City Break in Kraków

City Break in Kraków – I first visited Poland in 2018. Back then, two of us each had a dumpling soup and a large draught beer for about 80 RON (around €16) in Warsaw’s old town, and that’s what struck me most. I never thought I’d find such cheap food in a European capital.

Poland isn’t that cheap any more, and the people don’t seem quite as welcoming either…

We flew out of Bucharest from Băneasa Airport, planning to see as many sights in Krakówas possible. I hadn’t flown from Băneasa in years. Boarding was quite crowded, and some people even pushed to the front, eager to get to Kraków faster. 

Day one of our city break in Kraków

Where we stayed in Kraków

We landed in Kraków slightly late, but as we weren’t in a hurry, it was no problem. We bought 72-hour public transport tickets right at the airport. We set off for the hotel on a bus, changed after just two stops and took another one that dropped us off fairly close to the hotel.

We stayed at the Hyatt Place Kraków, a 4-star hotel that was probably newly built, or at least looked it. When I say “we”, I mean my family (my sister, my brother-in-law and my wife), who I was travelling with this time. The hotel is clean and modern, and the room has a nice industrial design. I left them 5 stars on Google. They really deserved it!

Kraków Old Town

We didn’t stay long at the hotel and, although it was already evening, we went out for a walk around Kraków’s Old Town. We photographed, one after another, the Rynek Główny market square, the Cloth Hall (MNK Sukiennice), St Mary’s Basilica, and the streets and buildings around them.

When we got hungry we set off for one of the restaurants on our list from home, but ended up eating at Tawerna Wilczy Dół. A fairy-tale place you have to try if you’re in Kraków. Do bear in mind, though, that you’ll wait more than 30 minutes at the entrance for a table. We had no reservation, so we had no choice but to wait. We paid over 500 zł for a hearty meal for four, but every penny was well worth it. 

After dinner we went to the railway station, which took us a while to find. Later we discovered that the easiest way in is probably through the mall (Galeria Krakowska). And after Auschwitz, that’s what amazed me most: how they thought of connecting the station to a mall – good for everyone, both shopkeepers and travellers.

We bought tickets for the train to Oświęcim. It took us a while to figure out how the town’s name is spelled. The tickets cost 96 zł for four people, on the IC 144 train on Saturday morning.

From the station we walked around the city a little longer, then headed back to the hotel. The next day we were going to see Auschwitz

Day two of our city break in Kraków

Getting from Kraków to Auschwitz

Day two of our Kraków city break wasn’t exactly in Kraków. We woke up around 9:00 and headed to the station, as our train was at 11:12. It took us a little while to work out which platform the train left from, which track it was and where our carriage would be.

When the train arrived, the carriage with our seats was uncoupled from the rest of the train. The conductor signalled us to board another carriage. We sat wherever we could, since… our paid seats no longer existed… At one point a young lady came to claim the seat one of us had taken. We explained the situation, she understood and quietly took another seat nearby – all good.

At Auschwitz

We walked from the station to Auschwitz together with a Belgian couple (he of Italian origin, she of Bulgarian origin). Because neither we nor they had done our homework… we ended up at Auschwitz-Birkenau, or Auschwitz II.

Only in the evening did we learn that there is also Auschwitz I, with the museum and the concentration camp, and that Auschwitz-Birkenau was the extermination camp. Oh well – we spent the whole day at Auschwitz-Birkenau, where we learned about the horrors our fellow human beings went through 80 years ago. We took dozens, maybe even hundreds of photos and promised we’d come back one day to visit Auschwitz I too.

Where did we have dinner in Kraków?

We got back to Kraków around 18:00 and walked from the station to the restaurant Pod Wawelem Kompania Kuflowa where we were going to eat. I had noted the restaurant down at home; ChatGPT had recommended it. Everything was fine, the food was tasty, and one interesting thing is that they had stand-up comedy playing in the toilets. The first time I went to the toilet, someone was talking so loudly… I thought, wow, this guy’s having a real row on the phone, and I didn’t even want to go in. Luckily some people started laughing and the penny dropped… it was some kind of recording… Then I found it quite fun… and did my business in “peace”.

