If Krakow is worth a visit?

[DorothyZbornak]

DH has a significant birthday this year. He has warned me that under no circumstances am I to organise a surprise party with 100 people jumping out from behind the furniture

That suits me fine. He's decided he'd like us to go away for a few days to somewhere we haven't been before, but a short enough flight, so he's been looking at Krakow.

So I'm just wondering if anyone has been before? Is it someplace that's worth visiting? Is there anything in particular that we should see or do there (it will just be the two of us) Any recommendations for food/drink etc?

His birthday's not until September, so we're probably looking at going sometime around the end of September/start of October.

Krakow is a fantastic place to visit. We stayed right on the main square, so very handy for the bars and restaurants. The recent history is very interesting and horrifying at the same time. We took a bike tour around the city; it's a great way to see slightly out of the way places and learn a lot about it's history.

We went to the salt mines, Auschwitz and Schindler's factory but it's also a lovely place to just wander about, have a drink and look in the shops.

Sorry another point from me ... I made my own way to Auschwitz and it was absolutely easy to do. Wouldn’t pay the money for the organised trip but did do that for the saltmines. I wasn’t sure about going to them but so glad I did. They’re incredible!! All that underground!! And that’s like 1% of 1% of what’s there. Fascinating.

Krakow is fantastic - been there loads of times, a benefit of DW being Polish.

If you want a shorter break in Poland, I can recommend DW's home town, Torun, a World Heritage site and the birthplace of Copernicus. It's a lot smaller than Krakow and is doable in a weekend:

theculturetrip.com/europe/poland/articles/the-best-things-to-see-and-do-in-torun-poland/

Great bars and restaurants, sitting outside in Summer is a great pleasure.

Such a wonderful place, and always felt very safe even wandering at night. The restaurant Czarna Kaczka (The Black Duck) was our favourite meal, a really interesting little restaurant. Auschwitz, Salt Mines, Schindler's Factory all incredibly worthwhile, well worth going up to the castle - even if you don't go in - for great views and a very cheap cafe! The market in the cloth hall is brilliant, and just sitting in the square in the evenings as the sun goes down is fantastic. I want to be back there right now!

Went earlier this year. With the same friends I've been to Prague, Budapest, Berlin etc with. Loved it. Food was famous. Can recommend 3 restaurants we went to, if required.
Did all the touristy things, other posters have listed.
Yes. Would definitely recommend.

Been three times now. Loved it. There is a hotel called Boutique which is supposed to be amazing. I stayed in a hotel right by the square which meant my alarm clock was the trumpeter who plays every hour!

We did go to Auschwitz and Birkenau which was intense but worth going to. The salt mines were stunning. We would go back just to wander further.

We stayed there @stayingaliveisawayoflife

Loved the cocktails

OP, highly recommend this restaurant....

old-town.com.pl/en/

Love it. Great central square with market, Salt Mines really worth visiting and Auschwitz - a must but difficult visit.
Wine and food inexpensive.

More restaurant recommendations:

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g274772-d3573518-Reviews-Milkbar_Tomasza-Krakow_Lesser_Poland_Province_Southern_Poland.html

Ignore the "milkbar" bit; it was once a soviet canteen for the poor, now a cosy cafe with superb food all day (especially good breakfasts)

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g274772-d697169-Reviews-U_Babci_Maliny-Krakow_Lesser_Poland_Province_Southern_Poland.html

Casual, a bit hard to find, but oh how worth it - choose anything, it's all superb. Hungarian goulash with potato cakes is amazing

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g274772-d778633-Reviews-Nowa_Prowincja-Krakow_Lesser_Poland_Province_Southern_Poland.html

Excellent daily dishes, but worth going just for the hot chocolate (trust me!!)

