Best Krakow Itinerary 2024: Top Sights, Cafes, & Day Trips

Are you planning to spend a few days in one of the most visited cities in Poland and looking for the best Krakow itinerary? This detailed guide covers the top things to do in Krakow, including several day trips, cafes, and restaurants. 

I’ve visited Krakow twice and the last time I was there I spent six days in the city. Therefore, this Krakow itinerary is packed with the essential Krakow attractions, Polish food to try, where to stay, and my recommendations for cafes, bars, and restaurants in Krakow.

That said, I understand that you might not have that much time or might not be interested in some spots I outline here. This post is ideal as 3 day Krakow itinerary; however, feel free to modify it to your needs to craft a perfect Krakow 2 day itinerary or even maximize your time for one day in Krakow. The flexibility of this Krakow travel guide enables you to skip things and take it slower if you wish. 

This famous city attracts many tourists with its history, fascinating museums, charming cobbled streets, and gorgeous architecture. Krakow is a walkable city with many attractions surrounding its Market Square or Rynek Glowny. Unless you go on day trips to explore other towns in Poland or venture out to a Soviet-era neighborhood of Nowa Huta, you won’t need public transport. 

How many days in Krakow do you need?

If you’ve peeked into my Krakow attractions post, you got the idea that Krakow offers many activities and sights to visit. Therefore, when considering how many days in Krakow you’ll need, list what sights you’d want to see and spend the most time at. 

As mentioned above, the last time I planned a trip to Krakow, I spent six days there, enabling me to experience the city vibe to the fullest and giving me enough time to explore some other areas I had on my Poland itinerary. 

The number of days for visiting Krakow also depends on the season. If you plan in late spring or summer when the days are longer, 3 days in Krakow will be enough to see the city’s iconic landmarks and even go on a day trip. 

For the autumn and winter seasons, when it gets dark at around 4 pm, add one or two days to your Krakow itinerary to maximize your sightseeing. It is also worth mentioning that some museums change their opening hours during the off-season and close earlier than during peak months. 

Where to stay in Krakow

Your best Krakow itinerary

This detailed Krakow city guide provides all the highlights and important Krakow attractions to see here. I specifically don’t put a straightforward and planned-out itinerary for Krakow for each day, as you can easily modify it to your liking. 

As mentioned above, the post is an ideal Krakow 3 day itinerary, but the flexibility of it enables you to craft your own perfect plan. You can also use this post if you plan a weekend in Krakow. 

Start by exploring Rynek Glowny

The vibrant Old Town surrounding the Rynek Główny is a UNESCO World Heritage site and Europe’s one of the biggest medieval market squares. Translated as the Main Square in English, the area was built after the Mongol invasion in the mid-13th century and covers around 40,000 sq. meters. 

It has always been a hub of social life for locals that connected Krakow to critical trading networks. It has been home to the city’s important celebrations, gatherings, and royal ceremonies. Even today, many cultural and social events happen here, including the Christmas Market if you are traveling to Poland in winter or the Easter fair. 

While I absolutely adore Poznan’s Rynek Glowny, Krakow’s townhouses around the square are some of the most charming buildings in the city. 

The prominent landmark of the Rynek Glowny is St. Mary’s Basilica, which dominates the skyline and is built in Polish Gothic architecture style. Dating back to the 14th century, this red brick church is beautiful both inside and outside. 

When the clock of the church strikes a full hour, a human plays a melody on the trumpet year round and stops mid-stream to honor a historical trumpeter shot while alarming locals of Mongol invasion. 

For gorgeous vistas of the Market Square, you can climb the stairs to the tower’s viewing deck (The tower is temporarily closed until April 2024). 

In the center of the square, you’ll also find the Cloth Hall, another historical landmark of Krakow. The building was a marketplace for merchants to sell their goods when Krakow became an important part of noteworthy trading routes back in the day. 

Today, it serves its original purpose, providing dozens of stalls selling traditional Polish souvenirs, handcrafts, jewelry, amber, etc. 

