Journeys and Adventures

Planning a visit to Krakow, Poland?  Here’s some practical information to help you with your vacation plans:

Getting There

v     The Krakow Balice airport can be reached by flights from London, Paris, Munich, and other cities across Europe.   The old town train station is a short 20-minute train ride from the airport—the tickets (which are approximately $2 per person each way) can be purchased directly on the train or from a kiosk in the airport.

v     Krakow can also be reached from major European cities by train.  The city is approximately 2.5 hours from Warsaw, 7.5 hours from Vienna, and 8 hours from Prague.  Check local train listings for the country you’re traveling from.

Accommodations

v     Krakow offers a large variety of accommodations ranging from hostels to five-star hotels.  Most accommodations are concentrated around the Old Town or Kazimierz, the Jewish Quarter.

v     Prices, of course, also range from cheap to expensive.  Traveling in the off-season can also help keep prices low.

v     Check out the standard accommodation websites like hotels.com or HostelWorld

Eating

v     Krakow has a surprisingly wide variety of restaurants—many with high quality food and low prices.  Cuisine choices range from sushi to Italian, French to traditional Polish.

v     Traditional Polish food like borscht (beet soup), pierogis (small ravioli-style dumplings with various fillings), and golabkis (stuffed cabbage leaves) are available throughout the city.  Self-service restaurants like Domowe Przysmaki will give you delicious food at reasonable prices.

v     Cyrano de Bergerac is a unique cellar restaurant in Krakow offering Polish favorites with a French twist (like Blinis with Home Smoked Salmon with Melted Butter and Fresh Cream) and award-winning French cuisine (like Foie Gras of Duck with Caramelized Pear Blackcurrant Sauce).  The restaurant is a bit pricier than other Polish restaurants, but its lunch menu is a bit more reasonable.

v  Shopping 

   Popular souvenirs from Poland include amber, hand-painted crafts, and other folk art.  A market for these crafts is open from approximately 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the Sukiennice Cloth Hall in the middle of the Old Town square.

v     The town also offers a large shopping center next to the train station with popular stores like H&M, MAC, and Jack Wolfskin.

Related Posts

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Krakow Poland: The Wawel
Krakow, Poland: Old Town and Jewish Quarter
Krakow, Poland: Tour Companies
Krakow, Poland: Legends and Stories
Krakow, Poland

Photo by Jennifer L. Price, www.jenniferlprice.com