They are very entertaining and give you some interesting insights into the town's history. Have to say we thought a few of those legends were vodka inspired, but we liked reading them all anyway.

We dined one night at a very nice restaurant in a cellar, on the street that's a block west of the square, on the west side of the street. Good food. I was amused when the waitress brought out the bread, then with a special flourish a ramekin of...lard.
Yes, lard. It had bacon flecks in it. I guess they spread it on bread instead of butter. I tasted about 1/2 tsp of it, and it tasted just like...
bacon grease, congealed. Ah well, they probably marvel at things we eat; that's why we travel, to broaden our horizons.

I am quite beside myself with joy at my good fortune in eliciting so many fabulous suggestions. I can't wait to go, see all these wonderful sights, and eat the food, which sounds right up my cullinary alley.

You're surely right about Auschwitz, but I tear up even reading your descriptions, so I don't know if I have the emotional fortitude to deal with a frontal loo

Ooops! Somehow leaned on the "send" button before I meant to. But you get my drift. I'll think more about a visit to Auschwitz but don't know if I could bear the pain.