If you are into art, make sure you add the upper level of the Cloth Hall to your Krakow itinerary, as it showcases paintings, photographs, and sculptures of 19th-century Polish artists in its gallery. 

Another vital building here is the 14th-century Town Hall Tower, built with red bricks and adorned with delicate carvings and beautiful stonework. 

Walking around the square at sunset is one of my favorite activities, as it casts golden hues on the buildings while the sky playfully turns pink, orange, and purple. The buildings are lit at night, creating an entirely different scenery and atmosphere. 

Learn more about the square in an underground museum

Under the main square is the Rynek Underground Museum, dedicated to the Rynek Glowny, opened only in 2005. 

Located four meters below, the museum takes you on a journey from the city’s earliest settlements to the modern era using hi-tech and interactive storytelling. 

Spacious halls display an impressive collection of archaeological finds, remains of medieval merchant booths, pottery, tools, clay figures, historic coins, burial grounds, and informative digital boards that bring Krakow’s history to life. 

Reconstructed blacksmith and goldsmith workshops are fun to look inside, and a medieval weighing scale provides a person’s weight based on different city-measuring rankings. 

• Opening hours: vary each day. Closed every second Monday of the month. 
• Entrance fee: adults – 32 PLN. Tuesdays are FREE. More info and ticket purchase. 
• Recommended tour: Guided tour of Rynek Underground Museum

Grab a local snack

Obwarzanek Krakowski is Krakow’s version of bagel/pretzel, which is very similar to Turkish Simit. 

This round bread sold at various stalls around the city center has a protected geographical indication status and is a great snack while exploring the famous Krakow landmarks. 

The preparation process is similar to a bagel and pretzel, where bakers boil the dough before sprinkling it with various toppings (poppy seeds, salt, or sesame) before baking. 

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Relax at the Planty Park 

Surrounding the historic center, Plnaty Park is another spot to add to your Krakow itinerary. The vast size of the park makes you feel as if you are somewhere outside of the city center and offers a peaceful escape from the city’s dynamic energy. 

It is beautiful during spring and summer, with different plants and flowers blooming in various colors. Our last visit to Krakow was in November, and despite the slightly colder weather, it was still pleasant to enjoy walks through the park during the day or at night. 

See Krakow’s old city walls 

Back in the day, brick walls encircled the city of Krakow and had seven entrance gates extending over two kilometers. 

Unfortunately, only a tiny part of Krakow’s medieval forts remain today found on the northern edge of Old Town. The horseshoe-shaped Barbican castle was an outer gate and guarded against invaders. A few meters from it, Old City Walls and St. Florian’s Gate lead to Florianska Street and ultimately to the Main Square.  

2024 update: Both St. Florian’s Gate and Barbican are temporarily closed. Check updates here.

Tour around royal quarters 

Straddled atop Wawel Hill overlooking the Vistula River, Wawel Castle is a stunning palace that functioned as the home of Polish kings for many centuries. 

The place was renovated and rebuilt a few times, and its current look is an impressive mixture of architectural styles. Its earliest parts are from the 10th century, while the splendid additions are of the recent centuries, making it one of the must-visit spots no matter whether you are spending one day in Krakow or looking for 3 days in Krakow itinerary. 

Here, you can explore the Royal Apartments, former private rooms of Polish kings, and see their luxurious lifestyle before entering the Wawel Cathedral, a classic example of Gothic architecture where Polish kings and queens found their final resting place.  

There is no entrance fee to walk the Wawel Hill and Arcaded Courtyard grounds. However, you need a ticket to the castle to see the exhibitions, the king’s chambers, and Wawel Cathedral. 

I recommend buying tickets in advance since they are limited online, and the physical ticket offices usually have long lines. When purchasing the ticket, remember to buy a separate ticket for each exhibition or room you want to visit.

And if you wish to see what most of Wawel Castle has to offer, allocate at least half a day on your Krakow itinerary. 

