Krakow ever been??

miss choc

Going to Krakow for 5 days and trying to figure out the best usage of time there. Auschwitz and the Salt Mines will be on my to do list would they take a day each?

Was going to try and squeeze in a day trip to Warsaw also but dont know if that would be too much. For Auschwitz and the Salt Mines I tried to look on my hotel's website "Senacki" to see if they can organise the day trip's for us but I dont see any info. Are they easy to book yourself or would I need to book them in advance before I arrive (going in Sept).

Does Poland have an all in one public transport ticket or would I be better just paying per day seeing as I may be on day trips for 3 of the days?

Any recommendations on nice bars/restaurants would be helpful too.

Sorry for all the questions just want to get some opinions from either people who have been there or locals

Owen

Day trip to Warsaw would be insane - I would highly recommend getting yourself south to Zakopane to enjoy one of the prettiest towns around, get some fantastic food, explore the markets, and go hiking in the National Park there. I'd happily retire in Zakopane tomorrow.

Kintarō Hattori

Auschwitz would take up a good chunk of your day. Wieliczka as I remember it wasn't all that long a tour but you do need to take a minibus there and back. There are regular private trips running to these places from outside the main bus station which I think you can book there and then.
As PaintDoctor has said, try and go to Zakopane, it's well worth the visit. It can be a little cheesy but underneath the tourist element it's a lovely town. Check out Cafe Europejska to see a place still stuck in the 1980s! Dom Gubałówka is on Gubałówka Hill at the bottom of the town and is a lovely place to stay with great views of the surrounding area and it's cheap. Morskie Oko is well worth a visit.

Back in Krakow I'm afraid I can't recommend any restaurants as such. The good lady is Polish so we ate in a variety of places while there. We also walked almost everywhere as really Stare Miasto (the old town) is the most interesting place to see and it's large enough to keep you interested for a few days but small enough that you can easily walk around it.

I gather you have a hotel booked but if not we've stayed in Hotel Warszawski a few times and it's pretty nice. It's a good quality 3 star and we paid about €80 each night we were there. It also happens to be about a 2 minute walk from the old town which is very handy.

rossie1977

well the tours to Auschwitz take about 6-7hrs http://www.cracowtours.pl/tours.html?p0=1&o=8703 salt mines a little shorter

zakopane is about 2hr south of krakow, regarding bars and restaurants there are loads in and around market square

undo

There are combined tours of Auschwitz and Wieliczka that cram both into a day for those in a rush. But if you have the time, you can take it easier and do each one separately. There is no need to prebook a tour with your hotel. Different operators advertise all around the old town. You can compare their offers and book the tour that suits you best. Or you can do it on your own. I have only ever taken public transport to Auschwitz and Wieliczka. But then again, I am Polish and so can figure out the schedules easier.

In Kraków itself, beside the very beautiful old town, you have the king's castle with dragon lair underneath and you have the Jewish quarter (Kazimierz). Incidentally, Kazimierz is a good place for food. When I was in Kraków the last time, we also hired bikes in the city and biked out across the river. This provided some fantastic views of the old town and castle like this one:

http://fabianowski.de/gallery/picture.php?/3385/category/93

orchidsrpretty

When I went to Krakow, we rented a car for 3 days so we could do auschwitz, salt mines etc, it worked out alot cheaper than doing the tours and you are on your own time schedule. The car company delivered the car to our apartment and picked it up at the airport, so if you can drive it is worth considering. You defo need a full day for Auschwitz and should arrive before 10am if you want to do the guided tour, there is a free bus there that will bring you to birkenhau also. The salt mines you would only need 3 hours there. We also went to a couple of liitle towns and visited the Popes home town if you are into that kinda thing. In Krakow itself there are bundles of resturants and bars which are mainly located around the main square but if you want resonable and good priced food try stay away from the sqare and you will find loads of little resturants down little side streets that are grat value.

spurious

Any of the tours of Nowa Huta are worth doing and a little bit unusual.

jester77

I would give Warsaw a miss, it's just a ugly mass of concrete and quite a distance from Krakow. As others have said, a day to Auschwitz/Birkenau, salt mines and Zakopane should be top priorities. Zakopane is beautiful, take the cable car up the mountains for amazing views.

Kintarō Hattori

The old town in Warsaw is pretty amazing in fairness, it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are also lots of other things to see around the city.

undo

Warsaw's appeal is not the beauty of its architecture. Mr Hitler had a personal beef with Warsaw and made sure that it was thoroughly flattened. After the war, the communists rebuilt it in... well, their own style. The old town is the only part that was rebuilt to look exactly as it did before the war.

Warsaw is interesting because of its historical relevance, because of the contrasts between crumbling communist concrete and shiny skyscrapers everywhere. It also is the center of Polish society, so you will find lots of cultural venues and great restaurants in Warsaw. The city is well worth a visit. And if you take the 4 hour express train, you could make it a day trip. But it would be quite an intense day. With just a few days in Kraków, I would spend them in the area and go to Warsaw separately another time.

spurious

The Uprising museum in Warsaw is worth seeing if you do end up taking a trip there. As others have said it would be crazy busy for one day.