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You don't need to pay for an organised trip to Auschwitz. Catch the PKS-Oswiecim bus which leaves from the lower floor of the bus station behind the railway station. Ask at the ticket office if you can't find it. Pay on the bus (about 18zl for a return ticket). The bus is slightly larger than a minibus and when I went it was driven fast on the bumpy roads, so be warned if you suffer from travel sickness! It picks up and drops off along the route, but it is obvious when you arrive outside the Auschwitz camp gates and the driver announced it on my trip. Your ticket has return times printed on the back and the bus picks up outside the gates where it drops off. Journey takes about 1hr.20mins. Frequency of trip varies but is about twice an hour during the main part of the day. You don't need a guided tour of the camp. Buy a small booklet (c.7zl) and read the comprehensive display boards. Entrance is free. Allow two or three hours for your visit.
Bus station on ul.Bosacka behind railway station.
A small bookshop and cafe with wonderful coffee, biscuits and cake, a clean loo and friendly staff. You can sit undisturbed and gaze out of the open door or sit outside if fine. Located on a very attractive street close to the main centre.
Ul. Kanonicka, Krakow. Opposite Mary Magdalene Square.
At this centrally located house you can view the Gallery of Stanislaw Wyspianski's works which has the largest collection in Poland of this turn of the last century versatile artist. See his paintings, stained glass designs, stage costume designs and some of his furniture.
11 Szczepanska Street, Krakow
www.muzeum.krakow.pl
Take care choosing a taxi in Warsaw, especially around Central Station where rip-off merchants abound! Only choose a taxi with the name of the firm prominently displayed (usually with a sign on the top of the cab). If you have booked a hotel you can ring them and they will send a taxi for you. We used MPT Taxis with no problems, phone 1-9191.
Boutique hotel in the centre of the Old Town overlooking Castle square. Great location, friendly staff and comfortable rooms each decorated in a different style. Good value for money too, we paid equivalent of £55 for a double room.
2 Swietojanska, Plac Zamkowy, Warsaw
Tel: 0048 224250100
www.castleinn.pl
This is a lovely apartment in the historic Jewish quarter, a 12 minute walk along the river from the city. The apartment is very comfortable, tastefully decorated and has every modern convenience. It is in a very good location with excellent transport links to the city and its wonderful sights.
"Krakow Holiday Apartments" company and the web address:
www.krakowholidayapartments.com/apts.php?aptID=2&priceID=2
This is a small town on the banks of the Vistula river, about 100 km south of Warsaw. It is an architectural gem, a Renaissance town with ruins of a medieval castle. It is surrounded by beautiful unspoilt countryside with very unusual deep ravines - great for walkers. There are lots of nice bars and resturants and a terrific tea room called Herbaciarnia u Dziwisza.
100 km south of Warsaw, easy to drive to, nearest station Pulawy Miasto and from there by taxi for about £10
The three clubs Zwiaz Mnie, Hydrozagadka and Saturator are great semi-alternative places to have fun on a weekend. All three are located in the very same courtyard so you can literally choose what you want to do in an instant (11 Listopada Street, Praga District, the place is kind of remote, taking a cab would be good, although you can take a tram or go by bus as well). You'll find all kinds of music there, though recently mostly 80s and 90s - I sincerely recommend these places if you feel like dancing. Beer is 7-10zl.
22, 11 Listopada, Praga, Warsaw
tram: 3,7,25 ;
bus: 101,144,169,170, 174
night bus: N13, N14, N63, N64
www.hydrozagadka.waw.pl
www.myspace.com/zwiazmnie
www.saturator.art.pl/
Restaurant, great food and atmosphere, wood burning oven. Ther prices were fair and I had a great meal there.
Quite simply, this is an extraordinary place housed inside a medieval tower started by a Californian multimedia artist who's lived for more than 20 years in Europe and his Polish chef who spent five years in London learning to make a wide variety of exotic dishes and his own inventive masterpieces. Together they offer the best burritos in the city, authentic tasting Thai soups, Tikka Masala, Tajin Couscous and delicious fusion dishes such as salmon with sausage and parmesan chicken. They also play global music that is rarely heard anywhere else.
www.abramstower.pl
ul. Krainskiego 14
tel: +48 661 927 476
It`s cosy apartment in the city centre where staff and service is excellent. All atracctions are in the walk distance and materpiece by Leonardo da Vinci is just behind the corner in the Czartoryski Museum
Krakow, www.golden-apartments.com mobile phone 0048606318295
It's a cosy apartment in the city centre where staff and service is excellent. All attractions are within walking distance and master pieces by Leonardo da Vinci is just behind the corner in the Czartoryski Museum.
