Krakow in February

boris232 · 30-12-2013 12:20am #1

Have a chance to take a 5 day trip to Krakow in February next with my wife.

Just wondering if anyone else has been over there at that time of the year and is it worth going. Fearful that a lot of places could be still closed for the winter.

Thanks

spurious · 30-12-2013 10:49am

Very little will be closed, if anything. Nice time of year to go. Cold, but they know how to deal with cold. Going myself in a couple of weeks.

zweton · 30-12-2013 11:54pm

going for may bank hol wknd, can you recommend a decent hotel?

spurious · 31-12-2013 12:19am

If you're on a budget, Hotel Kazimierz or Hotel Rezydent are ones I have stayed in and been very pleased with. Rezydent is a couple of doors from the Square (Rynek) and the Kazimierz is about 20 minutes walk from the Rynek, along the Royal Mile, just a bit past Wawel Castle, in the old Jewish quarter.

Hotel Kazimierz II is a sister hotel of the Kazimierz and is also in the Jewish section. I know friends found it good too.

I have also stayed in the Radisson which is lovely but sort of soulless and quite a bit more expensive than the others.

I have also taken a group of kids to stay in Brama Hostel which is very cheap but also centrally located.

Maire2009 · 31-12-2013 5:10pm

Everything is really nearby in Krakow - I stayed out by the station and it was only a 10min walk to the main square.

Trip to Saltmines and Auschwitz would be a must for most people. Zakopane just outside Krakow is meant to be absolutely amazing as well if you get time to go there, I've not been myself yet but so many people rave about it. If you are into mountains and snow etc., at that time of year.

hawkwind23 · 31-12-2013 5:14pm

zakopane is well worth a stop over , around a tenner return and a 2 hour coach ride.
some excellent restaurants and general wooden housey tourism.
get the kaspowry cable car , top of the tatra mountain range
Krakow is beautiful but the mountains are better

zweton · 01-01-2014 5:02pm

i will be there for 7 days,would ye recommend staying in zakopane for a night or two?

hawkwind23 · 01-01-2014 7:02pm

at least two days.

heres a great website with loads of accommodation and info

http://www.discoverzakopane.com/it.html

zweton · 01-01-2014 7:52pm

great thanks, one thing i forgot to mention is we wont be going skiing while there. Would you still recommend it based on this? Just had a look at hotels there and they seem quite reasonable.

Brinimartini · 01-01-2014 7:56pm

zweton wrote: »

going for may bank hol wknd, can you recommend a decent hotel?

The Hotel Kossak is lovely and just a walk from the oldtown and every room seems to have a smashing
View of the castle across the river.
I'd go back there in the morning.
Also, try to visit the salt mine at Wielicze or Auschwitz.

hawkwind23 · 01-01-2014 7:58pm

its not a skiing destination , but there are a few hills around the town where you can ski.
so not skiing wont be a problem at all

prices are very reasonable for sure , if you can stretch to a cosy wooden cottage.
meal in a quality restaurant is around £8 for 3 courses.
pint is around £1.20

zweton · 01-01-2014 8:28pm

wow thats cheap, just booked flights there. very excited,have you a link for the cottages you mention?

hawkwind23 · 02-01-2014 9:38pm

most accomodation will be in the traditional highlander style.

try

http://www.booking.com/hotel/pl/gaoralskie-domki-javorina.en-gb.html

or search bambi residence

or for hotels , the litwor or crocus although not sure how expensive they would be

another native · 03-01-2014 4:35pm

I stayed in Krakow for the first week last October. Booked an apartment for two, which I saw on booking.com. I rarely book hotels anymore, as I love the freedom that comes with apartment living. Generally works out cheaper too! February is more often than not a pretty cold month there.

McAo · 10-01-2014 12:11am

Stayed in Hotel Rubenstein in August, it was very nice and reasonably priced although does not live up to the images on the website. It is in the Jewish quarter where I would highly recommend staying if you are interested in culture and history. Krakow is a fantastic city and the Jewish quarter is both melancholy and beautiful at the same time. Auschwitz and the Salt mines are essential excursions but be prepared for Auschwitz, it is a powerfully emotive trip. The castle is lovely also and there are many lovely old churches and synagogues to visit. 3 days is probably enough to see everything in the city.

zweton · 18-01-2014 11:42pm

ended up booking this place for krakow, seems nice.

http://www.apartmentsapart.com/europe/poland/krakow/apartments/detail/23717#pricecalc

spurious · 19-01-2014 11:57am

Nice choice. You'll have a great time.
I'm here at the moment with my nephew, staying very close to your apartment.
Super foggy yesterday which made our visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau even more eerie. I had not been to the Oscar Schindler factory since it was renovated but it is a very impressive and partly interactive experience. Well worth spending a couple of hours visiting it.