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g274772-d2399811-r472748089-Restaurcja_Samoobstugowa_Polakowski-Krakow_Lesser_Poland_Province_Southern_Polan.html

Regularly gets great reviews, and with good reason

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g274772-d1802187-Reviews-Morskie_Oko-Krakow_Lesser_Poland_Province_Southern_Poland.html

Bit more of a treat - proper waitress service but still reasonable and excellent food

Pimiento is a great restaurant.
And if you like escape rooms, go to Lost Souls Alley where I thought I was going to die.
We used Krakow Tours for airport pick up and Auschwitz. They were excellent

@Mamamamamy can you please tell me what the Mexican is with huge cocktails? Booked to go to Krakow in Nov and that sounds like my sort of place!!

Sorry - @MaMaMaMy - typed you wrong!

It’s called Manzana’s and is situated on podgorze.

We lived there for 6 years and absolutely adored it.

If you have time when visiting I highly recommend going to the Zakopane to see the mountains. Very easy to get there on the bus (1.5hours) then another mini bus for a very short stop and then catch the cable car to the top of the mountains.

Had a fantastic weekend break there a couple of years ago.

Absolutely go, lovely place.

Some of the best restaurants in Krakow are Starka, Trezo and introligartnia in the Jewish quarter.

On grodzka (just off the main square) is Pod Aniolami restaurant which is very good

Brilliant. Thanks everybody for all your helpful replies (the MAJORITY of replies were helpful )
Sounds like it definitely a good spot to go to so.
@Greenfields, do you mind telling me the name of the hotel you stayed in? It looks lovely

A bit off the main topic but wondering why you can only take a small handbag to Auschwitz... Can someone explain, please?

Just like any museum...you can't take rucksacks or large bags in. It gets very busy.

Rockmysocks I can only imagine that people have stolen things..

Another top tip - check which airport you are flying to! There's one that's really close to the town and another that's about 1.5 hours drive away.. I've forgotten the respective names unfortunately..

@icelandicyoghurt Kraków is the main airport and the other one is Katowice.

I love Kraków but then I do live here 😁. Lots to do and see, food is great - it's not English obviously for those who don't seem to like it 🙄. Try pierogi they're amazing! If you go to the cloth hall there is a museum underneath where they excavated all the original market place. It's not well advertised but definitely worth a visit! You can also climb the tower in the Basilisca in the main square. I hate heights but the views are amazing!!

Definitely visit. I love living here.

Why oh why does the app only sometimes remove paragraphs?!

It’s Betmanowska Main Square Residence OP.

Imagine stealing from Auschwitz. I always assumed the small bag thing antwhere was more to do with people taking weapons in. I didn’t even think of that.

Massively jealous of the person who posted they live there. If you fancy a house swap

Would second Starka for restaurant choice - excellent and fantastic value. For visiting Auschwitz we did not pay for a tour, we simply caught the bus and went round by ourselves (bus very easy and very cheap) - however there are slightly complicated rules for visiting, so do some research (there is an excellent thread explaining it in detail on Trip Advisor) - in a nutshell you MUST have a ticket to visit - you can't just turn up - you can either have a ticket for an unaccompanied visit (as we did - free) or as part of an Auschwitz provided guide accompanied tour (small charge) - in the winter (which I think is defined October to April) you can visit unaccompanied at any time of day, but in the summer you must be part of a tour within certain hours (I think 9 til 4) - this is only applicable to Auschwitz 1 (the part with the famous Arbeit Mach Frei gate) - Auschwitz 2 (Birkenau - the part with the famous railway entrance) you can visit unaccompanied or as part of a tour at any time..and there is a free bus runs between the two. Would also advise that if you want to get the most out of it do some research before you go. Auschwitz 1 is very well signposted, but there are bits that you WILL miss if you don't know about them beforehand (for example there is a swimming pool which you are metres away from but will not see if you don't know to look for it). Birkenau is not well signposted at all and vast so best to research so you understand what you are looking at.

Rockmysocks stealing from Auschwitz (and depressingly there are many more): www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/29/two-british-teenagers-found-guilty-stealing-objects-auschwitz/

Even the Arbeit Macht Frei sign was stolen at one point: www.theguardian.com/world/2009/dec/18/sign-stolen-auschwitz-death-camp

A small point, but take a look at the "B" if you go; it's upside down, which was apparently done as a small sign of resistance by those forced to make it. I rather liked that ...