Trip Report: Beautiful Krakow
To begin our festive Christmas trip, we stayed in beautiful Krakow. Whilst a small city, it offered plenty of activities, food, and drink options!
Logistics
I would hurry to read our overall travel planning post here to get some tips! Hotel Weilopole was perfectly situated in the middle of the Old Town and Jewish Quarter. I would prefer to stay in the middle as the Old Town (red circle) does get very touristy and the Jewish Quarter (blue circle) has wonderful cafes and restaurants!
Things to Do
Whilst there are plenty of museums in Krakow, this section refers to the primary activities we did that I would highly recommend - Auschwitz and the Walkative Old Town walking tour.
Auschwitz
For Auschwitz, head over to the activity review post! Regardless of how you get there, each group requires a museum provided guide. To aid you in your research, there are three ways to see Auschwitz:
- Public Transport + Free guide - there is a much cheaper way to see Auschwitz if you take a train and local bus. Here is a post I found that will help!
- Big ol’ bus tour + Free guide - As the title alludes, this option is the least preferable as we saw several large tour buses that bought 50+ people and they all walked around the exhibit together. Great choice if you love crowds and groups...
- Private car or bus + Free (private) guide - This is the route we chose because I didn’t want to spend 3 hours on a train or local bus, plus I wanted a smaller group in the camp. The smaller group enabled us to weave through the big crowds! We booked via Krakow Direct and they offer a variety of services! In hindsight, all they did was drive us in a comfortable minivan to Auschwithz, the private guide and smaller group was extremely worth it!
Walking Tour
As noted on TripAdvisor, the Walkative walking tours are number one in Poland. For our walking tour, head over to this post!
Food and Drink lists
In beautiful Krakow, there are many great food and drink options! I researched high and low to find great places so hopefully these will prove useful! Check out our list of restaurants!
To and from the Airport
There are a few methods to get to and from the airport. Having slept walked through the Krakow Airport, I had to quickly research the various ways to get to the city center.
- Train (9PLN, or $2): the train runs about 1x per hour and about a 20 minute journey. However, don’t follow in our footsteps and check the train times before you walk!
- Bus (4.6PLN, or $1): the bus takes about 40-50 minutes, but very cheap.
- Airport taxi (80-90PLN or $21): Located immediately outside the terminal, official airport taxis are expensive! But, cars only take 20 minutes
OR: The hidden best way to get to and from the airport is one that is probably the easiest, but we didn’t think that Krakow had Uber! It cost 35PLN, or $9, for a 20 minute journey.
Use Code 790flr for some free money off your first Uber ride!
Saturday - Crazy in Crakow
On our first day, we took a crazy early flight and hit the ground running exploring the beautiful city!
Early EasyJet Flight
As mentioned on our travel planning post, we purchased a 5:40am flight arriving at 9am in Krakow. Thankfully, not only did we stay overnight, but we also purchased EasyJet Plus which meant we could skip the very long queue as we arrived late to the gate. It was fantastic!
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No lines, no problem
Pro Tip: When it doubt, just buy the Easyjet Plus or the equivalent if you’re in a hurry.
Once we arrived at Krakow, thanks to our excellent seats, we breezed through customs and exited the building.
For the next 10 minutes, we basically slept walked to the train, discovered the next one wasn’t due for another hour, then thought about the bus, until I went to see if Uber existed. And then it did! Within 20 minutes, we arrived at our hotel!
Bagelmama
Once we checked into our room, we put down our bags and headed to get some breakfast!
Thankfully, a fantastic bagel shop, Bagelmama, is located right next door. We both ordered a terrific bagel sandwich filled with avocado, bacon, cheese, and egg and it was very tasty! Plus, MF had the “best” hot chocolate she has had in a long time.
Exploring Crazy Crakow
Before our walking tour at 12pm, we wandered through Krakow’s beautiful old town. More importantly, we had AMAZING weather!! The skies were blue and the sun was shining. We were doubting ourselves for packing such heavy winter coats.