I had never been to Krakow in the slack season tourism-wise but it's really very pleasant. No crowds, even at Auschwitz. Almost everything is available in terms of day-trips etc. and lots of place have offers on.

zweton · 19-01-2014 6:23pm

Im going may bank hol wknd, i believe its a bank hol there too so maybe not so many offers. I was in krakow before and absolutely loved it, just a really cool atmosphere. Going to do zakopane for 2 nights also but have not booked anywhere there yet.

Should Have Done Arts · 23-01-2014 9:47pm

im going there soon.

Any one go shooting or on the bar crawl?

grimm2005 · 01-02-2014 8:00pm

going to Krakow myself near the end of February, will be there for around 3 full days and a half day. Planning on a trip to Auschwitz and the salt mines on 2 of the days. Any other top recommendations?

Also have yet to book accommodation but will be slumming it in a dorm style hostel room (have never done this before but figure it's time to try things outside my comfort zone, plus it's pretty damn cheap!). Would ideally like to keep it at 6 - 8 person room max. Will be going on my own so would like somewhere that's easy to meet people for nights out etc. and also security such as good lockers would be a must. Anyone recommend somewhere?

spurious · 01-02-2014 11:34pm

The Oskar Schindler Factory is well worth a visit. It's a kind of educational experience rather than just looking at exhibits.

Tom Naughton's (yes he's Irish) Milk Bar is well worth a visit - good food at cheap prices. He's been in Krakow years and previously had a bar on the same street.

Kuchnia u Doroty on Augustianska down just past Wawel is a good spot for cheap Polish style nosh - hearty grub.

sandy_c · 01-02-2014 11:55pm

We just returned from krakow last weekend. We had a great time! The weather had been similar to ours up until the weekend we arrived, it then snowed and temperatures plummeted!

We did auschwitz on the first full day, it was an experience! Truly shocking, it was -14 not sure the windchill but my god it was cold. Make sure that you being plenty of layers! Thermals would be a great idea. My husband ended up wearing all the clothes he brought for the weekend!

Eating and drinking was so cheap! We ate here twice - http://www.podwawelem.eu/

Recommend the bigos, galonka Hungarian style and the pierogi (potato and cheese). 8 of us had dinner here, we all had starters, mains and a few deserts. The lads had a couple of litre glasses of beer and a few glasses of wine, worked out less than 20 euros each.

We learned that most starters are very large so I'd recommend sharing! The mains are also huge. You won't go hungry!

Enjoy your trip! We'll definitely be back but maybe at a slightly warmer part of the year!

spurious · 02-02-2014 11:07am

Podwawelem a nice spot. We were there a couple of weeks ago and had the Schitzel offer - about 4 euro, but look at the size of it.
picture.php?albumid=309&pictureid=15030

We couldn't finish ours.

If you like fancy nosh at prices you could only dream about in Dublin, the Hotel Pod Roza on Florianska, just off the main square, has a posh dinner that works out at about 50 euro each.
http://www.podroza.hotel.com.pl/rose_en/_POD_RoZA_RESTAURANT_MENU
Mad prices for Krakow, but much less than you'd pay for similar in Dublin. Worth it to have desserts that look like this:
picture.php?albumid=309&pictureid=15031

grimm2005 · 03-02-2014 1:38am

Great suggestions, thanks folks! I'm aware of how cheap everything is since I was over in Warsaw a few months ago and was pretty taken aback by how cheap everything was! Certainly won't be skimping on anything that's for sure!

Should Have Done Arts · 03-04-2014 1:57pm

Are taxis from the airport a rip off?

boris232 · 03-04-2014 2:08pm

Absolutely - 50 zlotys each person (roughly €12.50 each) whereas 4 zlotys for the bus to the city centre.

Get the bus but make certain you have coinage before going to the machine as they are as finicky as they come. Bus journey takes a good bit longer through the suburbs but as least you get to see a bit of the city.

The taxi drivers tend to hound you as soon as you walk out of the airport and even at the bus stop.

Should Have Done Arts · 03-04-2014 3:18pm

And is the bus fair from the Airport...

Any other scams worth noting?

boris232 · 03-04-2014 3:20pm

boris232 · 03-04-2014 3:22pm

Not sure what you mean by fair but the bus journey is at most 40-45 mins.

Regarding other scams I have been told that some of the organised tours are well overpriced, other good value so watch out.

Still overall it is a lovely relaxing city and there is good value to be got over there.

Should Have Done Arts · 03-04-2014 4:41pm

boris232 wrote: »

Not sure what you mean by fair but the bus journey is at most 40-45 mins.

Regarding other scams I have been told that some of the organised tours are well overpriced, other good value so watch out.

Still overall it is a lovely relaxing city and there is good value to be got over there.

Oh I ment is the bus stop far from the airport..

I was booking a day tour for the concentration camp and the saltmines 57e pp (228 zolty) is that reasonable

zweton · 03-04-2014 4:46pm

i am going over the end of the month and got quoted 230 zl, i would say thats about average.

Krakow in February

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