After spending time in Frankfurt, Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest, I took my first flight of the trip over to Krakow via a layover in Warsaw, arriving the night before my actual 30th birthday. The airport was only about a 15-20 minute drive from my hotel, which was in the PERFECT location according to the taxi driver. As a loyal SPG member, I opted to stay at the Sheraton Grand Hotel, located right on the river and directly next to the castle and central Old Town area.
The hotel itself was beautiful, and they upgraded me to a club room that had been recently renovated. My layover in Warsaw ended up being longer than expected because of delays, so I was happy to see some snack in the room. As well as this super cute little bath toy next to the tub. I ate some food and then promptly fell asleep, knowing I had to be up in just a few hours for my tour.
The next morning, I’d planned a full guided tour of Auschwitz and Birkenau via the tour company Escape2Poland. The company was great – a car picked me up directly from my hotel at 7 am, and it was only myself and two other girls in the car as we drove the hour to the camps. While these tours are not a “fun” thing to do, they’re extremely important. We’ve all heard the history, but actually walking the camps and truly reflecting on what happened, is something I’d recommend to anyone traveling in this area. I obviously didn’t take many photos out of respect, but felt these three were especially powerful.
I highly recommend booking a guided tour in advance – almost every visitor is on a tour, and without one, you won’t get the narrative as you walk through. Our guide was extremely knowledgable, and answered questions along the way.
As far as logistics go, make sure to bring a snack – there is only about a 15 minute break in between the two camp visits, and most of the tour companies don’t allow you to eat or drink in their vehicles. The Sheraton was used to a lot of folks coming for the tours, and put together a little lunch box with some breakfast pastries and yogurt, as well as a separate box with a few small sandwiches, some bottled water, and a Mickey juice-box.
After leaving the hotel around 7 am, I arrived back from the tours a little after 1 pm, and decided to take some time to relax before heading out to visit the rest of the city. I felt like I needed a little internal reflection before more sightseeing. While visiting concentration camps on one’s 30th birthday doesn’t seem like a natural choice, it was a great way to look back and be thankful for everything that has happened in those 30 years, and all of the possibility that lies ahead.
After a few hours resting in the room, I headed out to explore Krakow. My first stop was St. Joseph’s a few blocks away, which was a beautiful church.
After walking through the church grounds, I headed off towards the main square, and randomly passed a Dominican church, which as an alumnus of a Dominican high school, I always enjoy seeing.
The main square is beautiful, much like every main square in Europe. The highlight of the square is the St. Mary’s Basilica, which you can enter into via the front to see the services and church itself, or via the side to pay a fee and climb up to the top of the towers for a view of the city.
Across the way from the Basilica, is the Sukiennice, one of the oldest shopping centers in Europe, where you can buy anything from simple tourist trinkets to beautiful furs. I have to admit, as warm as it was when I visited, I was super tempted to buy some fur accessories and vests – they were all SO beautiful and way cheaper than what you’d find in the states. Poland in general is well known for their furs and their leather goods – if you were hoping to pick up some of these treasures, Poland is the city to do it in!
After the main square, I walked down Florianska Street to the St. Florian’s gate. The street is SUPER touristy and full of souvenir shops and tour companies. While it was cool to see, I opted to walk back via a different street to see a bit more of a local flair.
After crossing under the St. Florian’s gate, you’ll come to the Barbican, one of the old gate posts for the old city walls. You could go in and look around, but you had to pay, so I opted to keep exploring.
I ventured one block further, and happened upon the Basilica Floriana, the parish of Pope John Paul II when he was in Krakow. Surprisingly, it was pretty empty, and I was able to walk around the small but beautiful church. The city where the famous Pope is from is only a little ways away from Krakow, and Escape2Poland also does tours of his hometown if you have a bit more time and it’s something you’re interested in seeing.
Afterwards, I turned around and headed back towards my hotel via Slawkowska Street rather than the more touristy Florianska. It was a nice change of pace with more restaurants, coffeeshops, and less expensive shops.
Next to my hotel is the Wawel Cathedral and Castle. I walked up and wandered around the grounds. Unfortunately, even though it was still light for quite a few more hours, the indoors of both the castle and the cathedral were closed, so I had to settle for seeing everything from the outside, including some beautiful views of the river.
To get back down to the riverfront walkway, I opted to walk down the Dragon’s Den – a spiral staircase that you pay to enter (the equivalent of about 50 cents). After walking down the very small staircase, you’ll come to an underground cave, thought to have been the lair for a dragon in historical times. It only takes about 10 minutes max to walk through (walking VERY slowly) so I highly recommend using this as your route back down.
When you exit the cave, you’ll be right behind the famous dragon statue of Krakow, that once every few minutes, breathes ACTUAL fire into the air. It’s a pretty cool sight to see, and I recommend trying to see it during the day, and again at night for an even bigger impact.
After the castle, I began my walk over to the Jewish Quarter, where the majority of the bars are located. As I walked I noticed a few of these super cool scrabble sculptures – one on a rock along the river, and another on the side of the external wall of a bar. According to a Google search, there are 8 of these scattered throughout the city, all with accompanying YouTube videos to explain their significance.