For MF, we obviously had to stop by Krakow’s Christmas market located in the main square, Rynek Glowny. Whilst the market is very small, I thought the stalls had quality crafts and foods! Unlike other markets where most of the stalls repeat or sell true junk, there appeared to be plenty of food and drinks, plus good stuff. Per the online sources, the market is very selective and limits it to 80 stalls.
On our way to the walking tour, we stumbled on a Christmas parade! It appeared the local churches have put together a show! They were dressed in very different costumes. It was interesting and made our celebrations look very tame!
Walking Tour
Head over to this post to read about the wonderful Walkative walking tour!
Christmas Market Snacks
Obviously, one of the best things about the Christmas markets are the wonderful tasty snacks! Because it was mid-afternoon and we hadn’t really eaten lunch, we went back to the Christmas market to enjoy the local flavors!
By far, MF’s favorite *new* Christmas market treat is a Polish specialty called oscypek. From the southern Polish mountain sheep, people grill the cheese and then either cover it with cranberry sauce or bacon. YUM! For me, I have the classic “chimney cake” although the original word is Trdelník. Either way, we devoured these treats!
Otherwise, I also bought Belgian fries and mulled wine as I was more hungry than MF. We both enjoyed the people watching whilst the markets were in full swing!
Cheapest Dinner Ever
Because we snacked at the Christmas market then took a little bit of a snoozer nap, I was the only one hungry (and awake!). Thus, I wanted to get the cheapest meal possible whilst not spoiling anything so that way when MF became jealous, I wouldn’t mind having it again the next day. Yes, I know MF very well to predict this reaction…
After our walking tour, the guide handed out a map filled with their recommended restaurants and bars. Within this treasure trove was a nearby family run pergeoi shop, Przystanek Pierogarnia. Literally a tiny door with a window, it is the definition of a hole in the wall! I was one of three people, but I am not sure any one else could fit inside the place.
I ordered really basic, but very good minced pork meat pierogis! All for a grand cost of 11PLN, or $2.86. Then, I stopped a grocery store for cheap beer and dessert where my snickers bar cost more than my beer! For 2.99PLN ($0.78), you can get a snickers bar but for 2.79PLN ($0.72), you could have a beer!
Silent Sunday
On our first full day in Krakow, I dubbed it Silent Sunday. Not only did we visit the hallowed grounds of Auschwitz, but the city itself was very silent!
Visit to Auschwitz
For our visit to Auschwitz, please read about it at this post. I would highly recommend going whilst in Krakow.
Hamsa
One of the truly great foodie finds was Hamsa, an Israeli restaurant specializing in hummus and Mediterranean food. Hidden in the Jewish district, the trendy restaurant had plenty of seats and showed up the various parts of Israel.
We ordered a mezzie plate of normal hummus, falafel, and babakosh, each included a tasty pitta bread. Plus, I really liked the plating! For our main, we decided to split chicken shiesh kebab as we saw someone else order this massive dish. It was very tasty and fell off the kebab! I would highly recommend!
Wandering through the Jewish Quarter
Keeping with the Silent Sunday theme, we continued wandering through the Jewish Quarter. The buildings and little squares had so many cafes and bars that we wished it was a little bit more active!
We found a nice cafe called Kafe & Wino and stopped in to get out of the cold and beat the time!
Christmas Markets Galore
Because it was already 4pm and pitch dark, we decided to see the Christmas markets at night! The lights, Christmas lights, music, wonderful smells, and MF’s smiling face made the experience well-worth it!
As one can guess, we enjoyed many snacks, including chimney cakes, grilled cheese (Oscypek), and fries. I think we have favorites…
Cheapest Dinner Ever, Round 2
For tonight’s dinner, MF decided to join me in my cheapest dinner ever game. However, this time, I had to order two portions of peirgogis and then a half portion of sweet pierogis. All for a grand total of $7! We definitely enjoyed the price and the meal!!!
Food and Drinks Monday
On our last day in Krakow, we mistimed most of the museums which led to us missing them and spending most of the day finding food and drinks!
