Honestly, Krakow can be done pretty quickly. In a few hours… Most things happen in the old town – at the main square / Rynek Główny, along Florianska Street, and Grodzska Street towards Wawel Hill, with Wawel Castle, and the riverfront. If you follow the river bank west from Wawel Hill, you’ll walk into the Jewish quarter, Kazimierz.
The main square is pretty big, and this is where you’ll find the most activity. The Town Hall Tower, St. Mary’s Basilica, and the Cloth Hall are all beautiful, from the outside, especially at night. The Cloth Hall is busy at most times, housing souvenir stalls. I now see that St. Mary’s Basilica, supposedly has a stunning, blue ceiling, so should have popped inside. The square is lined with restaurants on all sides, and side streets, so no wonder there is much life. But still, I found the town to be very quiet, even with the plenty of tourists around. The sound level might go up a notch or two during the evenings, but nevertheless, found it a very relaxing city.
My reason for coming to Krakow, was the Wieliczka Salt Mine, and I think that should continue to be the focus, if you find the salt mine worth it… I didn’t go inside Wawel Castle, as that doesn’t tempt me anymore – seen too many castles. Tried to get some shopping done at Galeria Krakowska, right next to the train station, but wasn’t the most exciting.
To get around, I used the Jakdojade app. To look up what buses, trains etc to use, prices, and departure times. Not to buy tickets. Well, you can buy tickets for the bus on the app, but not for the train. Other places you can get tickets: ticket office, ticket machines at the train station or on the train and bus itself, from the conductor (added 3 zlotys to the ticket price going from Krakow to Wieliczka (salt mine)). It wasn’t the easiest to understand what ticket type to get. One machine called a one-way ticket “Standard”, another called it “One Pass Ticket”. I used the app to see what the price was suppose to be, and then chose the equivalent price / ticket on the machine 😀 FYI: Train SKA1 runs from the airport to Wieliczka via Krakow. 17 minutes from the airport to Krakow.
Website: krakow.travel
Rynek Glowny (main square)
Wawel Royal Castle & Wisla riverfront
Elsewhere around town