Once in the Jewish Quarter, I had the beginning of my first birthday drinks at Pub Propaganda, a super divey, punk rock, communist propaganda themed bar. It was empty when I arrived, and I snagged a seat next to the window drinking a few Polish beers and people watching. In addition to Red Ruin from Budapest, this was one of my favorite bars of the trip.
Afterwards, I walked over to Pijainia wodki i piwa – a local bar with multiple locations known for it’s super cheap drinks and their “shoty” menu of small shots, as well as their attractive bartenders in suspenders. This was definitely more of a local’s bar, as the bartenders seemed to know most of the clientele walking in, and surprisingly, they were also known for their tartar, which they kept serving out of a super small fridge located underneath the bar.
A block away is the bar Singer, named after the famed Singer sewing machine. All of the tables both inside and outside are old sewing machines, and the entire bar itself looks like a super cool old mansion. It was still pretty early, so I managed to have the entire front room all to myself for a beer here.
After visiting all of the highest recommended bars in the Jewish Quarter, I started walking back towards the Sheraton. In general, I tended to end my night as it started to get dark, which at this time of year (May) is around 10 pm, leaving lots of time for exploring. As I walked back, I passed a place called T.E.A. Time which looked like they may have food, and I stopped in. It was English themed, and ended up having a great selection of craft beers, including some I knew from the U.S. I stopped in for one drink before finally heading back to the hotel.
Along the river walk back to the Sheraton, you’ll pass the dragon again, and as I mentioned before, seeing it at night is even cooler, as the fire stands out quite a bit more. The entire river walk is also a hip area for the younger crowd to hang out, and there were a ton of musicians, and groups of people hanging out and having a drink along the water before heading to their final destinations.
After getting back to the Sheraton and having a late dinner consisting of my leftover sandwiches from the morning, I decided to check out the rooftop bar, which overlooks the castle and the river. It was surprisingly not super crowded, and had some great drinks and views. I didn’t get a chance to visit during the day, but was told the views were even more impressive in the light. Even if you don’t stay at the Sheraton, I’d recommend coming up for a quick beverage while you’re in the city.
The next morning I woke up feeling a bit rough from all the birthday drinks, and tried this Swiss After Alcohol drink they had in the mini-fridge that surprisingly made me feel a lot better for a few hours. (And yes, I also drunk ate that whole tube of Pringles seen behind the drinks – it was my birthday – I deserved it).
After packing up and checking my bag with the front desk, I headed out to Kuchnia u Doroty for lunch. The spot was a recommendation from our driver on the Escape2Poland tour, and he said it was one of the best spots for true Polish cooking and where the locals go when they’re craving it. Be prepared for a wait. Even though it was just me, I still had to wait about 20 minutes for a table, and they don’t have a waiting list so you just have to watch who is around you and know when it’s your turn. Pro-tip, order a bunch of appetizers instead of entrees so you can try more. The waitress was even super nice and offered to make a half portion of the cabbage roll seen above since two would have been WAY too much for just me.
After filling up on Polish food and beer, I wandered over to the Forum Hotel, an old hotel that is now mostly abandoned, but boasts the largest billboard in the country across the entire front of the building. Out front, they have a trendy bar/restaurant with beach chairs along the river, and lots of park/beach games. Inside, they’ve used some of the old ballrooms for rotating exhibits, and it just so happened that while I was in town, so was the Titanic Exhibition.
I’d been to the Titanic Exhibit about 10 years ago in Madrid, and had been blown away, so I decided it was time to re-up with another visit. When you enter, you’re given a boarding pass with the name and information of an actual passenger on the ship, and as you walk through the exhibit, you can see how that particular person would have traveled, and even sometimes see their actual possessions that have been rescued from the ocean.
The coolest addition to the tour since my last visit was the fake iceberg in one of the rooms. They encourage guests to walk up and touch the ice to feel the actual temperature of the water that evening in April. If you’re in any city at any time that has the exhibit, I highly recommend popping in, touristy as it may seem.
With the entry to the tour, you also received discounts at the restaurant out front, so it’s a perfect spot for a quick break along the water.
Afterwards I walked the 45 minutes over to Schindler’s Enamel Factory. It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. Having seen the movie, I figured it would be more geared towards the actual people who were there, but instead it was more of a general war museum highlighting what happened in Poland during WWII. I learned a lot, and they had an especially powerful room full of letters written by children ages 7-15. These diary entries, written from the unique perspective of children, really make you think about the terrible things we allow to happen in the world.
Unfortunately, after the Enamel Factory, I had to start heading back to the hotel to catch my car to the airport. I cross back over the river on the Bernatek bridge, which features sculptures of acrobats doing incredible tricks all the way across.
Once back at the Sheraton, I had time for one quick meal before catching my car to the airport. I opted for some Polish sausage from the hotel restaurant, before heading out. The gentleman who runs the car service for the Sheraton was super friendly and we had some great conversation during the drive. He even told me that of all the cities in the world, Chicago actually has the largest population of Polish people – more than even Warsaw and Krakow!
Overall, Krakow was an incredible city, and I’m definitely looking forward to going back and spending more time in Poland. Have any tips for my next trip or any questions about visiting yourself? Let me know in the comments!
Next, off to Copenhagen!
