Poland
About Krakow
Krakow came through the war almost untouched, and it carries its medieval old town with the quiet confidence of a city that was spared.
The vast Main Square fills with pigeons, a trumpet call cut off mid-note from St Mary's tower, and the smell of obwarzanek pretzels drifting from every cart. Up on Wawel hill a castle and cathedral guard the bones of kings, while the Tatra mountains wait barely two hours south.
This was a royal capital long before Warsaw, and the students pouring out of the ancient university keep it loud past midnight.
Duck into a milk-bar for pierogi, then find a vaulted cellar under the square and let the old brick do the talking.
Get to Krakow
Round trip from Prague, any dates in November 2026.
Buses from Krakow
Day trips from Krakow
- Half day
Wieliczka
~30 min
A royal salt mine worked for 700 years, descending through chambers, underground lakes and chapels carved entirely from salt — chandeliers included. The St Kinga chapel is a full church a hundred metres below ground.
- Half day
Ojcowski Park Narodowy
~40 min
Poland's smallest national park: a limestone valley of cliffs, caves and the 'Hercules' Club' rock pillar, with the Renaissance castle of Pieskowa Skała standing at its head.
- Day trip
Tatra National Park
~2 h, ~2.5 h Poland's high-mountain country around Zakopane: granite peaks, glacial lakes and wooden highlander architecture. The walk to the Morskie Oko lake is the classic outing, with the Kasprowy Wierch cable car nearby for bigger views.
About Poland
Rebuilt cities and long Baltic sand
Old towns raised from rubble, cheap milk-bar lunches, dunes and pine forest along the Baltic, and a mountain south for a fraction of Alpine prices.
Explore PolandRegions, highlights and when to go