• Opening hours: vary on days and seasons. 
• Entrance fee: vary based on exhibitions and rooms to visit. More info and ticket purchase.
• Recommended tour: Wawel Castle & Cathedral Guided Tour

Don’t forget to look at Wawel Dragon 

Underneath Wawel Hill is a cave that originated many legends about fire-breathing dragon and the heroic act of a local man. 

According to a tale, the Wawel Dragon, a fearsome beast, terrorized Krakow citizens by requiring frequent offerings of cattle. Ultimately, a clever young shoemaker presented the dragon with a sheep loaded with sulfur, which exploded in its belly and killed it. 

While you can go inside the cave to see where that dragon lived, you can also look at the statue at the entrance, gushing fire from its mouth at about 10-minute intervals. 

Hunt down street art in Krakow

If you love finding murals in a city as much as I do, hunting down street art in Krakow should be a fun activity to add to your plans. 

Giant murals, graffiti, or stencil art are famous in Krakow, as are in other cities of Poland, including Poznan and Katowice. Finding these Krakow murals is relatively easy as they are scattered in various neighborhoods, including the city center, Kazimierz, and Podgorze. 

All the street art in Krakow I managed to find is included in the Google Maps list provided above. 

Try as many local meals as you can

Polish cuisine is diverse and influenced by its history, culture, and neighboring countries. The most iconic meal here is pierogi, Polish dumplings that are also similar but very different from Georgian Khinkali.

Bigos, often considered a national dish, is a meat stew with sauerkraut and fresh cabbage. My dedicated post of all the best Polish food lists the most iconic traditional meals to try. 

For a very local vibe, go to a Bar Mleczny Pod Temidą or try Przypiecek, a 24-hour restaurant offering a wide variety of pierogi.

If you prefer to learn more about Polish cuisine through guided tours, there is a wide selection of Krakow food tours, where you try traditional meals, snack on street food, have dinner, and sample Polish vodka, depending on the tour. And if you want hands-on experience, you can join a Polish food cooking class in Kraków and make pierogi.

Wander aimlessly in the Jewish Quarter

Situated adjacent to Old Town, Kazimierz is a historic neighborhood with labyrinthine streets, beautiful synagogues, and atmospheric cafes, to name just a few. 

Once a thriving Jewish Quarter, Kazimierz has transformed into a dynamic hub of music, art, and culinary delights. The district, established in the 14th century, was actually a separate city until 1791 when it was incorporated into Krakow’s city borders. 

Kazimierz has a different character and appeal than the bordering Old Town, as it has a more local vibe and becomes incredibly lively in the evenings. Therefore, including the whole area in your Krakow itinerary is a must. 

There are a few Krakow sights within the Kazimierz for you to explore. Wander along Szeroka Street, which used to be an active center of Jewish life, and admire the beautifully maintained synagogues. Before World War II, Kazimierz had several dozen synagogues, some still active, while others were turned into museums, cultural centers, or cafes. And don’t forget to pass through Shindler’s List Passage.

The Old Synagogue, constructed in the 15th century, is now a museum displaying the life of Krakow Jews. Nearby, Remah Cemetery of the mid-16th century is the oldest Jewish cemetery and a final resting place of some of the most prominent figures of the city’s Jewish community and those from Prague and Vienna. 

Besides sightseeing, Kazimierz is also a great place to have a lunch break. Our favorites were the Herve Bar and Restaurant housed in a former synagogue and a Kaffee Bageri Stockholm for a delicious Swedish cinnamon bun and coffee break. 

On weekends, Kazimier’s Plac Nowy Square hosts a small flea market where you can search through vintage items.

Enjoy Krakow’s atmospheric cafes and restaurants

Krakow has some charming, quirky, and interesting restaurant and bar scenes. Most of its atmospheric and strange places are in the Kazimierz district, including bars that get packed at night and are the best places to experience Krakow nightlife. My list of best restaurants and bars in Krakow includes some of my favorites. 

Learn more about Oskar Schindler at his factory museum

Shindler’s Factory Museum is one of the must-visit places, so if you only have a little time to spend in the city and want to know what to include on your Krakow 2 day itinerary, I recommend allocating time for this museum. 

