Panoramic view of Wawel Hill in Kraków featuring the Wawel Cathedral and Royal Castle on a sunny day

a magical tourist destination

Regional Attractions

Kraków is in many aspects the most Polish of all this great nation’s cities. As ancient seat of kings Kraków comes steeped in legend and myths. It evokes the most fanciful of images, from dragons under the catacombs of Wawel, to Tatar hordes repelled at the gates, to pigeon-knights waiting for their king to return. Kraków’s postcard-perfect Old Town fascinates with Europe’s largest medieval market square and even a fairytale castle overlooking the river.

Architecturally it can easily match any European city arch for arch, spire for spire, monument for monument, gargoyle for gargoyle. In fact, UNESCO set the bar high indeed when it started its inaugural World Heritage List by adding Kraków’s Old Town and Kazimierz districts wholesale in 1978 (from what we can tell, that bar has since been lowered). Miraculously preserved and majestically restored, today the city’s architectural monuments house countless museum collections of priceless art and artefacts, and, if local legend is to be believed, the highest density of bars and clubs in the world. Kraków is also home to one of Europe’s oldest academic centres. Jagiellonian University occupies some of the most historical buildings in the centre, in addition to providing the life blood for the litany of nightlife options we list on our website.

Poland’s most charming city has been charmed indeed, emerging from World War II as the only major Polish city that was not reduced to rubble. As a result, Kraków did not have the downtown real estate to accommodate the enormous concrete apartment blocks that were built during the communist era in so many other Polish cities. Instead, those were consigned to the pre-planned soviet-realist suburb of Nowa Huta, whose concrete conurbations are only a time travelling tram ride away. The district of Kazimierz - once home to one of the most important Jewish communities in the world - is also enjoying a renaissance, while on the other side of the river, once-neglected Podgórze - known as the former site of the Jewish Ghetto and Schindler's Factory - has also become an essential part of the tourist trail. Our meticulously researched and continuously updated website features all the info you could possibly need on what to see and do around the town.

As dusk descends the city becomes a haven for hedonists. As you will no doubt learn for yourself, it is all too easy to descend the stairs into one of the Gothic cellar bars, and emerge at daybreak missing both your memory and friends. On these pages you’ll find everything you need to know about Kraków’s restaurants, pubs, clubs and hotels.

Czartoryski Museum

The Czartoryski Museum is a historic museum in Kraków and one of Poland's oldest museums. Founded in 1796 by Princess Izabela Czartoryska, the museum was created to conserve the heritage of Poland and to maintain the city’s history alive.

The painting gallery includes Mantegnas, Rembrandts and Bruegels, but the undoubted highlight is Leonardo da Vinci’s compelling Portrait of a Lady with an Ermine.

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Rynek Glowny and St Mary’s Basilica

In the heart of the old town is Rynek Glowny, the huge medieval market square that remains the city’s social hub with its many café terraces.

On the northeast side is the magnificently decorated, almost 600-year-old Basilica of St. Mary, with strikingly uneven rick towers. Every hour there’s a trumpet call from one of them to commemorate a bugler who was shot through the throat by a Tartar archer in 1241.

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Wieliczka Salt Mine

Just 13km southeast of Kraków’s city centre, in a small and unassuming grassy valley in the town of Wieliczka, one of southern Poland’s undisputed cultural and historical gems extends more than 300 metres into the salt rock veins of the earth below.

For more than seven centuries the Wieliczka Salt Mine has been a factory of superlatives, now hailed as the world’s longest active salt mine, home to the one of the world’s oldest active business ventures, and perhaps the world’s most startling example of industry meets art.

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Kazimierz and the Galicia Jewish Museum

Once an independent town, Kazimierz was Krakow’s vibrant Jewish quarter until the Second World War changed everything. Recently, however, the long-neglected buildings have been restored and the area’s Jewish heritage rescued from near oblivion.

Two disused synagogues have been turned into museums; two others – still in use by the tiny remaining Jewish population – can also be visited. However, it is the Galicia Jewish Museum that holds the most touching memorial.

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Wawel Hill

No ordinary hill, this limestone outcrop on the banks of the Vistula is the site of both the former home of the Polish kings and the cathedral where they were crowned and buried.

Every part of Wawel Castle’s state rooms and private apartments has painted ceilings, tapestries, fine art and antiques to marvel at. It’s a triumph of the restorers’ art: battered by marauding armies – the Swedes half burnt it and the Austrians used it as barracks – the mainly Renaissance building needed 100 years and some generous donors to get it back to its former good looks. There’s more historical splendour in the next-door 14th-century cathedral, from glittering shrines to intricately carved choir stalls, Baroque side chapels to the Royal Tombs.

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The Barbican and Old City Walls

On the north side of Kraków’s Old Town, far away from the Wawel castle hill, and at the end of busy Florianska Street that runs from the Rynek Główny main square, to the outer edges of the city’s medieval centre, stands the remnants of old Krakow’s 2 miles outer fortifications.

On the north side of the Old Town, nestled neatly in the Planty Park, visitors can find the impressive and forbidding structure of the Barbican. This circular building of almost 25 metres diameter was completed in the 15 century to further increase security on St. Florian’s Gate. The building is now home to permanent exhibitions of the Kraków museum and is used for open-air theatrical events throughout the year.

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Regional Attractions

Czartoryski Museum

Rynek Glowny and St Mary’s Basilica

Wieliczka Salt Mine

Kazimierz and the Galicia Jewish Museum

Wawel Hill

The Barbican and Old City Walls

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