very small polish restaurant i particularly liked in krakow is called koko on gołebia. couple of minutes from rynek, food was good and it was always busy. only about 6 tables and very cheap. kept going back for gołabki. without exception what i loved about krakow was the food!!!
yeah, if you are a speedwalker!! lol! i was just just strolling. would never go back to miod i wino though. food was average and service appalling...koko for me every time!!
And to answer your question... that all depends how long you want to spend in Kraków :)
When you are done with the sightseeing:
Buy obwarzanek and feed the fat cheeky pidgeons on the Main Square.
Get a flower from the Main Sq flower lady that will inevitably start to chat with you then.
If it's warm enough: climb the nearby statue of Adam Mickiewicz and read a book on its steps, from time to time watching people below. Or do the same on Planty. Or in Jordan Park (and don't forget to feed the ducks this time).
Watch the sunset from Mariacki Church tower: krakow4u.pl/wieza-mariacka-2.html
Go for a walk on Skałki Twardowskiego, the former quarry. If you are into diving you will find a real playground there:
(there is also an underwater plaque commemorating John Paul II who worked in this quarry during WWII).
Go to Kiniarnia, the tiniest cinema in Kraków that still uses old school projectors and changes the film reels in the middle of the movie (there is also a bar counter at the back of the room that server drinks to make the experience even nicer): (and the movies in Polish cinemas are usually subtitled, no Polish dubbing).
Get a Kraków t-shirt: letsfunky.com/wycinanka,20,1,p.html
If you feel like spending a bit more: Bielak Jewellery Gallery: galeriabielak.pl/index.php?lang=en
In a few months time Kitsch reopens, one of the few places openly gay, one always finds a good dancing partner there.
Also, for accommodation I would look here: noce.pl/SR/index2.php?lang=en&k=1&pk=2
...and rent a bike. It makes life soo much easier :)
There is a nice little booklet called "Kraków without limits":...
Buy coffee in Pożegnanie z Afryką
Hot chocolate (or chocolate dessert) in Wedel on Main Sq (just opposite Mariacki Church). Onion soup, rasperry dessert and mulled wine in Cieplarnia on Bracka St. They are hidden quite well and to find the place you go through narrow passages and emerge in completely different world. They do jazz concerts on Fridays / weekends and the soft acoustics of cosy rooms is just amazing.
Another glass of mulled wine in either Nowa Prowincja (mezzanine level highly recommended) or Stara Prowincja (both on Bracka Street). The best room in Stara Prowincja is carefully hidden - you have to go the the very back of the building, where only toilets seem to be, and discover old wooden winding stair there. Go up one floor and you will find the most comfortable couches in Kraków :) That room used to be one of two or three non-smoking places back in the 1990s / early 2000, before the introduction of smoking ban :D
One of the hundreds of teas in Czajownia 4th room is the best : ).
For eating:
- Dynia: dynia.krakow.pl. The food is unbelievably good. Not extremely expensive but not on the cheap side either.
- Hungarian food in Balaton on Grodzka St. (goulash! balaton.krakow.pl)
- Ukrainian food around the corner on Kanonicza St. (ukrainska.pl/en)
- Salads in Chimera restaurant vaulted cellars (don't go right though, to the main restaurant, unless you feel like eating pheasants / veal tongues): chimera.com.pl/htm/ang/salad_bar_main.html
- Babcia Malina (Sławkowska St, there are a few other "Babcias" around Kraków, but I have always found the one on Sławkowska st to be the best. Traditional Polish cuisine, including żurek served in a spherical loaf of bread): kuchniaubabcimaliny.pl/nasze-restauracje/krakow-ul-slawkowska-17.html
Yet another place when you have to locate the right building gate first, go through some courtyards, staircases etc. to finally reach the destination.
Well worth it imho. The food is great and it would be hard to find better prices in the city centre. You may try however:
- zapiekanka (toasted sandwich) on Plac Nowy, Kazimierz district. Perfect for the late evening, on the way from one pub to another.
- grilled sausage at Hala Grzegórzecka. These are being sold in the middle of the night directly from a shabby van to all the drunk pilgrims, who actually can come from quite far away :D These sausages are legendary :D
There is also outdoor antiques market at Hala Grzegórzecka every Sunday. They have everything: from antique jewelerry to collections of Kinder Surprise toys...
And to answer your question... that all depends how long you want to spend in Kraków :)
I definitely can't say there is nothing to do now.
For eating:
Thanks so much ladykangaroo, I will definitely check out some of these when I go back again. I can't check them all out because I would simply triple in size :-( otherwise I would.
The link to the T shirts was nice, I would buy one of the T shirts with a print of kosciół mariacki, the other prints were very nice also.
That was such a great post that I would like to give you a thumbs up for it but I can't because this feature isn't availeable.
- 1 city - Cracow itself with a main market square, Wawel castle, etc. established 2 or may be 5 thousant years ago. - 2 city - Kazimierz (Cracow's district now) built in the Middle Age with a Jewish part by king Casimirus The Great to compete Cracow. - 3 city - Podgorze (Cracow's district now) built in XIX c. as an industrial city by Austrians to compete Cracow . - 4 city - Nowa Huta (Cracow's district now) built in XX c. as an ideal communist city under Russian preasure to compete Cracow.
All this cities have their own trade centers, main squares, city halls (in Nowa Huta construction was abandoned), etc.
Those who've visited that city, say that aesthetically, it's one of the loveliest in Poland, particularly of course, the Stary Rynek with the Sukiennica:-))
What about visiting Ojcow National Park? If you like nice scenery and fancy a bit of a hike, it's not far from Krakow. Without you saying what your interests are, it's difficult to know what to suggest.
