Travelling to Krakow!

So my friend Jen and I booked 2 trips for during the school holidays, before we go back to England.

The first was to Krakow, Poland, mainly because both of us had always had 'visit Auschwitz' on our bucket lists and it looked like an amazing place in general.

We stayed in a small apartment that we found via Airbnb, it was within walking distance to almost everything (unfortunately I didn't get any photos of it as the majority of the time it was a real mess, thanks to us).

We stayed for 6 nights and therefore it would be impossible to do a great post on everything that we did so I thought I could put together some advice for anyone who is thinking of going to Krakow :)

1. It is very very very cheap!!!!!

I don't mean the flights or accommodation, but food, drinks, visits, exhibitions, taxis etc. are insanely well priced. The Polish zloty exchange rate is around 5 zloty to 1 pound (at the time of this post anyway) so when we paid 200 zloty in total for our trip to Auschwitz and the salt mines together, this worked out to about just under £40. Its absolutely crazy.

2. Try the local cuisine!

Honestly, I had no clue what Polish food would be like and when I heard it was mainly dumplings, sausage, stew and things like that, I didn't think I would be interested. However, I gave it a go and was pleasantly surprised! 

The dumplings (pictured below) were nothing like the ones that I have at home in England, they were so light and filled with things like cheese, potato, onion and meat. Not only were they delicious, but they were filling too, perfect for a quick lunch stop!

3. Go to a tourist information office to book day trips!

This is something that I would highly highly HIGHLY recommend. We used 'Discover Krakow' and they were amazing.

We paid 200 zloty (just under £40) for our trip to the salt mines and Auschwitz combined, this included transport and the tour guides.

We found the tourist office in the main square and the pick-up point was in the main square too for our trips. This made our trips so much easier and more enjoyable!

4. If you're undecided on any trips- GO ANYWAY!

I wasn't entirely sure if the salt mines would be my thing and after hearing we'd have to walk down over 300 stairs to get there I was a little worried but it was very very informative. Especially with a tour guide who gave us all of the background information. The salt sculptures were incredible.

Underground St Kinga's Chapel built entirely out of salt!

5. Auschwitz is something everyone needs to see at some point in their lives.

As I said, I had always wanted to visit Auschwitz. I had heard a lot about it and studied World War II and the Nazi party in many History classes, but this trip really made it feel real.

It was so eery and emotional, the whole day was bizarre. I almost feel like I dreamt it because it was so haunting.

I would 100% recommend going with a tour group and getting a guide while you're there. They give you all of the information you need and take you to the Auschwitz camp as well as the Birkenau death camp which is all ruins.

The only thing that I would say is to be respectful, it was really disturbing to see people trying to snap photographs when we were told not to.

Also there is a restaurant/ cafe at the entrance of the Auschwitz camp if you get hungry- someone asked us before.

6. Nightlife...

Krakow has ridiculous amounts of bars in and around the city centre. We mainly stayed around the main square and some nights went into the Jewish Quarter.

We went to 'Shakers' one night and ended up staying until 4am. It was just off the main square and beside lots of others.

Be careful not to get overcharged, we ended up paying different prices for the same drinks when they knew that we were English tourists!

Kamikazi shots (they only let us buy in 6s...)

At the Hard Rock Cafe in the city centre. (Top- Zara)

7. Don't be afraid to explore!!

We ended up getting lost down different streets away from the centre and saw so many gorgeous buildings and churches along the way as well as pieces of art. Krakow really is a beautiful city.

You can also get taxi tours for very cheap, they can take you to all of the main points of interest!

Different parts of the main square

Inside of this building was a small market, there were lots of great stalls selling everything from clothes to jewellery. They sold beautiful pieces of amber jewellery for great prices!

A lovely church we stumbled across while we were lost.

That's it!

I hope this post was helpful, I would recommend Krakow to anyone!

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask :)