Anyone been to Krakow... advice please

[ThankGoditsChristmas]

Hello all,

I've booked a trip to Krakow the end of this month for myself and my 13 year old son. I've never really travelled alone before, have a terrible sense of direction and to be honest a little nervous travelling as the only adult in case it all goes wrong.

I have a few questions (which are probably stupid) but it would be great to have some info and feel better informed.

We are staying 3 nights but only really works out as 2 full days, so I want to get things organised in advance if possible.

We are staying here in Old Krakow town at this location...
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g274772-d954084-Reviews-Antique_Apartments_Plac_Szczepanski-Krakow_Lesser_Poland_Province_Southern_Poland.html

So my questions...

• Can anyone recommend places to visit in the Old Town? The reviews state that there are things to do in walking distance.
• We want to Visit Auswitch...I've somehow gone wrong here because I checked distance when booked and thought it was around half hour away from our hotel. Apparently not. So a taxi will probably cost a fortune and presumably we want to do an excursion/tour/arranged trip. How am I best booking this? Anyone have recommendations? Will we be able to book via the hotel? I have emailed them and awaiting a reply.
• also want to visit the salt mines, again how is best to do this? Via a trip/excursion.

I'm worried about booking things and it all going wrong. So I'd love any advice please. Thank you.

I can't help you about driving to these places, but things like Wieliczka are all tour-based. That is, if you go there, your entry ticket is a ticket for a particular tour setting off with a guide in a particular language at a particular time. You can't just go wandering around Wieliczka on your own. I think that's the same with Auschwitz-Birkenau, but I'm not certain of that.

Krakow looks lovely. Viator do bookable trip or you can call and ask your hotel concierge if there is one as they will know the trips which are most convenient.

Aushwitz is not recommended under 14yo. I'd give it a swerve. Go again when he's older. It'd a day trip and would be awful way to spend half your trip. As it is you can easily spend 2 days around the town and going to salt mines.

I want to go but my interests include the basilica of divine mercy (Catholic) and energylandia (theme park!).

Aushwitz is not recommended under 14yo. I'd give it a swerve. Go again when he's older. I disagree. OP's son is 13, so only one year off from your recommendation. I went there at 13. Many Polish schools organise school trips for children there, even at slightly younger ages, like around 11-12.

In Kraków itself, Wawel castle is the classic. Sukiennice in the main square also, but that's just a quick look.

Krakow is a small city with lots to do by foot (Wawel Castle, Kazimierz (Jewish area), market square (Rynek Glowny), cathedral)). Auschwitz and Salt Mines each a whole day in themselves. Auschwitz will be VERY cold at this time of year if you decide to go - wrap up well. You cannot visit without booking a tour guide - your hotel will be able to help with booking, or tourist office. Krakow is a really lovely place to visit (I'm biased, my father is from there). Relax and enjoy! Your hotel is in a very central area.

Hi. How exciting! I love Krakow and have been twice with kids - highly recommend it!
Firstly, yes, if you are staying in the Old Town, there will be plenty to see in walking distance - it's a very compact city centre.
For the salt mines and Auschwitz, it will depend on your budget. We did both independently by public transport and it's definitely doable but both would be much easier with one of those tours that pick up from your hotel.
For Auschwitz, I'd say think seriously about what your 13 year old can cope with. As a PP said, it's not recommended for under 14s. We went with a 14 year old and a 12 year old, and we purposely did it independently - we didn't want to annoy anyone on a pre-booked tour who disapproved of kids being there, and we wanted to be able to go at our own pace, skip parts that were too much for them, and leave altogether if it was too overwhelming. It worked well for us, and actually our 12yr old got far more out of it than the 14 yr old - all kids are different and only you can know.

We booked our day trips to Auschwitz and the salt mine through Get Your Guide before we flew out. For Auschwitz the bus picked us up at a collection point 5 minutes away from our hotel and dropped us back in the city centre. There were definitely children younger than 14 in our tour group, you will know your son and what he can handle. It is quite intense and upsetting but worth seeing. We got a taxi to the salt mine and back but I'm sure there is also a train that goes there. Wawel Castle is interesting, as is the Jewish quarter. I wanted to visit the Schindler factory but we ran out of time.

Thank you very much for the advice so far, it's really, really helpful.
I'm pleased I've at least managed to book a good, central location. Also good to know that Auswitch and Salt Mines are generally done via yours, so will book this way. The issue is that we arrive in Krakow around 10.30 on the Sunday and I'm worried it'll be too late to book a trip for the next day and as we only have the 2 full days, time will be limited.
We got unlucky with flight times and it's really reduced our 3 nights but hoping to do the 2 excursions and in between, wander around old Krakow on foot and find somewhere nice for dinner.

Intake on board what people are saying about the age limit. I didn't realise it wasn't recommended for under 14 years of age. My son has wanted to visit for a little while as he was learning about Auswitch in school. He's a very sensible, I reverted and mature 13 year old, so I think he'd cope but it's definitely something for me to bare in mind.

Oh, and definitely get a pretzel from one of the street vendors when you're there, and try the Polish filled doughnuts, they are seriously good.

I took my DC to Krakow and Auschwitz when he was 10, he was fine. It was a really valuable experience for him.

I just booked on viator, and we met a coach at a local pick up point.

I researched going this easter but it's a no brainer for me as I also have a 10yo as well as a 13yo. I think my 10yo could be less affected by it than my 13yo who is more sensitive.

If your ds has asked to go that changes things but you need to talk seriously with him about how upsetting it is.

Having been to Dachau I would say concentration camps are incredibly upsetting. It was a really valuable experience and I'm glad I have been. The video footage of walking (still just living) skeletons with hollowed eyes can be seen on the Internet nowadays. I also hated the footage of piles of corpses so emaciated they were like so much firewood. Auschwitz may present things differently but I'd be surprised if they weren't showing the footage of the camp being freed. I know about the rooms full of possessions. Those sound less upsetting but still so sad.

It's quite a few years since I was there, but the little tourist 'bus' tour of the city was a useful way to learn your way around - English language guide. Amber was cheaper on the little stalls outside the big market hall than in the hall itself. There was a great museum with fantastic art including a Leonardo. When you go to Wawel castle be sure to keep watching the dragon statue in the garden below - it breathes fire!

Lovely city, compact and atmospheric - enjoy it.

One word of warning, I damaged my (already dodgy) knee climbing down the hundreds of steps down to the salt mine. There is a lift back up though.

If you’re undecided about auschwitz (we got the train to Oswiecim but it wasn’t terribly convenient), but want your son to get some education about the holocaust, I recommend Oscar Schindler’s factory. It’s actually very user friendly and I think he would learn a lot in a way which might be less difficult to handle. I don’t have teens so can’t comment on how a 13 year old would cope, but as an adult I found it harrowing.

Thank you all. I'll definitely have a think about Auschwitz.

One more question...when doing these trips via tours booked online- do we need to bring lunch?

I went to Krakow with my eldest son in November- it was fabulous, you'll have a great time.
Your location is perfect, you're very close to the main square so will be within walking distance for all the great sights, restaurants etc for the Old Town and the jewish quarter. We booked the saltmines and Auschwitz tours through Trip Advisor (I think Hello Krakow were the tour company) - pricey but definitely worth doing as they pick you up from your hotel in a car and drop you back at your door afterwards. The drivers were great- full of brilliant local information and advice.

The Auschwitz tour will do an option for a packed lunch provided by the tour operator.
Saltmines have a lovely restaurant on site.

Highly recommend the Oskar Schindler museum.

https://www.inyourpocket.com/krakow/nakielny-wentzl_170511v This was an amazing restaurant in the old Town - so good we went back a second night.

Pod Wawelem was another fantastic restaurant in an old train carraige. Authentic Polish food - would highly recommend

You cannot go to Krakow without visiting Auschwitz. Please do go.

You can totally go to Krakow without going to Auschwitz, especially given the age of your son. I found the visit difficult due to the number of bored people taking selfies. DH refuses to ever go to a former camp pointing out he's quite capable of knowing it was horrific already.

Plus there is shocking Jewish history everywhere in Krakow.

You can book tours in advance on line but when you get there tours are on sale everywhere.

I would do the old town, castle, trip to salt mines and possibly the Schindler factory.

You need to look on TripAdvisor for some recommended tours and prebook one which will pick you up from your hotel.

Auschwitz is really interesting but I would also not take a 13 year old. If nothing else, the journey there is long and usually on a cramped minibus. I found the camps pretty harrowing. Details aren't spared.

I second the Schindler factory.

Krakow is lovely.

I went with my mum a few years ago. I'm not a particularly adventurous traveller but found Kracow really easy. We just hopped on a local bus to get to the salt mines as we wanted to go at a time to suit us. Just use Google maps and track the journey so you know where you are. The walking tours are great too. I can thoroughly recommend Czarna Kaczka/ Black Duck for a gorgeous and reasonably priced meal. Don't miss the Polish dumplings.

The Trabant tour is great especially as your son is too young to have grown up with the iron curtain.

The car is very interesting, quite likely to break down and need fixing and you learn a lot about Communist Krakow. They also stop for a nice cake.