Krakow is one of those crowd-pleasing cities that has something for everyone. Although it holds a lot of attractions, it’s small enough to walk almost everywhere.
As you explore Krakow, with its cobblestone streets, medieval architecture, and lively atmosphere, it’s impossible not to fall in love with the city.
The main square, Rynek Główny, is the largest medieval town square in Europe and was inducted into the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1978. A status that is well deserved given it’s home to some of the finest displays of Renaissance architecture the world has to offer.
For anyone that has been to Prague or Riga, you’ll notice a resemblance between the colourful buildings, cobbled streets, and the use of vintage trams as a popular mode of transport.
Poland’s most well-preserved historic centre
Remarkably, Kraków’s historic core, including its medieval Old Town and Wawel Castle, was largely spared from significant damage during the WWII. Unlike Warsaw, Poznan and Białystok which were virtually razed to the ground. Many of the buildings you see today in Krakow, date back to the 13th Century.
Having been the historic residence of Polish royalty, Krakow was architecturally impressive, with a strong European high culture character. As Krakow was close to the German border, it is said that the Nazi’s considered the city to be sufficiently German and planned to turn it into a completely German city. Furthermore, it was much smaller than Warsaw, making it easier to control it.
Architectural highlights
Krakow’s most iconic landmark is undoubtedly St. Mary’s Basilica. Located in the Main Square, you can’t miss its twin towers spiralling into the sky. For one of the best approaches, I recommend walking down Florianska Street which leads to Main Square.
Head inside St. Mary’s for an explosion of shimmering colours. The vaults, the columns – everything is painted in colours ranging from red to blue and ochre to gold, with no expense to detail spared.
Recommended: Entrance to St. Mary’s can get busy, particularly during peak season so it saves time to book tickets in advance.
If you purchase a city card & museum pass, you will get access to the church and many more attractions included in this guide.
Wawel Castle
Krakow also follows a Catholic religion and in ode to this, has, over the centuries built an incredible array of churches and castles. While St. Mary’s Basilica and Wawel Castle attracts flocks of visitors to Krakow, St. Joseph’s church located south of the city is in my opinion the most beautiful and surprisingly least visited.
St Joseph’s church looks like something out of a fairytale. Its ornate decorations, stained glass windows, red brickwork, exquisite Boroque detailing, and lofty spires really make it sing and stand out within the Podgórze district, and the city at large.
It’s located south of the river, so make sure you cross over from Kazimierz to Podgórze using the Bernatek Footbridge which is an attraction in itself.
Street Art
South of the city in Podgórze is a fantastic piece of street art by BLU. It’s located on Piwna Street, only a few minutes walk away from St. Joseph’s church.
Like Banksy, BLU has not revealed his identity but his work sprawls across several major cities including London, Berlin and Prague.
This area, south of the city is great if you’re looking to escape the crowds and align more closely inside the everyday life of Krakow.
Museum to visit in Krakow
Krakow is an arty city along with other Polish cities like Lodz. There are some great museums to explore, with The National Museum being among the best.
It has a prolific amount of contemporary Polish art on display which is something of a learning curve if you are like me, knowing very little about Polish artists. This encounter has made me particularly fond of Tadeusz Kantor and work by Alexander Rodchenko, a Polish photographer whose work is being currently exhibited.
Tadeusz Kantor in The National Gallery
Food to try, and restaurants to go to
Now let’s move on to food… Ahhh food, glorious food! This is one area where I can’t stress enough how delicious it is regardless of how much you pay for it.
This makes Krakow one of the best places in Europe if you’re on a budget. I recommend trying Karkowka, which is grilled pork neck, and you must try Pierogi. Pierogi are dumplings with a variety of different stuffings – this might sound quite plain but the Poles pride themselves on this dish. In fact restaurants continually come up with new and inventive ingredients to stuff inside their Pierogi, making it anything but plain!
Even away from Polish cuisine the standard of Krakow’s restaurants serving non-Polish dishes are incredibly high. In fact, I tasted better Italian in Krakow than I did in Italy!
Looking for somewhere to grab a decent beer? Head to the Jewish Quarter where you’ll find a cool, little pub called Singer that invites you in with its dim lighting and industrial decor.
Souvenir, anyone?
Seriously though, I’m not sure what Poland has in the water because Polish women are stunning. I should know, my boyfriend kept reminding me haha!
5 Responses
I really enjoyed reading this. You bring the city to life, I like your humorous take too. Well done for bringing Krakow to life. Ace photos too. Alan
Thank you Alan! I completely fell in love with Krakow, and my boyfriend completely fell in love with the girls ha ha!
Wonderful when a city is that much taken care of.
I’m going to Poland this fall, and we’re trying to decide between a trip focused on Krakow and Warsaw, or doing the coastal cities instead (Gdansk, Sopot, etc). Any thoughts? I’ll be traveling with my mother in law, so we have limited time and my husband and I would like to keep her as busy as possible 😉 This post makes Krakow seem like a lovely option…
Krakow really did press all my buttons, however it’s the only Polish city that I’ve explored so my thoughts could be unintentionally biased! Krakow is set apart from other Polish cities in terms of classical beauty because all the other major cities had to be reconstructed after World War II. However, I hear the coastal city of Gdansk is extremely beautiful, and like Krakow has some good street art to seek out.
There’s lots to see and do in Krakow and the top of your list should be Auschwitz and Birkenau, there are also several National Parks surrounding the city that would be nice to venture, depending on how long you intend to stay.
If you go to Warsaw, the city of Lodz is located 2 hours away which supposedly has an arty, industrial vibe – David Lynch’s film Inland Empire was shot there! But I appreciate an ‘industrial’, communism vibe isn’t everyone’s cup of tea hah!
(Enjoy travelling with the in-law ;-))