Day three of our city break in Kraków

On day three we set off determined to have breakfast at Milkbar Tomasza. But since we’d eaten very well and very much the night before, we changed plans and went to Wawel Castle and Cathedral. We spent about 2 hours there. Then we strolled along the banks of the Vistula before finally heading to Milkbar Tomasza.

There was one person at each table… and eight to ten people in a queue. I joined the queue, but meanwhile a table became free. I left the queue, sat down and signalled to my family to come in too. I’d barely sat down when a young lady made me get up, trying to explain that not everyone in the queue has a table and that others have priority. I got up, slightly frustrated and unhappy with the chaos inside. Meanwhile more people joined the queue and, to avoid getting even more annoyed, I left the restaurant. I looked for another one and left them a one-star review for the chaos inside. Later I read comments… saying the food wasn’t even as good as others claimed…

Kraków’s Jewish quarter

I ate across the street at Tomasza 20 Resto Bar. I chose a burger and two alcohol-free radler beers. The beers were sensational, much tastier than in Romania. And the double cheddar burger was very good. I gave them 5 stars – not sure they fully deserved it, though the place looks good and is much bigger than the previous one.

After lunch we set off for the Jewish quarter. My feet were starting to hurt from all the walking. There were a lot of police around the city and a helicopter kept circling overhead. At a junction I spotted two police officers and asked them what was going on. They told me it was a heightened security measure because it was the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Somehow I was relieved they weren’t looking for me 🙂

Once in the Jewish quarter, we took a few photos and tried to haggle with an electric golf cart driver to take us around the neighbourhood for a reasonable price, but failed spectacularly. In the end we stopped for coffee at Ulica Krokodyli Pub & Cafe. After recharging our batteries a bit, we set off for Oskar Schindler’s Factory. We arrived around 16:20 and, until 18:00, visited the factory-turned-museum at a fairly brisk pace.

Dinner at Morskie Oko

We had dinner at Morskie Oko, a cosy restaurant serving Polish food at very affordable prices. We got there after taking tram 4 in the wrong direction. I had żurek, and the others had a big platter of dumplings.

The after-dinner adventure

After dinner we got lost on the way to the hotel once again. This gave me a slight panic attack, which made me urgently look for a toilet. I tried to go into the first restaurant I came across. One of the ladies at the entrance told me the toilet was broken… a likely story… In the end I went to a hostel across the road and relieved myself… but the incident completely ruined my evening.

What kind of person refuses to let a tourist use the toilet?… A desperate tourist willing to pay anything just to use a bathroom… I didn’t note the restaurant’s name, but I intend to look it up on Google, describe what happened in detail and leave a negative review.

Day four of our city break in Kraków

Day 4 was short. We woke up, packed and checked out. We took tram 20 to the Muzeum Narodowe stop, then bus 300 to the airport. There, the only person I noticed was the boor who had pushed to the front when we left on Friday. Now he was behaving perfectly in the long non-priority queue. So it is possible…

It’s not the first time I’ve noticed that we’re more civilised “abroad”… And I noticed something else: how greedy the Poles have become…

I was disgusted by the guy at the wine shop who wouldn’t let me sit down without buying something, even though there were 10–15 free seats and not a single customer in sight… How am I supposed to buy something from you when you only sell alcohol and I don’t drink any more!? I needed to sort something out on my laptop, and they had sockets under the bar. In the end I bought a bottle I never opened and gave it to a friend as a present when I got back.

I was also disgusted by the woman from Wizz Air who was clearly picking passengers with bulkier bags at random. For a second I thought she was racist and only singling out Romanians. Either it was her first day there or she had zero ability to estimate dimensions. Although she seemed to choose randomly, she made three of us put our backpacks into that metal frame for checking sizes. One by one, all the bags fitted, to her disappointment. Instead of helping with boarding, since the plane was already late, you’re trying to upsell? Are you really that hungry? First make your company punctual, then measure my centimetres… I could have sworn at her in every language on earth… but I refused to end my trip to Poland like that.

In conclusion, Poland is a country worth visiting. It’s not as cheap as it was 7–8 years ago, but it’s still a must-see European destination. I’ll probably come back at some point to visit Auschwitz I as well.