Travels With Clo

Krakow is a beautiful city, with a historically rich story to tell. It is the perfect mix of monuments, museums, bars and affordable restaurants for a fun but fulfilling short break.

In this post, I will share the itinerary I planned for our four days/ five nights in Krakow.

Day 1

If you have read my previous blogs, you will know that I do not tend to plan booked activities for the first day of a trip in case of travel lethargy or delays; for the first time this method proved successful.

Our 6am flight was delayed three hours. Whilst we were on the plane. Luckily, Callum had decided to pack us books to read on the flight, and had specially selected mine. I was curious as to why this murder mystery book has specifically been picked, until I saw the map in the introduction.

I was not best pleased, and after a very long journey, we were overjoyed to touch down in Poland and head to our apartment. The hosts that we booked through had organised us a taxi-transfer, so he was waiting for us in the arrivals hall. This eliminated my stresses, and he gave us lots of great local recommendations of places to visit.

We stayed in an apartment owned by P&J apartments. It cost us £80 for the five nights, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. Upon arrival, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was right next to the Florinska Gate, and less than a two minute walk to the main square.

It was mid afternoon by the time we were ready to explore, but we still managed to squeeze in a decent amount of sightseeing.

Wawel Castle was already on our radar as a place to visit, as a UNESCO world heritage site, but it was also recommended by our driver, so we made sure to designate a fair chunk of time to wandering the grounds.

Day 2

Today we were picked up at 5:30am for our excursions, that again our apartment company were kind enough to help us book. We were visiting Auschwitz and the Salt Mines.

Our group was very small, 6 people including ourselves, so the guides were able to add a much more personal touch.

The drive from Krakow to the Auschwitz 1 camp took around 75 minutes, and there was an educational film about the liberation of the camps and the survivors playing during the journey.

We were the first group of the day to arrive, which made the visit even more eerie and somber. It was silent apart from the voice of our guide, which exaggerated the sadness that plagues the camp.

Our guide led us around the museum exhibits, and the sheer mass of objects is a sight that will haunt me forever. It’s very hard to visualise the millions of people that were murdered during the Holocaust, and even this is just a snippet.

After the first camp, we got back in the minivan and took the short transfer to Auschwitz Birkenau, which was the main extermination site.

Firstly, we veered right after entering through the gates, visiting the buildings which housed the people that were imprisoned. The bunk beds would hold some times as many as seven people per bunk.

We then walked beside the train tracks, to the memorial that stands in between the ruins of the old gas chambers.

Nothing can prepare you for the influx of feelings running through your heart as you stand by this monument, taking in your surroundings.

Our tour of Auschwitz ended here, and our guide told us to make our way back to our driver at our own pace to allow us to process our surroundings and pay our respects.

Once we were back in the minivan, we had some time to spare before we were due in Wieliczka, so our driver drove us around the ruins of the Auschwitz 3 Monowitz camp and memorial, before continuing our journey.

There was a two hour lunch break upon arrival in Wieliczka, so we found a local restaurant to grab a coffee and try some traditional dishes.

I was keen to try Pierogies, which are dumplings traditionally filled with potato and cheese, topped with fried onions. When I saw them on the menu, I had to try them, as well as the traditional Polish cheesecake.

After such an emotional morning, the food really helped to perk us up.

We reconvened with our group and headed down into the Salt Mines for a guided tour, and it was absolutely incredible.

The site of the mines has been in use since Prehistoric times, and the first underground shaft was built in the 13th century. Today the chambers are filled with salt statues, lakes and a chapel, and is a must-see for any visit to Krakow.

Day 3

After such a long day previously, today was all about relaxation. We caught a coach from the bus station to Zakopane, where we had a booking at the Aqua Spa.

The drive was very scenic, watching the snow-capped mountains come into view as we drove on winding roads towards the town.

We took a leisurely stroll around the main streets as we had never visited somewhere like Zakopane- a ski resort. The buildings were straight out of a fairy tale.

After admiring the scenery, we checked into the spa and headed straight for the outdoor thermal pool with views of the Tatra Mountains. It was a very relaxing few hours, but we didn’t consider wearing sun cream! We left quite sunburnt.

After our spa session, we still had an hour before the coach back to Krakow, so we wandered into a local bar and tried different vodka’s and beers.

Later that evening, after applying copious amounts of aftersun, we headed into the main square of Krakow to try some different pierogies.

Day 4

For our final day in Krakow, we were determined to visit as many museums as possible- starting with the Archaeology museum.

This museum had a wonderful collection of Egyptian mummies and artefacts, and was somewhat of a hidden gem for me. I hadn’t seen it during any of my research for our holiday itinerary, so when we stumbled upon it on day 1 I knew we had to visit.

Next, we visited the Rynek Underground museum, which gave a great background into the history of Krakow, and even has ruins of some of the old structures inside.

After a few hours of exploring beneath the streets of Krakow, we headed to the main square to try some Toblerone Frappes, and then to the Jewish quarter for some Zapiekana.

The next museum on our list was the Krakow Pinball Museum, which absolutely blew my expectations. We paid to stay for 90 minutes, and played on so many vintage machines and enjoyed some pear cider.

On the way back to our apartment we made one final stop to the Pharmacy museum as it was very close to our apartment. It was full of old medical tools, and things used in the war. My favourite part was the jars of specimens on the top floor.

We decided to end our final night in Krakow by visiting Wodka bar, which I had been dying to go to all week. I had read that they served vodka tasting platters with over one hundred flavours to chose from, and I was not disappointed.

The chocolate and caramel ones were our favourites. If we had room in our cases we would have brought some bottles home with us.