Krakow

[Mudflaps]

Husband is taking me to Krakow for a long weekend as my Christmas present (it's what I wanted), I'm looking forward to it very much but would appreciate any suggestions from those familiar with the city. We mostly likely will go mid March so what weather are we likely to have? Any hotel recommendations? We are in our mid 50's, not into a mad night life, like to go for a nice dinner and quiet drink at night. Any suggestions re days out, particular things to see? Husband has expressed a desire to visit Auschwitz, is this a viable option without having to hire a car? We can hire if necessary but would prefer not to. Also transfers from airport to city and back, what is the easiest option?

Hopefully I've not bored you all with the questions and thanks in anticipation.

How long are you going for? Auschwitz tour would probably take all day. You don’t need a car aa there is plenty of organised tours from Krakow.
i would recommend wieliczka salt mine tour instead - much closer
there is a train from the airport to town but taxis are cheap enough

We stayed at the Grand which is just off the town square. I refused to go to Auschwitz as I couldn't take it, I cried my eyeds out in Prague where the names of everyone who died in the camps is listed on the walls of an old synagogue.

Theses plenty to do in Krakow. The folk museum is a must see.

I’m going on Thursday and staying at the Queen Boutique hotel in old town.

Booked tours via Viator app, very easy to do and they pick you so you don’t need a car at all.

The Salt Mines are fab..highly recommend. Also Schindler's factory.
The Corn hall in the main square has literally tonnes of amber jewellery. There is also a fab museum underneath the main square which is really interesting.
We have found the food to be good pretty much anywhere and all very reasonable price wise. We usually stay Air BnB

There are buses to auswitch and the salt mines

We did a trip to Auschwitz Birkenau, it’s well worth doing. Our mistake was doing an organised tour with the salt mines on the same day and I have no recollection really of the mines, I needed to decompress - we should’ve done them as separate trips.

We did a private tour but there was lots of options, it wasn’t difficult to arrange.

You don't need a car for Auchwitz, public transport is available, or you can book an organised coach which takes/drops from city centre and includes a tour guide for both camps. It will take up most of a day, but is a must imo.

I can recommend the Babci Malinky restaurant. Very quirky and gorgeous Polish food.

Thank you for all the information, looking forward to the trip now.

If you're open to an AirB&B we stayed here...perfect accommodation and a fantastic location.

www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/43922339?viralityEntryPoint=1&s=76

Make sure you eat in the Jewish quarter on Szeroka Street. Beautiful place with a fabulous old bar, cobbled streets and amazing food.

Also sitting in the square and watching the world go by with a beer.

Castle, cathedrals, markets, river - all amazing. Make sure you have some vodka shots and zapikanka (sp?).

It's one of my favourite cities ever.

Airport into the City Centre is a very easy (and cheap) local train.

We did Auschwitz Birkenau and the Salt Mines in one day, but it was a long day - the bus picked us up at 5.15am if I remember correctly!

Both places are unmissable though.

Auschwitz Birkenau is profoundly moving, and a piece of history we must never forget.
I wasn't sure about the Salt Mines, (was worried about being a bit claustrophobic going into a mine), but you don't have to worry about that, and - without giving too much away - it is simply stunning, and quite unbelievable. I would highly recommend.

There are LOADS of restaurants across the town centre - just head for the main square - but even though that is where tourists head, they are still really affordable.

Walk to and around the Jewish Quarter for a day and go to Schindler's Museum there.
There are also several stunning Churches to look round in the City.

It's a lovely place.
Re accommodation - we stayed in a small apartment (Air B'n'B) from where we could walk to everything.

The Auschwitz tour is normally a full day and can be emotionally draining, from what I’ve seen it’s also quite rushed. I’ve never been on the tour but have visited many times as my aunt was a survivor of Auschwitz and her family perished there, after many visits we still learn new things and the tour barely scratches the surface.

How many full days are you going for @Mudflaps? There’s so much to see and do but it depends on what interests you.

If you are taking a taxi from the airport, download the BOLT app. Way cheaper.

Auschwitz is a good one to book via a tour, as they pick you up by mini bus from your hotel , take you there , arrange you getting in , tickets etc , and drive you from one site to the other , and back to your hotel . I wouldn’t arrange anything else the same day , in terms of bigger things as it’s a lot to do .

The salt mines are awesome, book tickets yourself for the English tour in advance, as different language tours run at different times . The gift shop has so many salt related products , and they are cheap , so if you want them stock up there , they won’t be the same quality or cheaper on the market stalls across the road .

Recommend Uber , both for the airport to hotel runs and also to go to the saltmine. Very cheap and reliable.

The castle is nice , don’t both paying for the cave walk , it’s small , and if you walk round to the river side you get to see the fire breathing dragon for free anyway .

Dont miss the chimney cakes , very yummy !

Everything is very cheap compared to UK prices .

Just jumping on here as I'm going next weekend

Should I take any cash? Or is contactless/Apple Pay alright?

Hotel and trips all paid for. Will need to pay for tram and meals out.

We went beginning of December- went to Auschwitz and salt mines in the same day and although it was a very long day honestly I’m glad we did - I felt so strange when we left Auschwitz that the salt mines were almost an opportunity to decompress, not sure how I would have felt if we’d just come back and gone out for dinner etc!

@secondsoutthere I used very little cash, only for tipping taxi driver from airport etc, think I took £150 cash with me and came back with at least £80!

Highly recommend Starka for dinner, the food was incredible and their home made vodkas were even better (I got through 6 apple and cinnamon shots 😂) - www.starka-restauracja.pl

@Skade thank you

If I'm going to use bolt/uber then no cash would be needed to tip I don't think?

We went to Krakow over Easter last year.

We did Auschwitz-Bikenau with an organised tour which meant we were picked up by mini bus and had a guide allocated when we got there. It was pretty harrowing but I'm glad we went.

We also went to Zakopane on another day, with a visit to a huge thermal spa.

I organised an e-scooter tour of the city for one morning which meant we got to see a lot pretty quickly. E-scooters and cobbles are interesting though!

We stayed about 10 minutes from the main square and found everything to be pretty walkable. The Jewish Quarter is fab and we had an amazing meal at Starka (bookings essential) one evening.

Definitely use Bolt instead of the airport Taxi's.

Saltmines was a great day out.