The museum is housed in an Enemal Factory run by a German businessman, Oskar Shindler, during WWII and managed to save nearly 1,200 Jews from deportation to concentration camps. While he was pretty popular among Polish and Jewish communities, his story became world-famous after a famous director, Steven Spielberg, shot his all-time classic movie Shindler’s List. 

The venue chronologically displays Nazi occupation between 1939 to 1945 and tells the tales of Poles and Jews living in Krakow, culminating in the “liberation” from the Soviets. 

There are tons of information boards and exciting displays, so you’ll need at least an hour and a half here. 

• Opening hours: Mondays: 10 am – 2 pm; Tue-Sun: 9 am-6 pm; Closed every first Tuesday of the month. 
• Entrance fee: adults – 32 PLN; Mondays are FREE with limited tickets. More info. Buy a skip-the-line ticket here. 

Walk to Krakow Ghetto Wall

A few minutes walk from Oscar Shindler’s factory, you’ll find remains of a Krakow Ghetto wall, one of five ghettos during the Nazi occupation. It was a place of terror, exploitation, and persecution of the city’s Jewish citizens.

The ghetto, built in 1941, enclosed a crowded area of approximately 20 hectares and was home to more than 16,000 people. Barbed wire and a three-meter-high wall encircled the ghetto, and inside the walls, the detained Jews had horrible living conditions. The lack of sufficient sanitation, medical care, and food led to spreading diseases and malnutrition.

Shindler’s Factory Museum information board says that stores within the ghetto sold a legal ratio of food set by Nazis with the nutrition value of no more than 300 calories a day! 

Between June 1942 and March 1943, the Krakow ghetto was liquidated, and inhabitants were transported to nearby camps, including the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Admire the spine-tingling monument honoring Krakow’s Jewish community 

Ghetto Heroes Square, formerly called Zgody Square, near the Krakow Ghetto Wall, is home to one of the most interesting monuments. 

In 2005, a unique and powerful memorial of 33 oversized chairs was unveiled on the square honoring the victims of the Krakow ghetto. The big and empty metal chairs portray the numerous lives lost during the Holocaust. 

Visit the Under the Eagle Pharmacy Museum

When Nazis established the Krakow Ghetto, a pharmacy run by Tadeusz Pankiewicz was the only establishment that managed to provide more than just medical care to the ghetto inhabitants. 

Besides selling medical supplies, often given out free of charge, Under the Eagle Pharmacy was also a place where Pankiewicz and his staff started various undercover activities, such as smuggling food, money, and information into the ghetto by risking their own lives. They sometimes even gave shelter to those facing transportation to concentration camps. 

Currently turned into a museum, you can learn more about the pharmacy, its owners, and how they did what they did. The prescription room shows various survival prescriptions, while the storage room was a hiding place. 

• Opening hours: Wed-Sun: 9 am – 5 pm; Closed on Mon and Tue.
• Entrance fee: adults – 18 PLN; Wednesdays are FREE. More info and ticket purchase

Enjoy local sausage from a blue food truck

This iconic place deserves a separate listing to add to your Krakow itinerary. Located at Ulica Grzegórzecka, you can find the exact pin in my Google Maps list provided above. 

Serving simple Polish street food since 1991 out of the blue Nysa Van, this legendary sidewalk food truck has become a favorite of locals and a few tourists. Open every evening except for Sundays, come here from 8 pm till 3 am to try grilled local sausage on an open wood-fired stove. 

The serving is one sausage and a roll of bread, costing only 15 PLN. Bring cash, as they don’t accept credit cards. 

Explore Soviet-era utopian neighborhood

Nowa Huta, located in the city’s eastern part, should be on anyone’s Krakow itinerary if you love Soviet things. This former industrial hub used to be a symbol of socialist brilliance with its well-panned residential blocks and more than 250 underground bunkers.

After the industrial era, Nowa Huta reinvented itself with old and new cafes and bars scattered along the neighborhood, giving you the feeling of what it used to be. 

