How would you describe Krakow ?

Hello everybody,

I will be in krakow at the end of September for some job interviews.
I was in Warsaw in August for tourism and I loved the city and the people.

I would like to know for people who has been living in Krakow for a couple of years or born here, how would you describe Krakow in a few words ?

I'm from Paris and I love history and architectural things, and it seems that Krakow has a lot to offer.

In the other hand, my polish friends in Paris told me when I went to Poland on August, to not stay too long in Warsaw and hit Krakow instead. At the end of the day, I stayed in Warsaw because I liked a lot this city, even if many people described it as "ugly". This city has a soul and something special.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts about Krakow!

Thank you

Mediocre really nothing really blows you away the main square is the same as every city in eastern europe the castle is a let down (I'm english we have real castles there) its very grey and everything looks rundown

there are good places to go but also bad places ]

as a student town its great but now more and more people living there seem to think they are better than the rest of poland if i could compare it with a city in the uk i would say brighton without the colourful buildings and minus the gay scene

@Foolski! "lol". I would say that I prefer Warsaw. Krakow's old town is nice but rest of town is grey and sad.

krakow=pretentious, overated home of the hipsters if you like thick rimmed glasses skinny jeans and converse then its for you

Basically, you are telling me that Krakow is a nice city worth a visit for one week or so, but can be boring for a long stay ?

I enjoyed Warsaw, it's a big city, and many things to do. Also, I found out, maybe it was just a feeling, that the population was not really young, meaning that the students were not the vast majority of people hanging out.

I'm in my early 30's and I don't go to a night clubs a lot. Moreover I prefer to meet people of my age than young ones.

As you told me Krakow is mostly a student city, I'm wondering How I'll feel over there if I'm surrounded by drunk students in converse.

@Julien: Old town and Jewish neighorhood are interesting and worth visiting but the town itself is nothing special and small. There are not only students but also a lot of elderlies and and a lot of poor people. I've been told by people from Warsaw that people in Krakow are rather conservative and closed, hard to get accepted if from the outside. If you are from Paris and have enjoyed Warsaw, you may not like it to live in Krakow. To summarize, it's a very provincial town with provincial mentality.

Don't listen to them. One of them is trolling under endless guest names, the other is known to sneer at everything in Poland.

Krakow is perfectly fine if you enjoyed Warsaw. It's much the same to be honest, except a bit smaller - if you're looking for a city that is attracting a lot of foreigners and has a soul, Krakow is it. Wroclaw is another option, although it looks wrecked architecturally in many places.

I like it here in Krakow and you have the benefit of the mountains for trekking and skiing.

It really depends on what you want out of life?