I’ve got to say that Krakow is one of my favourite cities. There is so much to do in and around the second largest city in Poland. Krakow is also fairly easy to reach. As we’re a driving tour we’ll talk about driving and the most direct way is via the E40 (A4) from Berlin. Part of this road, especially close to Krakow has tolls imposed. On our driving tour we travel from Prague, through the Czech countryside via Brno and Ostrava to the Polish border near Oswiecim (also known as Auchwitz – more about this later). There is also a direct train from Berlin to Krakow.
Once you get there you’ll notice that Krakow is composed of an ‘old town’ (Stare Miasto) with newer areas laid out concentrically around. Most of what is interesting about Krakow is in the old town or very close by. Tour de Europe stays at the Radisson Blu Krakow on Straszewskiego Street (https://www.radissonblu.com/en/hotel-krakow). Its right on the edge of the old town with a short walk to the town square and an underground garage for your car. Out of the door to the hotel, you’ll see a nice park, which is the southern end of the old city. Main Market Square is the centre of the city and a mass of small streets containing shops and restaurants branch off it. Even on the square, the edges are filled with bars and restaurants. There are often musical displays and other entertainment during the summer months. The most dominating architecture is Wawell Castle. Built in the early 14th Century, it served as the royal residence until the end of the 16th century when the capital was moved to Warsaw. It sits on a hill that has been occupied since paleolithic times and dominates the Vistula River. On the opposite bank to the castle is the district of Kamierz, the Jewish Ghetto. This is where you’ll find the Enamel works of Oskar Schindler, now transformed into a museum about the Jewish ghetto during WWII. It even has the original desk used by Oskar Schindler.
One of the great things about Krakow is a group of young entrepreneurial people who call themselves ‘The Crazy Guides’ (www.crazyguides.com). This is a company that run various tours around Krakow. The most well known is the ‘Communism tour’ where you are picked up from your hotel in an East German made Trabant car (the body is made of resinated paper) and taken on a tour of a centrally planned suburb of Nowa Huta. The suburb was built as a showcase of communist central planning and includes a steelworks (now owned by Mittal) with all the latest (for the 1970’s) mod cons of communist consumer production in a workers apartment and workers canteen. Its a fascinating tour and the young guides are knowledgeable and friendly. One tour we took last year was to a shooting gallery called Grotgun (http://www.grotgun.com/) . Here you can sample various guns such as handguns up to the .50 cal Desert Eagle and rifles and automatic weapons such as the AK-47 Kalashnikov. Very friendly instructor and he makes everybody safety conscious. A group of between 4 and 6 is ideal.
Outside of Krakow to the south is the Tatra Mountains and the ski resort town of Zakopane. Even on a summers day, its still a good drive with plenty of good scenery. Even drop over the border into Slovakia and see how the poor part of the EU live. To the east is the salt mine at Wieliczka (Wieliczka Salt Mine). Operating up until the late 90’s, the salt mine is now a tourist attraction that includes a cathedral with bas relief carvings all dug out of the rock salt. The cathedral is around the 65 metre level and there is even an underground lake at the 135 metre level. The tourist loop is 3.5 kms of the 287 kms of tunnels and a lift takes you back to the surface. English language tour guides are available and well worth it. The salt mine is 10 kms from the city and there is plenty of parking. Buses also travel out from the city.
About 40 kms to the west of Krakow is Auschwitz (http://auschwitz.org/en/). It was the centre of a network of 25 camps set up by the Nazis as part of the ‘Final Solution’. It started out before WWII as a Polish Army barracks but was taken over by the SS on the German Invasion of Poland in 1939. Forced evacuations of locals created a 40kms square buffer zone between the camp and the rest of the country. The best estimate is that 1.2m various nationalities (approx 80% Jewish) were victims. The initial impression is not of the traditional wooden barracks depicted in contemporary and Hollywood films as the first part of the camp is mainly brick buildings. As the camp was extended, the wooden buildings were built at Auschwitz II/Birkenau, but these were demolished by the Nazis as the Russian Army advanced towards the camp in January 1945 as were the main crematoria. The museum and camp is well worth a visit if only to see the extent of ‘mans inhumanity to man’ when taken to the nth degree. Be aware that some people in our groups were emotionally affected by the experience. At the time of last visit, August 2014 the main parking lot was being resurfaced and parking was at a premium.
There you have it. Krakow in a nutshell. Well worth a visit.