Travel Krakow – your comprehensive city guide!

Krakow Airport Taxi

Usually around 100.00 PLN, this option is safe and convenient if you are staying in the city centre, as taxis are one of the few cars that are allowed to drop you off in the city’s old town area. Regular taxis from the centre to the airport range between 40.00 PLN – 100.00 PLN. 

Uber

Usually ranges between 30.00 PLN – 45.00 PLN (surcharge fees excluded), and Ubers cannot drop you off directly in the old town area as they are prohibited from doing so – this is a right reserved strictly for taxis. 

Is English spoken in Krakow?

Yes! You won’t have to worry much about a lack of English in the main tourist areas of Krakow, but it does become more Polish the more local you go. If you’re able to make an effort and speak a few simple words like proszę (proh-shuh, please), dziękuję (gin-koo-ya, thank you), na zdrowie (naz-drove-ee-eh, cheers) and dzien dobry (gin-dob-ray, hello), it is much appreciated by locals.

Where is Krakow located?

Krakow is located in Poland, Central Europe. It is 3 hours by train south of Warsaw, 2 hours by car from Zakopane and the Tatra mountains where you can do some skiing/hiking, and a 3 hours train ride east of Wrocław. If you hop on a bus, you can be in Budapest in 8 hours and Prague in 6 hours. Krakow’s time zone is European Central Time (GMT+2), meaning in summer it is 1 hour ahead of England, and in winter it is 2 hours ahead of England.

Bus tickets can be purchased from the ticket stands for 10.00 PLN – 12.00 PLN each way. Travel time is just over an hour, and the distance to the museum from the bus stop is about a 10min walk. Once at the museum you can purchase a guided tour or a set of earphones with which you are able to walk around by yourself listening to the information (which is definitely the recommended method).

What’s the best accommodation in Krakow?

When we talk about accommodation, there’s usually 3 options that we’re looking at – hostels, aparthotels and hotels. Based on your budget, if you can’t afford a decent hotel, go for a nice aparthotel, if you can’t afford a nice aparthotel, rather go for a hostel. Don’t downgrade on your options, because it won’t be an enjoyable stay if you end up wanting a hotel but can only afford a shitty 2/3 star hotel that costs the same as a really nice aparthotel. 

Hostel:

All-round – Mosquito Hostel

Solo – Flamingo Hostel

Couples – Secret Garden Hostel 

Party – Greg & Tom’s Party Hostel

Digital Nomads – Mundo Hostel 

Hotel:

Great restaurant, old-school & central location – Hotel Copernicus

Modern Luxury – Hotel PURO Kazimierz 

Breakfast & central location – Hotel Legend 

Wow-factor – Bonerowski Palace

Clubbing – usually more expensive because it’s aimed at tourists. You’ll end up spending around 200 – 400 PLN on a night out, if you’re not on a stag do. If you are on a stag do, maybe add another zero to the figures. So it ends up being 100% worth it to do the best pub-crawl in Krakow instead – Krawl through Krakow.

Is Krakow safe?

Krakow in general is very safe – if you lose your wallet, someone’s likely to have found it and handed it in to the nearest coffee shop or posted it on the expats group. You don’t usually have to worry about your drinks too much regarding spiking, unless you’ve been stupid enough to go into a strip club. A female will feel quite comfortable walking back to her hostel/hotel across the square at 3am on her own. The only thing you’ll find in Krakow to be a bit out of hand is the football hooliganism between 2 rival local teams – rather don’t mention Wisła or Krakowia around rougher-looking locals. You might get stabbed or beaten up. The elderly during the day and the drunk Polish men late at night in Krakow are not hugely tolerant of the LGBTQ community, or foreigners who are a different race to them, and sometime impolite, drunk English men. This quite often results in a few nasty words, or in the case of drunk Polish men at night, quite often a fight.

What’s the best Polish food to try?

Krakow has a wonderful selection of traditional Polish restaurants to try typical Polish food. Poland is well-known for it’s very much meat-and-potato style of cuisine, including lots of meat dishes, dense dumplings, cheeses, pickles, and soups. Great old-style mountain food for the cold! I’d definitely give the following a go:

Pierogi – the humble and comforting Polish dumpling, quite dense and heavy and available in a variety of different flavours from Ruskie (Russian with potatoes and cheese), to Mięsem (meat), Pierogi z Kapusta i Grzybami (mushroom and cabbage) amongst others. There’s even sweet pierogi with cherries and mascarpone cheese. All of which are deliciously, but particularly so when friend in butter.  

Ribs and grilled meats – Polish ribs, sausages and bbq are delicious, the meat just falls off the bone, the sausages are generous, spicy and juicy, there’s always a tasty basting bbq sauce. The main meats used are usually beef or pork and are served in very large quantities. 

Zapiekanke – this is one of Poland’s most famous street foods. A zapiekanka is an open-face sandwich made of half of a baguette, topped with sautéed white mushrooms, cheese and sometimes other ingredients, and toasted until the cheese melts. Served hot with ketchup, mayo or other sauces. Excellent after a night out.

Where to eat in Krakow? 

It can be a little bit daunting when you’re in a new city to try and figure out where is a good spot to eat. You’re considering price, quality, location and you have absolutely no idea where to find somewhere you’ll be happy with! Don’t fret, we’ve got you covered:  

Coffee – Karma, Wesoła Cafe, Cafe Lisboa, Fika 

Breakfast – Gossip Cafe, Cytat Cafe, La Petit 

France, Ranny Płaszek, Charlotte 

Lunch – Cafe Camelot, Cafe Bunkier, Plac Nowy 1, Cheder, Hummus Amamamusi

Dinner – Nolio, Alchemia od kuchni, Pinot, Pimiento Argentino Restaurant (Steak)