Charlotte
After a very lazy morning, I went to a highly recommend French brunch place called the Charlotte after taking some pictures of the city.
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The decor is fantastic as there are plenty of seats to hangout for a few hours and very French, but the food is even better!
I worked for a few hours here on this blog while enjoying extremely tasty bread with jams! Whilst I can understand that jams normally aren’t exciting, these were wonderful jams as I had strawberry and white chocolate! The white chocolate wasn’t as sweet as I would have expected.
Starka
Whilst I was at Charlotte, MF was enjoying a mid-morning slumber so once she woke up we decided to meet at Starka, a classic Polish restaurant in the Jewish quarter. The restaurant came highly recommended via a Krakow blog so we were excited.
Ordering off the specials menu, we had ruski pierogis, pumpkin soup, and the Polish burger. Outside of the piergois, everything else was slightly underwhelming. Perhaps we wanted something a little bit more from the hearty Polish meals or just ordered the wrong items!!
Schindler's List
As it wasn’t even 4pm yet, we decided to walk to the famous Schlinder’s Factory after watching the movie last night. Neither MF or I had seen the movie so we wanted to educate ourselves on the city plus a great film!
Once we arrived at the factory, we learned special holiday hours were enforced and the museum actually closed at 2pm, rather than 4pm or 6pm. Especially because tickets are free on Mondays!
Travel Tip: Schlinder’s Factory is free on Mondays!
Cawa
Because it was cold, raining, and just kind of miserable, MF and I wanted to get out of the elements as soon as possible. Thankfully, my handy research found a terrific nearby cafe called Cawa. Having comfortable seats and great coffee, Cawa was a great place to spend a few hours performing travel research and planning - for our next trips obviously!
Hamsa for Dinner
Perhaps our Polish lunch turned us away from a Polish dinner or I really didn’t want to have pierogis for the third night in a row, but we both wanted fresh, healthy food. Because we were near Hamsa, we were tempted by more tasty Israeli food!
Well worth our sad Polish lunch, the wonderful smells and tastes of Hamsa made our day! Instead of small mezzes, we ordered a larger sun dried tomato hummus that we loved! Whilst I was very hungry, we again split a beef kebab but the portions were massive so it was a good thing we didn’t order separately! All I can say is Hamsa is terrific!
Onto Warsaw
Because we had an “early” train onto Warsaw, we had a quick last morning in Krakow. Well, I did at least!
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Last Time at Charlotte
Because I really wanted a great baked good and coffee, I went for the last time to Charlotte. Instead of an entire bread basket, I ordered a simple croissant and Americano. Simple, yet fantastic!! In order to appease my ever hungry wife, I brought back several croissants and pain au chocolates for our train ride to Warsaw!
Polish Train Travel
Before the trip, I wasn’t sure what to make of Polish trains as the website wasn’t the best, but the online reviews appeared okay via seat61. I purchased our tickets a few days before our trip and thankfully was on the fast train to Warsaw as there are many “Intercity” slow trains but only a few EIP trains.
Travel Tip: Look for "EIP" trains online as they are the fastest in Poland!
Because we arrived early, we had a great, easy, train experience! Everything inside the station is well marked and mostly in English so directions are very easy - almost like German train stations!
Our train was already at the platform and we easily found our seats! Thankfully, we had an entire 4 seat table to ourselves!
The UnChartered Summary
- Krakow is a fantastic city to explore the ancient Polish history while enjoying many great restaurants and cafes. I just wish it was a little bit warmer and sunnier whilst we were there!
- You want to be in the middle of both Old Town and Jewish Quarter and our Hotel Wielopole would be perfect.
- Without stating the obvious, plan ahead for museum closures - this would have saved us for Schlinder’s Factory and we would have rearranged our schedules!
- The food in the Jewish quarter is likely better than Old Town, everything looks cookie cutter or food chains in the old town.
- For coffee and cafe lovers, I highly recommend Charlotte - they even have locations in Wroclaw and Warsaw!
- The pierogis are lovely and super cheap ways to cut your costs in a tasty way!