Three Days in Krakow

Cheap food and drinks and known for vodka, is it a wonder that Krakow has been voted the best European city to visit for the third year running?

I’ve always been interested in visiting Krakow and knowing it would be a cheap city break away made it an even easier decision! So, what did I get up to for three days in Krakow? Read on to find out! 

Day 1

Arriving into Krakow

Krakow airport is around a half an hour drive from the center, if I can teach you one thing from this blog, it is DO NOT get an Uber! We weren’t aware that Uber wasn’t allowed into the airport, so we had to sit and watch our Uber driver, drive away from us for thirty minutes as he wouldn’t cancel! In the end, we jumped into a taxi which cost around £20 (just over 90PLN). There are also two bus lines and a train, which are cheaper, so check when you get to the airport whether public transport isn’t too much of a wait! 

Food Stop

Whatever time you arrive into Krakow, I’d recommend the first stop be for food! I found Mr Pancake when looking through Instagram, think pink candyfloss pancakes and prosecco! We got there for opening as it’s a very Instagrammable place I can imagine it gets super busy, especially on the weekends!

Explore the Jewish Quarter 

One thing I’d suggest if you’re interested, is doing a Segway tour! I added this onto our to-do list but the weather wasn’t brilliant! Get Your Guide list a half-day tour of the Jewish Quarter which lasts 90 minutes and starts from only around £10, so to me it sounds like a great way to get exploring! We explored the Jewish Quarter on foot, but would definitely do the Segway tour next time I visit!

Find Pierogi

Pierogi, or filled dumplings, are a must to try when in Poland as they’re a traditional dish, with a number of flavours to try! I found Pierogarnia Krakowiacy when I saw a fellow blogger visiting Krakow a month or so before, it’s a chain so they’re never too far from one! 

We opted for Ruskie (filled with potatoes, cottage cheese, and onion) and the mozzarella and dried tomatoes, so tasty and incredibly filling and wholesome! The Ruskie was 12 ZL and the mozzarella and dried tomatoes 15 ZL, which cost around £5 for the both, between two people! 

Dive into a Vodka Tour

Krakow is known for its vodka, so doing a Vodka Tour is a must! We did our tour with Taste Vodka, there are two options when coming to book; either a sit-in tour which lasts an hour and a half or a vodka tour around Krakow which lasts two hours and 15 minutes.

We choose the second option, which cost £30 each and I couldn’t recommend the tour enough! We started at Space Craft Pub (which is one minute from Main Square) where you’ll meet the rest of the group, have a few shots of vodka with some tapas before you’re split into smaller groups. Your tour guide will then take you to a number of vodka bars around the city!

It was a lot of fun, we tried many flavoured vodkas and made some friends! To end the tour we stopped and had some more Pierogi. If you opt for this tour, it starts at 6 pm Monday-Saturday, so it’s over by around 8.30 pm. We would have stayed out drinking but knew we had an early start the next day!

Day 2

Auschwitz-Birkenau is a day trip which a lot tend to do when visiting Krakow. There are hundreds of tours you can take, I found one on Trip Advisor, and made sure to read the reviews before booking. We opted for a 12-hour tour which covered both Auschwitz-Birkenau and the salt mines which cost around £63 each, this includes transport which is around an hour’s drive from Krakow. 

Please note, this is a 12-hour tour! With the tour we undertook we received an email the night before to let us know the exact time as the opening times for Auschwitz-Birkenau change year-round. We visited in November 2019, which has the shortest opening times, so we were picked up at 6:15 am, and the pickup point was around 10 minutes’ walk from our Airbnb. If you’re staying at a hotel, they offer pickups from many hotels, which is great news!

Auschwitz-Birkenau

A visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau is incredibly haunting, over 1.1 million people were killed here, but the camps have been turned into museums in order to remember those who were lost. It’s a very hard experience and you most definitely will feel heavy after visiting. There are two camps you’d visit on the tour, Auschwitz is the original camp which most tours tend to visit first. Birkenau is a larger camp and was built when the original camp became overcrowded. 

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Wieliczka Salt Mine

Opening its doors in 1722, the Wieliczka Salt Mines has become one of the main tourist attractions of Krakow, they’re also a UNESCO World Heritage site! It’s one of the oldest salt mines in the world, and 1 million people visit every year. The tour took around an hour and you do a lot of walking all the way down to the bottom of the mines (but get the lift back up!). 

After the salt mine, it’s around 30 minutes to an hour to get back to Krakow, we arrived back around 6:30 pm! 

Day 3

Time for Breakfast

Affordable and a pretty pink décor? I’m in! Ranny Ptaszek is based in Kazimierz and the food looks to die for, it’s a breakfast bar so if you do want to visit it does only open until 4 pm!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bdiko0CH0Qi/

Explore Old Town 

Krakow Old Town is actually the largest market square in Europe! So, I’d recommend dedicating your final day in Old Town, depending on the time of your flight. The area is pretty picturesque, so you could easily spend hours walking the quaint streets! These are a must-see when exploring on the final day:

• Wawel Castle
• Market Square
• St Mary’s Basilica
• Church of St. Anne

Grab Some More Food

There are many great places to grab food around Market Square, I’d recommend finding some more Pierogi as it’s delicious! These are some of the top places to grab a bite or a coffee, which aren’t all around Market Square, but give them a search on Insta and find something for you!

• Metrum Restobistro
• Camelot Café
• Meho Café
• Nicole Café

I hope my three days in Krakow blog helped to inspire you to want to visit! I really loved the city and will most definitely be back as there was still so much to see and do, and with it not costing a lot, it makes it the perfect weekend break! 

Have you been to Krakow before? Let me know your recommendations in the comments!