Jonathan Carroll once said “Krakow is one of my favourite places on earth. It is a medieval city full of young people. A wonderful, striking combination” and this sums up Krakow to a tee! I’m going to show you why you need to book that city break to Krakow!
My sister’s last weekend in Europe was to be spent in Krakow, Poland so I jumped on a Wizz Air flight to meet her and have a lovely luxury weekend away together in Krakow. Our hotel of choice for the weekend was the Sheraton Krakow and let me tell you – it’s pretty darn amazing! I would highly recommend staying there and I will be doing a full review shortly.
From the moment you step into the Lobby you are greeted by the friendliest staff and a lovely welcome drink; which was most definitely welcome as it was a blooming sauna outside and I was suffering from a raging cold!
Our bedroom was very comfortable and the Sheraton Dragon kept us company for the duration of our stay and is now winging it’s way down to New Zealand.
I have come to the conclusion that the SPG chain of hotels provide the best welcome gifts a girl can wish for! Yummo!
Poland is my sisters favourite country in the world so she is the perfect tour guide especially as this was her fourth visit to this beautiful city. It was my second visit to Krakow and I just couldn’t believe how much the city had changed in over ten years!
Lisa had an itinerary planned for the weekend and it consisted largely of food, book shopping, music and just strolling through the gorgeous pastel streets of Krakow.
Our first stop was Moa Burgers, where the hip kids go to eat burgers and hey its run by a Kiwi so we have to support our whanau! My sister and folks rave about these burgers and say they are the best in Europe. There aren’t any gluten free buns however the staff very kindly cooked me up a chicken fillet and I had the best chips and coconut milkshake that a Kiwi could wish for.
After a big refuel via Moa Burgers it was onto doing some sightseeing and the first stop was St. Mary’s Basilica which is just incredible. Remember to look up and if I can offer one tip, it is to pay the small camera charge when buying your entrance ticket so that you can take some photos as it’s just so darn cute inside.
As St Mary’s Basilica is located in the Square of the Old Town we had a walk around quickly before catching the tram to Kazimierz to stroll through the prettiest area of Krakow. The area is now thriving and full of independent shops and the prettiest cafes and courtyards you will find in Krakow.
The street art is pretty fabulous as well – can you spot me?
and the area is teeming with Jewish History.
My sister understands my obsession with Christmas decorations so she knew the perfect place to take me to in Kazimierz as all the decorations are made by locals with disabilities so all the money helps support them
and then our next stop was the Klubo Ksiegarnia bookshop (9 Berka Joselewicza Street). Krakow has the most fabulous bookshops and the city is very intellectual so you won’t leave Krakow without buying a few books or in my sisters case just 25!
My sister wanted to refuel again at BagelMama which is a quirky little shop in Kazimierz and while they don’t offer gluten free bagels they do make a blooming mean chicken salad.
After strolling through Kazimierz it was now late evening and we were knackered and had sore feet. We headed back to the Sheraton Hotel in Krakow for a shower and to have a non-alcoholic cocktail aptly named the Fluffy Kiwi!
The next morning we were up early as I wanted to visit Wawel Castle and the Castle has a timed entry system and only issues so many tickets per day so getting their early means you can get into the Castle in the morning and then head off exploring the rest of Krakow during the afternoon.
Meeting my sister back at the Sheraton we caught a taxi to Schindlers Museum which I can’t recommend enough; it’s probably Poland’s second best Museum after the Warsaw Rising Museum. You must take the time to visit and you won’t find the Museum boring in any way as it’s well thought out and also very visually appealing in the way it’s designed.
It was still warm so an ice cream was on the cards so we went to the famous Lody ice cream shop in Kazimierz (Starowiślna 83, 31-038 Kraków) – the wait is well worth it for the Blueberry ice cream alone. You will find it’s actually the locals waiting rather than tourists. They only serve the ice cream in a cone so if you are gluten free you will need to grab a spoon and eat around the cone.
We had another stroll through Kazimierz as we just couldn’t get enough of this area of Krakow and stumbled upon a Spanish restaurant where we had a meal. It was okay and they made me a gluten free fish dish which was good.
Catching the tram back to the Old Town we visited the markets for me to find myself a pair of Polish Slippers (couldn’t find a pair in my size, boo!) but I did pick up some fudge in the markets.
Lisa wanted to take me to her favourite bookshop in Europe, Massolit Books (Felicjanek 4, Kraków) which has it’s own little cafe attached. You could honestly sit in this bookshop for hours and just relax. The book selection is impressive and very well priced.
The area around Massolit Books is so picturesque that you will just want to take a million photos; thank goodness for digital cameras!
Lisa had purchased tickets for a TEMPERO concert and she knows we don’t have the same taste in music however I loved Klezmer music! If you get a chance, make sure you go and listen to these guys perform. Just so much soul!
I loved our girly weekend in Krakow and this has to be my favourite photo of the whole weekend; it was just such a random photo which my little sister decided to photo bomb.
Krakow is perfect for a city break weekend or even longer so you can visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial or the Wieliczka Salt Mines on the outskirts of the city. Looking at these photos, I really fancy booking another flight back to Poland so you can safely say I highly recommend a visit to this beautiful city. It truly feels like you have stepped back in time when you visit in Krakow; the city is elegant, intellectual and has an old world charm.
Travel Tips for Krakow, Poland
- The Sheraton Krakow offers great luxury and has amazing service. The rooftop terrace offers great views of the river and Wawel Castle.
- Arrive early to get tickets for Wawel Castle as they are timed and only a certain number are on sale each day
- Kazimierz is the perfect area to stroll around in Krakow
- Lody is where to go to buy ice cream
- If you only visit one Museum in Krakow then make sure it’s Schindlers Museum
- Poland is super cheap so make sure you head out and support the independent shops and just enjoy the cafe culture.
- The Jewish Cultural Festival in Krakow comes highly recommended by my sister
- The Old Town is cobbled however taxis and the trams are super cheap to use to get around Krakow so your shoe choice can be varied
xx
If you liked my City Break to Krakow post then please come and join me on Twitter, Google+, Instagram and Bloglovin’ – I won’t bite!
