A Medieval Marvel

While not the most famous or glamorous city that comes to mind when planning a European vacation, Kraków deserves all of your attention. Situated in southern Poland, Kraków is the country’s second largest city and one of its most important, with a bustling university atmosphere, fantastic architecture, and an important artistic legacy. The Old Town, which contains some of Kraków’s most impressive sites, was designated a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site in 1994. A fascinating destination for history buffs, budget and solo travelers, and those with an itch for adventure, Kraków has something for everyone!

When to Visit: Early summer (Late May-June) and Autumn (October-November)

Cost: $ (Very budget friendly)

Solo Traveling

Solo traveling has become a popular trend in recent years, and if you are comfortable with yourself and your abilities to navigate unfamiliar terrain alone, it can be a very satisfying way to experience a new place. You have the ultimate amount of flexibility to plan your own schedule and do as much or as little as you are comfortable with. While it certainly requires extra effort on the part of planning and organization, solo traveling has the potential to be immensely rewarding. It forces you to interact in a more intimate way with your environment, and oftentimes you meet fantastic new people, locals or other travelers, who will share a part of the trip with you.

Kraków was one of the first cities I visited traveling solo, and I think it’s a perfect destination for those who are curious to try it for the first time because of its size and atmosphere. Kraków is a small city with enough activities to merit a two day visit, at least, plus one or two more to visit some other important regions in southern Poland. The University atmosphere also makes it a great place to meet young people who are interested in practicing their English. You can find people to meet with on two applications that I have used in the past called Meetup and Showaround, which can pair you with a local guide to explore the city together.

Rynek Główny (Main Square)

The Main Square of Kraków is the focal point of the city’s Old Town, constructed in the 13th century. It is one of the largest medieval squares in Europe, and a bustling space to boot. Spend a little time outside at a café and admire the beautiful architecture of the kamienice (in Polish, historic townhouses). Visit Saint Mary’s Basilica, the famous brick gothic church of Kraków, or stroll through the Sukinniece (Kraków Cloth Hall) to see a small art museum or peruse the galleries of the market. You can also check out the Town Hall Tower, which serves as part of City Hall on the other side of the square.

**View of Saint Mary’s Basilica from the Cloth Hall. The Main Square is one of the nicest parts of the city and a great spot for people watching and carriage riding.**

**View of the Sukinniece (traditional Polish townhomes) that line the Main Square of Kraków. The architecture of the city is fantastic!**

The entrance to the Sukiennice Museum can be found on the second floor of the Kraków Cloth Hall. Despite its small size, this museum holds a nice collection of 19th century Polish art in four pastel colored rooms.

Wawel Castle

Wawel Castle is a large castle complex at the southern end of the Old Town, and one of the most important sites in the country of Poland. It was built in the 13th and 14th centuries for Casimir III the Great, King of Poland from 1333 to 1370, and then became the official residence place of the Kings of Poland for the next six centuries. The castle contains elements from the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods of art history, providing viewers with a variety of styles to enjoy. There is great art to enjoy inside the castle, specifically in the State Rooms and the Royal Apartments (tickets to which can be bought near the outside of the complex.) The castle sits next to the Wawel Cathedral, a beautiful Roman Catholic church with several chapels that can be visited. The cathedral is over 900 years old and serves as the burial site of the Polish monarchs.

**Closer view of Wawel Cathedral, with famous chapels. The mixture of architectural styles used to build the entire complex provides the viewer with very interesting and beautiful sights to enjoy!**

Kazimierz: The Jewish Quarter

Kraków has a rich Jewish history, and unlike in Warsaw or Poznán, Jewish historical areas were preserved during the Nazi occupation of Poland during World War II. Located just outside the Old Town, Kazimierz is the most famous neighborhood in Kraków to find Jewish heritage sites, including restaurants, synagogues, and murals dedicated to the Jewish faith. Visit the Old Jewish Cemetery, the Old Synagogue, and the Remuh Synagogue for a comprehensive overlook of the Jewish history of Kraków, the design of the Jewish houses of worship, and several monuments to the victims of the Holocaust. While there are no words that can capture the horrors that befell the Jewish population of Kraków, it was uplifting to see the neighborhood so alive and thriving; Jewish bands playing outside restaurants and children racing down the street in yarmulkes.

