Krakow Hotels, Krakow Flights and Krakow City Breaks

Krakow was once a royal capital and now a lively university town with fasionable bars an restaurants. A fascinating city with beautiful monuments and an exuberant atmosphere. Krakow is located by the Vistula River in a valley at the foot of the Carpathian Plateau in southern Poland. Its Old City (Square Miasto) is home to about six thousand Renaissance, Baroque and Gothic buildings and more than two million works of art. Krakow is the only large city in Poland that remained intact during World War II and today it is a well-preserved medieval city, with picturesque cobbled streets, numerous churches, museums, cafes, restaurants and bars.

The Old City is surrounded by a ring of lightly forested parkland, known as the Planty, the site of the old city walls and moat. It is overshadowed by the Wawel, the long fortified hill at its southern end. This is a symbolic place of great significance fir Polish people as it is crowned by the Royal Castle and the Cathedral. The tenth-century castle, considered by many to be the most beautiful in Central Europe, was extended and restored in the sixteenth century and contains the royal apartments and magnificent contemporary tapestries. The cathedral saw the coronation and burial of Polish royalty for 400 years, and its golden domed chapel is considered to be the finest Renaissance example in the country. Krakow's Old City also boasts an impressive central market square with the Gothic St Mary's Basilica. Built in the fourteenth century, it features the famous wooden altar carved by Veit Stoss. Every hour, a trumpet call sounds from the tower. The tune was first played during a Tatar;s invasion in the thirteenth century by a guard who wanted to warn the citizens against the attack. He was shot while playing, and still today the melody breaks off the moment he died.

In the centre if the market square is the impressive sixteenth-century Renaissance cloth hall, and the rest of the square is filled with countless stalls, selling numerous products from local artisans. The Town Hall Tower is all that remains of the Gothic-Renaissance Town Hall; the rest was destroyed by the Austrians in the nineteenth century. Today it houses a museum and offers wonderful views over the city.

Kazimierz, the perfectly restored Jewish quarter, offers a poignant excursion. This is a Jewish neighbourhood without Jews. The 65,000 Jewish inhabitants who lived here at the start if World War II were first forced to live in appalling conditions in the Jewish Ghetto across the river in Podgorze, before eventually being wiped out in the nearby Plaszow Concentration Camp.

Location of Krakow:
In the south of Poland, 70 miles north of the Slovak border and the Tatra mountains. 186 miles south of Warsaw. 10 miles southeast of Balice international airport.

Serving Airports:
Krakow-Balice John Paul II International Airport [KRK]
Flight time from the UK: approximately 2 hours 20 minutes

Shopping in Krakow:
Surprisingly sophisticated, with department stores, upmarket designer boutiques, jewellers and a sprinkling of shops catering to the tastes of the large student population. Large number of hat shops. Florianska Street for boutiques; Tomasza Street for old bookshops and antique shops (it is illegal to export pre-1945 items); folksy souvenirs in the Cloth Hall. Second-hand clothes market in Kazimierz on Sunday morning; flea market on Grzegorzecka Street, Sunday morning. Good buys include Baltic amber (beware of fakes), silver jewellery, sheepskin products and locally produced linen goods.

Eating out in Krakow:
Surprisingly varied, covering Polish and international cuisine: some elegant eateries in renovated palaces or cellars, a number of Italian restaurants and a few ethnic choices including Chinese, Indian, African and Scottish (honestly!). Several vegetarian options but be warned: meals may still contain lard or meat-based stock. Also American-style fast-food chains, kosher food, kebab shops and cheap and cheerful "milk bars" - a relic from communist days. Plenty of cafes; cafe culture is an important part of daily life and there are over 300 in the city from traditional to smart New York-style offerings. Krakow is famous for its poppy-seed bagels, with a kiosk on every corner. Traditional Polish food is hearty; think pork, cabbage and potatoes. Local dishes include periogi (filled dumplings), bigos (hunter's stew) and golonka (pig's trotters). Plenty of (very) sweet cakes and desserts. Many restaurants and bars close over public-holiday periods.

Krakow Temperature Chart :

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Average daily temperature °C

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Disclaimer:
By its very nature much of the information in our destination guides is subject to change at short notice and travellers are urged to verify information on which they are relying with the relevant authorities. Corona Holidays [UK] Limited cannot accept any responsibility for any loss or inconvenience to any person as a result of information contained above.

Krakow

Krakow Hotels, Krakow Flights and Krakow City Breaks

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