The new Katie is here to bring you another travel post! This time about my 5 day city break to Krakow, Poland!
Like Budapest, Krakow was a popular city break destination last year and it goes by no surprise. With it's beautiful scenery , very cheap food and alcohol it's a hit for tourists.
Me and my two friends booked to go to Krakow spontaneously in February 2019 and we jetted off in the Easter holidays as a little treat from me to me and a break from uni - very much needed! Easter was also a perfect time to go as it was warm but you often had breezy days.
I took it upon myself to be the mum of the group and sort out the hotel and flights (mainly because we'd end up in a barn in a random field in the middle of no where if I left it up to them) We wanted to find somewhere central but still cheap and cheerful! I eventually found somewhere which was situated in the Jewish quarter of Krakow, Kazimierz, only a couple of minutes walk through some beautiful gardens to the Old town with all the shops and restaurants.
We did a fair bit of research of places to eat and things to do beforehand and booked all our activities before we went. I would highly recommend doing this especially for Auschwitz and the Salt mines as the queue for tickets on the day were super long!
We booked all of our trips though a service called Krakow Bob. This was recommend to us by a family friend and we are so glad we took her advice to book through him! He would get your tickets at a discounted price and would take you from destination to destination, with no hassle!
We first went to Auschwitz on the Friday, the day after we arrived. We were just expecting a normal taxi service from our hotel to Auschwitz but oh boy were we wrong. We come outside our hotel after breakfast and Bob is stood with a cardboard of our names displayed to welcome us! We get in the 8 seater taxi, with plenty of leg room and are told all about the history of Auschwitz, he even shows us documentaries of interesting facts that aren't often told, it was a real eye opener. Even before our booked slot he took us round some other monuments related to the Holocaust, something you wouldn't get on the tour! Aside from the very serious tone of the outing he ensured to keep our spirits high, playing some old classic songs getting us all to sing along, it was a definitely one way to keep the hour long journey there and back entertaining.
We decided to go for a tour of the camp instead of doing it solo so we can really take everything in and learn about this tragic event even more thoroughly, it also makes the process easier as you feel you are at a museum rather than a concentration camp, which is bizarre in its own way.
Nothing can really prepare you for what you're about to experience as you enter the concentration camps at Auschwitz, especially when you see people posing underneath the "Arbeit macht frei” sign which translate to "Work sets you free". One thing that will always stay with me was the pain of others that are still expressed to this day, school girls and boys crying and running out of one of the gas chambers. As you can guess, I was lost for words when walking around the camp and still thinking about it almost a year on i'm still very unsure on how to describe my experience.
This was not a happy visit but a necessary one to remember what happened to and never forget it. I would recommend you all visit it at least once in your life as it's a learning experience.
We also used Krakow Bobs taxi services to go to the Salt mines. We were all very unsure what the salt mines would entail because it definitely doesn't seem like our kind of thing! But, yet again we were very wrong and shocked at how interesting it was.
I would recommend the guided tour again as, if like us, you know nothing about the Salt mines it would be quite boring just going around not understanding what used to happen down there. There was some spectacular sculptures and interactive things to do so is a great thing to do to make time fly.
For our second to last day, once we had done everything we had planned we decided to take a little wander around the old town and as we were doing that we came across Wawel Royal Castle which we wandered around the surroundings. After taking in all the views and eventually deciding to pay to go inside and look around the state rooms, this was only a small amount of hungarian forint but personally we agreed it wasn't exactly worth going in, there wasn't much information regarding what each room was and the majority of them were closed off anyway. The inside of the castle grounds and gardens were beautiful though and very instagramable, yet again passing a few hours before we went and drank a few more cocktails in the scorching sun.
As for the majority of the holiday we spent it eating a sh*t tonne of yummy food and drinking plenty of cocktails, which is what we do best.
We started the holiday off by visiting a popular dessert destination called Mr Pancake, which I can ensure at least one of your Instagram followers have been too! We loved it that much so after we went again! There was so many choices to choose from that we had to go back and try another. The pictures just about do them justice but if you have a sweet tooth like me they're right up your alley.
My friends are probably the fussiest eaters you will ever meet so we ensured we went places that would cater to us all.
We went to the standard Hard Rock cafe which I love. I love the food and love the array of cocktails they have. As a chain restaurant in a foreign country this was on the pricey side but was worth it as went down well with us all.
One issue we experienced here which we noticed happened often in the majority of restaurants in Krakow was that the service was very poor, we waited ages to be served for our order to be taken and for our food to come, this was surprising as some places weren't even busy and there was hardly any staff on the floor but regardless we enjoyed our experience, once we received our food.
When out wandering around the city we came across some boats on the river which did outdoor eating on the top decks. So we decided to grab some grub! It was such a glorious day walking the streets but once on the boat which was decked at the dock it was absolutely freezing. Even though everything was flying everywhere we still enjoyed it.
As for other places eating out we just headed towards the old town where there was so many independent restaurants with out door seating. Sitting in the scorching hot sun (occasionally) watching the world go by and having a giggle with your best friends and an Aperol spritz in hand is all you need on holiday! It's great to people watch and see families and couples having a great time.
Situated in the middle of the old town is the Old Cloth Hall which is full of little markets selling different souvenirs and gifts! We weren't looking for anything in particular but as a little remembrance from the trip we decided to get matching key rings. We first of all found these cute fluffy flamingos which we all got in a different colour but we wanted something more relevant to Krakow so got a glass anagram of different places in Krakow as well! Mine didn't last very long before it got chipped, typical me.
We were recommend by friends to try out the Modiva cocktail bar which was a 'vibey' bar with music playing and some really interesting cocktails to choose from. Apart from this we just went to any bar we thought looked interesting and drank to our hearts content! We also drank in bars around our hotel in the Jewish Quarter as we didn't want to be walking to far at night and these also had a great atmosphere with club like music and was more chilled.
There was also a little market place open late at night which had bubble waffles and some Polish cuisine which was super yummy!
A lot of my friends are visiting Krakow at the moment and it's making me want to return and try all the new and exciting places/restaurants they have visited.
So, who knows, maybe I'll be returning to Krakow sooner than I think and to be honest, I can't wait.
It's up there with one of my top 3 and should be on your bucket list!
Next stop, Paris.
Katie x
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