**Ariel, of the restaurants near the Old Synagogue, displays a menorah above the entrance and often has traditional Polish bands play Hebrew music outside.**

As a big-time European history nerd, there is one museum that is absolutely a must-see for anyone interested in World War II history, or film lovers: Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory. If you aren’t a history buff nor seen the famous Steven Spielberg movie Schindler’s List, this museum is a preservation of the factory of Oskar Schindler, a famous Polish businessman who saves the lives of over a thousand Polish Jews from the Holocaust by employing them in his enamel factory, which spared them from deportation to the Nazi death camps. The museum has a fantastic permanent exhibition which details the trials of life in Nazi Occupied Kraków from 1939 to 1945.

**Inside Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory, where Schindler saved over a thousand Jews from extermination by the Nazis. Their identities are recorded on the windows on the lefthand side of the picture.**

Finally, the Kazimierz neighborhood is famous for its wonderful street art and murals, which are painted on street corners, alleyways, and major thoroughfares all over. I will post a few examples below, but you have to go searching for them! (That’s part of the fun.)

Day Trips outside Kraków

While visiting Kraków, there are two very worthwhile trips to take out of the city. The first is to the Wieliczka Salt Mine and the second is to Auschwitz. Technically you can do both in a day, here’s how.

Wieliczka Salt Mine

The Wieliczka Salt Mine is located just 13km southeast of Kraków in the town of Wieliczka, Poland. The salt mine was first excavated in the 13th century from an upwelling brine underground, and became one of the oldest operating salt mines until operations were shut down in 2007. Nowadays, tourists can explore the various underground attractions that have been built within the mine, including chapels and statues constructed from salt using mining technology.

You can reach the Wieliczka Salt Mine via train or bus. On the train, go to the central Kraków station and buy a train ticket from Koleje Malopolskie company to Wieliczka Rynek-Kopalnia. When you get off at the station there are signs directing you to the mine, which is about 500 meters away. If you prefer the bus, take line 304 from the Old Town to Wieliczka.

There’s a great app called Moovit which allows you to input a starting location and destination into a GPS, which then coordinates the best route via public transportation to reach your destination. I use it everywhere I travel to instantly master the public transportation routes and save a little money on taxi fare.

For more information on the Wieliczka Salt Mine, visit https://www.wieliczka-saltmine.com to find out more about the mine.

**A chapel located within the Wieliczka Salt Mine. Everything is underground!**

**A type of machine used to move salt through the mines.**

Leonardo’s The Last Supper, carved entirely from salt. — **Leonardo’s *The Last Supper*, carved entirely from salt.**

Auschwitz-Birkenau

The site of the one of the world’s most horrifying tragedies, Auschwitz is a system of concentration and death camps responsible for the murder of over 1 million innocent Jews and other groups deemed “inferior” by the Nazi dictatorship. The journey to Auschwitz is not one to be taken lightly, but it is a necessary one to truly understand the horrors of the Holocaust.

While admission to the camps and museum is free, I would suggest touring with a guide that can provide context for the exhibits as well as transportation to Auschwitz (it’s about an hour west of Kraków.) Group tours are available from Kraków as well, so you can arrange a reservation a few weeks in advance (the camps have become very busy in recent years as more people discover Poland.)

The tour of Auschwitz is split into two parts. The first part tours Auschwitz I, the main camp, which contains the bulk of the exhibits, and Auschwitz II-Birkenau, the infamous site of the extermination camp. It is important to realize that this is a site of immense tragedy, and there are rules regarding conduct and dress when visiting the camp. This is not the place to take selfies, nor to behave in a manner that is disrespectful or disturbing (unfortunately, I saw some of both.)

**Entrance to Auschwitz I, the main camp. The famous words “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Work makes you free) would loom over all who passed through the camp.**

Auschwitz I Camp Barracks. These buildings were intended to hold families of officers, engineers, and doctors that worked in the camp, but they eventually decided to move them offsite so they would not witness the horrors that unfolded here.

**Entrance to Auschwitz-Birkenau II, the main extermination camp. Going down these railroad tracks was one of the quietest and longest walks of my life.**

Food in Kraków

I didn’t do a very good job taking pictures of the restaurants I visited while staying in Kraków, but there are a few places I really enjoyed.

Chimera

This local restaurant has a great ambiance, serving classic Polish food in a green space. You can’t beat the price either! I had potato dumplings, salad, and a traditional Polish soup, all for 5 dollars.

Address: Ul. Swietej Anny 3, 31-008

Phone: +48 12 292 12 12

Antler Poutine and Burger

This restaurant serves traditional Canadian style burgers with poutine, a famous dish in Quebec that puts cheese and gravy on top of french fries (it’s delicious.)

Address: Ul. Wislna 8, 31-007

Phone: +48 12 349 07 57

Kraków, Poland