Krakow, www.golden-apartments.com mobile phone 0048606318295
It is a company that has a number of apartments in Krakow. I have just come back from five days in Krakow with friends. The apartment we were in originally had some problems with the heating system so we were moved to a bigger and better apartment in the same building. The cost was very reasonable and the communication with staff was good (very fluent English and prompt replies to texts etc) and always friendly and helpful. The location of the apartments was convenient for centre, sights and station. The apartments themselves are well equipped and atractively decorated. (We were in Quebec and then the very lovely Vancouver)
Great place to stay when you're going to party and do some sightseeing. We stayed in an apartment in the main market square - not so big but very cosy place with kitchenette and nice bathroom. The flat was located just off Rynek Glowny which is great for the price. What is more in the same building there is good restaurant and it's surrounded by clubs.
I think it's the best location for weekend trip to Krakow.
www.oldcityapartments.eu
phone +48 606941483
I have been to Krakow twice, both times staying in an apartment in Main Market Square. In my opinion this is the best location to go sightseeing and clubbing from.
I liked the place a lot. Good towels in the big bathroom were a nice find.
I also liked the modern furniture and there was free wifi internet access.
I have stayed at many places worldwide and this place is one of my favorites. Great location - just around the corner from the Main Market Square which meant I could stroll around or go sightseeing. The building, which the owner told me, was a first public bath house in Krakow back in the 15th century!
But the rooms are anything but old, they are modernly furnished and I didn't have any problems using my laptop (free wi-fi in my room). The place has a small tango cafe (the whole place is decorated in a tango style) where they serve buffet breakfast - good variety. Staff are very warm and friendly. I had a problem with my TV set and someone came within 10 minutes and fixed it. Very nice bathroom. You can also get a tango lesson from the owner! I highly recommend it.
A little restaurant in the heart of Krakow's old Jewish ghetto, this is a slightly bonkers but very endearing place to dine. The menu is simple, with possibly no more than a dozen dishes including starters, mains and desserts. And be advised, if you order a plate of pirogi (the local dumplings) then you get just that. 'Just' that: no salad, sides, or even sauce. Despite this the food is delicious (I can also recommend the duck with cranberry).
The decor is quirky, full of history, and the tables are an eclectic mix of old sewing desks and things which resemble small workbenches.
While my girlfriend and I were there they had a band, doing instrumental classic pop covers as an accordion and electric organ-playing duo. My personal favourite: a brilliantly catchy version of Stevie Wonder's 'Sir Duke'. Genius.
The main square in Krakow's Jewish Quarter, Kazimierz
This unassumingly boutique Hotel on Sw Agnieszki in Kazimierz (two minutes from Wawel Castle), is an expression of the Polish Romance. It used to be an old schoolhouse, and if you look hard the signs are still there to see.
I must start with the breakfast room, with its walls full of tableaux, tasteful bric-a-bric, with the whiff of a bohemian salon has more character and imagination than a thousand chain or 'specialty' hotels. They lay the table with lace cloths specially for you - none of this pile 'em high buffet nonsense - and bring fresh juice and coffee and the meats and cheeses are delectable.
If there was a failing, it was that my single room was too cramped (perhaps the old detention chambers) and the noises of early breakfast begin to echo around the building around 7am. At €61-79 per night, a jewel worth a higher price.
"Alef" Hotel,Świętej Agnieszki 5 Street, 31-071 Kraków
www.alef.pl/index_e.php
Austrian fortifications, some of them huge, many of them in good condition. An alternative to the usual tourist nonsense and accessible on a bike.
All around the city (start with the two on ul. Kamiena (nowy kleparz) and then head for any one you fancy. They are marked on a good city map. Type tweirdza krakow in google for more.
A relatively new addition to the Krakow Restaurant scene and a delight to find good value delicious food in a pleasant airy dining room with an adjoining characterful bar and garden. Great friendly service.
Kazimerz, just off the main square as you head back to central Krakow underneath the Spartz hotel
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