Start with a tour of the steel plant administration building and the bomb shelter to understand the logic behind Nowa Huta’s construction and to see some of the well-reserved bunkers and furniture of the 1960s. Then, wander through Plac Centralny and stroll along its spacious boulevards, dine at Soviet-era milk bars or the oldest restaurant in the neighborhood before visiting the most unique church I’ve ever seen. 

Go on day trips from Krakow

Krakow’s perfect location enables you to add a few day tour options to your itinerary. I have a separate post detailing all the best day trip options, but here, I include the most famous and must-dos: 

Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp: One of the must-see places for many is this horrifying site. I understand it is not for everybody, but if you can bear to hear the terrible stories and see some disturbing pictures and personal items, I firmly believe that dedicating your time to learning more about this dreadful place is absolutely worth it. I have a dedicated guide on how to visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial with tips and travel advice. 

Wieliczka Salt Mine: Visiting a salt mine from Krakow is the second most famous day trip choice. Enlisted as a UNESCO World Heritage site, this historic mine has produced table salt since ancient times, making it one of the world’s oldest operating salt mines.

At 327 meters deep, you’ll walk through chambers, admire various sculptures carved out of the salt rock, and see underground lakes. You can also see the exhibitions displaying historic salt-mining technology and miners’ clothes and tools. Read more about how to do a day trip from Krakow.

Krakow travel planning tips

Pack according to the season

No matter when you come to Krakow, wearing appropriate clothes for any season is essential. While your choices might be evident for warm summer days, you still need to know a few things to blend it to avoid unwanted attention or thefts. 

My ultimate guide to what to wear in Krakow provides monthly and seasonal overviews and tips for both men and women.

How to get to Krakow

Getting to Krakow is a breeze, with various options to suit your needs and budget. Whether you prefer the convenience of flying, the flexibility of driving, or the affordability of rail or bus travel, Krakow is well-connected and easily accessible from various European cities.

Flying into Krakow: The most comfortable and time-efficient way to reach Krakow is by flying into John Paul II International Airport (KRK), located just outside the city in the small village of Balice. The airport is well-served by various airlines, including budget-friendly options like Wizz Air and Ryanair, offering direct flights from numerous cities across Europe and beyond. Read a detailed guide on how to get from Krakow airport to city center. 

I typically find cheap flights on Skyscanner and WayAway. The latter even has cashback when you sign up for its membership (Use code: RFD10 to sign up and get a 10% discount).

Traveling by train or bus: For those seeking a more leisurely and scenic journey, Krakow is well-connected to other European cities via train or bus. Several train lines run between Krakow and Poland’s major cities like Poznan, Wroclaw, Katowice, Gdansk, and Warsaw, to name a few. 

When coming from outside Poland, you can find buses and trains surrounding cities and towns (Budapest, Prague, and Vienna being the closest), offering comfortable and affordable options for long-distance travel. 

Check and buy tickets at PKP Intercity for intercity train travel within Poland. For international trains, consider looking at Rail Europe. As for the bus, I recommend Flixbus, the most popular and convenient option I have used several times. 

Driving to Krakow: If you’re looking for the freedom and flexibility of driving, Krakow is easily accessible by road from various European destinations. For instance, a road trip from Prague to Krakow is a scenic and enjoyable option, allowing you to explore the beautiful landscapes of the Czech Republic and Poland along the way.

To rent a car, check DiscoverCars, a car rental aggregation platform that brings options from all the famous and international companies. 

Best time to visit Krakow

Spring or autumn is the best time to visit Krakow. March-May and September-November have pleasant weather for sightseeing and fewer crowds. 

If you want to avoid hot summer and cold winter days, these two seasons are the best time to go to Krakow.

Even though winter in Krakow brings cold, it is ideal if you’d like to ski in Polish Tatras. It is a low season for Krakow in winter unless you travel here during Christmas and New Year, making prices slightly lower than other months. 

June-August is the high season, bringing many tourists to the city. However, Krakow hosts many festivals in summer, so if you are into them, these months should be the best time to visit Krakow. 

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