Kraków

Main Market Square: the trumpet that stops

The Main Market Square (Rynek Główny) is just over 200 m on each side, and it was the largest square in medieval Europe. Upstairs in the Cloth Hall (Sukiennice), the old textile exchange running down the middle, is the National Museum in Kraków's Gallery of 19th-Century Polish Art. At St Mary's Basilica (Kościół Mariacki), on a corner of the square, a trumpeter plays the hejnał from the 81 m tower every hour on the hour, once toward each of the four directions. The tune always breaks off at the same note. Legend says that's where a watchman sounding the alarm against the Tatars was hit in the throat by an arrow. Inside, the 13 m altarpiece Veit Stoss (Wit Stwosz) made in 1477–1489 opens at 11:50 on weekdays and Saturdays. On the first Thursday of December, people carrying szopki, model nativity scenes, gather at the Adam Mickiewicz monument, and when the noon trumpet sounds, they parade once around the square.

Wawel Hill: castle, cathedral and the Dragon's Den

On a limestone hill above the Vistula, at the southern edge of the Old Town, the royal castle and the cathedral stand side by side. The castle began as a medieval fortress and became a palace-like residence in the 16th century, and the cathedral is where coronations and royal funerals took place. The Sigismund Bell (Dzwon Zygmunt) in the tower, made in 1520, takes 12 bell ringers to ring, and it rings only on set days such as Easter and Independence Day on November 11. On the way down, leave through the Dragon's Den (Smocza Jama). The 81 m path through the cave where the legendary dragon lived comes out on the Vistula embankment, where a dragon statue stands by the exit. The cave is open only from late April to late October.

Kazimierz and Podgórze: places that remember

Kazimierz was once a town separate from Kraków and a home to Jewish life. A 16th-century cemetery and seven synagogues remain, and the Old Synagogue (Stara Synagoga) is now a museum of the history and culture of Kraków's Jews. Cross the river and you're in Podgórze. Before the war, more than 64,000 Jews lived in Kraków, and in March 1941 the occupation authorities ordered a ghetto set up here. It was finally liquidated on March 13–14, 1943. On Ghetto Heroes Square (Plac Bohaterów Getta), rows of chair sculptures recall the emptied ghetto. At Oskar Schindler's Enamel Factory, ul. Lipowa 4, you can see the permanent exhibition Kraków under Nazi Occupation 1939–1945.

At the table: from cart bread to late-night zapiekanka

The obwarzanek sold from carts around the square is a ring of two or three twisted strands of dough, sprinkled with poppy seeds, salt or sesame. The bakers' right to sell bread on the square was already written into the city's 1257 founding charter, and the obwarzanek joined Poland's list of traditional products in 2006. At a restaurant, order a mix of pierogi, with fillings like potato, cheese and meat. Żurek is a soup soured with fermented rye. Late at night, grab a zapiekanka from a stall on Plac Nowy in Kazimierz, a street snack of halved baguette baked with mushrooms and cheese on top.

A day each: Wieliczka and Oświęcim

The Wieliczka Salt Mine (Kopalnia Soli Wieliczka) is 10 km southeast of the city center. Take the train from the main station to Wieliczka Rynek Kopalnia and walk a short way. The tourist route runs 3.5 km, reaches 135 m underground and has more than 800 steps. It's 17–18°C down there, so you'll want a light layer even in summer. Past saline lakes and underground chambers, you come to St Kinga's Chapel (Kaplica św. Kingi). To the west in Oświęcim, the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum suggests at least about 90 minutes each for Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and a guided tour takes about three and a half hours. Don't pair it with the salt mine; keep a separate day for it.

Beyond the Old Town: Planty, the university, Nowa Huta

The Planty park around the Old Town is a green belt about 4 km long, laid out in the early 19th century where the crumbling medieval walls and moat had been. What's left of the walls is a few stretches, the Florian Gate (Brama Floriańska) and the Barbican (Barbakan). Collegium Maius belongs to the Jagiellonian University, founded in 1364, and it's the oldest university building in Poland. Copernicus was a student here from 1491 to 1495. To the east, Nowa Huta is a planned town that rose alongside a huge steelworks after the first building's foundations were dug in 1949. Following the rule "socialist in content, national in form," it was designed in a Renaissance style, and five main avenues fan out from its central square (Plac Centralny), modeled on a Greek agora.

Suggested 4-day itinerary

Day 1 — Train from the airport to Kraków Główny, about 20 min → follow the Planty into the Old Town → Main Market Square and the Cloth Hall → dinner in Kazimierz Day 2 — St Mary's altarpiece opening (11:50) → Wawel Castle and Cathedral → down through the Dragon's Den to the Vistula → Podgórze and Schindler's Factory Day 3 — Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim Day 4 — Wieliczka Salt Mine → Nowa Huta in the afternoon

What to eat

• Pierogi (potato, cheese or meat dumplings)
• Obwarzanek (twisted, ring-shaped bread)
• Zapiekanka (open baguette at Plac Nowy)
• Żurek (fermented rye soup)

Handy tips

• Entry to the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum is free, but you need to reserve an entry card in advance at visit.auschwitz.org. None are issued at the entrance, and bags bigger than 35×25×15 cm aren't allowed in.
• Wawel Castle's exhibitions have daily entry limits, and you have to go in at the time printed on your ticket. Online sales open a month ahead, and the cathedral, royal tombs and Sigismund Bell need separate tickets.
• Schindler's Factory has a limited number of tickets, sold online from 90 days before your visit. Mondays are free, but you can't book ahead for them.