Colorful charmy Eastern European charm.
Krakow is a definite European highlight in Poland. Cheap-er, colorful, cozy, picturesquely beautiful and fun. Easy to explore within a couple days and plenty to do (mostly all within walking distance). Still close enough to Western Europe but should get you curious to see more of Central Eastern Europe.
Where to stay:
- Old Town – staying nearby here is most ideal for first time visitors. This way you can walk quickly to all tourist points and stay near the action.
- Jewish District (Kazimierz) – more ideal for locals or those on their 2nd visit. Tons of cool stuff down here and more of a local hangout. I would also say it can be a nicer, classier, and more affluent area. People go running by the water and across the bridges.
Hostels:
- I didn’t stay at any.
Hotels:
- Hotel Stary – probably not the cheapest but one of the iconic and popular hotels in Krakow. Looks beautiful, has an awesome spa (I’ve been here before and I think it’s open to the public).
Neighborhoods & Walking areas:
- Market Square “Rynek Glowny” (in old town) – main square with tons of people, restaurants, markets, and things going on. Walk inside the Cloth Hall and St Mary Basilica (nice colorful design).
- Castle – visit the walls and waterfront. Go inside and walk around. Be sure to snap photos of the beautiful church that looks like 10 bohemian designs shoved together. Then you can
- Jewish District (Kazimierz) – awesome local spot. Walk the busy areas. Also the quieter areas. Check out the bridge with the hanging gymnastic statues/sculptures. I would do the area around Kolanko No 6 restaurant, and then over to Plac Wolnica square, and down to the bridges (Most Marszalka & The Bridge of Locks).
- Parks – all the parks and green space areas are nice. The main ones for me are the ring around old town, and then the one by the castle.
Activities to do:
- Walk around – using the list above. See nice sites, take nice photos.
- Shopping – Poland is cheaper than many European countries and still nice quality. Also many great handcrafted products (for example leather stuff is much cheaper here than in Italy).
- Scooter – so much fun to use here. Get a scooter and ride around during the day or not. You can get very far and see many things.
- Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum – visit the Nazi concentration and execution camp. Sad but necessary education about the horrors of war and human evil. It’s easy enough to get there by train. From Krakow train station, you buy a train ticket to Oswiecim and from there you can rent a scooter or take a bus to the museum.
Restaurants & Cafes:
- Morskie Oko – delicious authentic Polish food. Try the soups and meat stuff. Sitting outside has nicer ambiance but do check out the inside and downstairs with your camera…it’s a classic cavern restaurant.
- Smak Ukrainski – delicious authentic Ukranian food (which I love). Try the borsch soup, meat dishes and pierogi. A great chance for you to try other great cuisine without having to go to the country.
- Cafe Camelot – come for breakfast or lunch. Sit outside or inside as you like but make sure you walk around inside of it (pretend to go to the bathroom). The typical Instagram photo is in the pink room inside. They’ve been annoyingly slow service lately. Perhaps try Magia instead.
- Magia Cafe & Bar – also good food and cute decor, but much faster service.
- Kolanka No 6 – really great coffee and food located in Jewish district. Come here during breakfast for the cheap breakfast buffet (great food).
- Pierogi Mr. Vincent – easy casual place with OK pierogis. Try the 2 meat pierogis they recommend. The sweet ones are not so great to me, I prefer Ukranian sweet dumplings better. Good place to go on days when you feel lazy and not dressing up. Or like if you just arrived from airport and hungry. But there are definitely much better pierogis to eat around town.
- Indian restaurants – there’s some really good Indian restaurants here. I tried Indus Tandoor and loved it, cool cavern setup too.
- Bonjour Pho – for amazing Vietnamese food.
- Blueberry Resto & Cafe (Jewish district) – love this place. Lots of seating in the back as well. If you prefer more outdoor seating, try Urban Cafe or the many other spots nearby.
Polish food in general is pretty good. And thankfully, they also like spices and exotic flavors…so non-Polish ethnic restaurants here are also really good. For example, Asian restaurants here are pretty good and taste authentic.
Bars & Clubs:
- Bars – many nice bars all around old town. Follow the noise, explore!
- Clubs – best to ask locals, DJ friends and check around on Instagram.
- La Bodega – the default tourist place if you don’t have a more selective place to go. It’s built like a huge underground maze with many floors. Fun to run around.
- Sekta Selekta – I think is a bar.
- Club Piekny Pies – cool one that goes underground in Jewish District.
Miscellaneous tips:
- Soplica alcohol – the Polish brand alcohol. Cheap and tastes good. If you get to know locals, many make their own alcohol at home and will offer to you when you visit their house.
- Transportation – public transportation, biking, or scooter is the best way to get around. Rent those e-scooters off the street and zip away. Unfortunately, the scooters and Uber cars have rules now. Scooters have to be parked in their designated areas instead of just being left anywhere. Ubers cannot get into all areas. You may have to walk 1-2 blocks to reach the nearest Uber pickup.
- Rideshare – Uber & Bolt are here.
- CHAIYO Thai Masssage – Dietla – awesome (and cheap) massage place, cost like 60euros for 2 hours. They have 2 locations and my friend recommends this one as the best one.
- Gentleman Barber (Szewska 25) – I had an amazing cut here by “Majana” (don’t know the spelling). She was really detailed and took her time and did a great job.
Nearby towns:
- Warsaw – another cool Polish city. Not as charmy (since it’s been destroyed and rebuilt) but still nice and has many good shops and restaurants to see. Is it an absolute must-see? I’d say no, but anyway it’s only 3-4hrs away by train. Make sure to eat at Zapiecek if you go.