Krakow Journals

Krakow in November

A November 2008 trip to Krakow by caromeow

Wawel Hill Photo - Wawel Hill, Castle and Cathedral, Krakow, Poland

Quote: We visited Krakow in November, definitely not the tourist high season, which I was glad for. We spent three days exploring the lovely city and the nearby salt mines.

4 Photos

Pod Wawelem

Restaurant | "Good But Touristy Place to Eat"

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The restaurant is just across from the Wawel Hill. It's in the back of a hotel, so it was kinda tricky for us to find the entrance at first. You can go through the hotel or through an entrance on the left side.We only went to this restaurant because a man in a beer costume in the main square gave us coupons for beer - buy one get one free. When we got to the restaurant it seemed like a well-oiled tourist-trap machine. So we were a little nervous. We were first directed to the coat check, which costs 1 zl. per coat. Then we were seated. Our waiter spoke very quickly, some memorized English introduction I guess. We ordered our beers and then mulled over what to do next. Living in...Read More

Member Rating 2 out of 5 on November 29, 2008

Pod Wawelem
Ulica Sw. Gertrudy 26-29
Krakow
+48 (12) 421-2336

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Bar Vega

Restaurant | "Cheap Vegetarian Canteen!"

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I read about Bar Vega in my Let's Go guide, and it was just around the corner from our apartment, so we gave it a try. The food is already prepared, which I didn't know from the descriptions I had ready about it, but it was pretty good and cheap. I tried some bulgar dish and my boyfriend had some vegetarian goulash. Nothing to write home about, but if you're vegetarian and on a budget, it's a good place to go. Dishes were mostly between 7 and 9 zloty.

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on November 29, 2008

Bar Vega
Ulica Gertrudy 7
Krakow
+48 (12) 4223494

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Wieliczka Salt Mine

Attraction | "A Fun Day Trip"

Quote:

Open:
1. April to 31.10 7:30am to 7:30pm
2. November to 31. March 8:00am to 5:00pm

In order to see the mines, you must take a tour. English tours are 61 to 64 zl depending on which month you go, or 46 to 49 for a reduced price ticket (children 4 to 15, students with student ID card). Children under 4 years old are free!

**If you want to take pictures, you need to pay 10 zl and they will give you a badge to put on your shirt. The tour guide will probably notice if you don't have the badge so I wouldn't recommend trying to get away with picture-taking without it.

web site: www.kopalnia.pl

Check the web site for tour times in various languages. Tours are very frequent in July and August, much less so in the winter.

My boyfriend and I were unsure about whether to go to the salt mine. We both thought it sounded really good, but some reviews I had read said it wasn't worth the price. We did go, however, and I really enjoyed it more than I thought I would! Also, we got student tickets, which helped us out a lot.

Getting there: I had read about lots of minibuses you can take, but when we were there, I didn't see any, so we took the regular bus. Perhaps these minibuses are more frequent in the summer. The bus was quite confusing. Take bus 304. The bus is on Pawia street, on the other side of the huge shopping center from the main train station. A one-way ticket costs 2.60. If you use the machine at the bus stop, you can also use notes, but if you use the machine on the bus, you need coins. You cannot buy tickets directly from the driver. The info sheet we picked up at the tourist office said that the trip would take 30 to 40 minutes. It took us 50 minutes. The first twenty or thirty minutes were spent just traveling around Krakow, so if you can find the bus 304 stop on the other side of the old town, it might be more comfortable. The next problem we encountered was, where do we get off the bus? The girl at the tourist info office said to get off in the center and that the town is not big, but it's not true at all. We definitely passed a stop called "centrum" or something similar, but luckily a woman on the bus helped us. Unfortunately I still don't know the name of the stop, but it's the second to the last stop on 304. You will see on the right side of the bus, a footpath that goes straight downhill beside a walled cemetery. This is where you get off, follow the path down until you reach a busy street, turn left and you will see the billboard for the mines. You will then see the entrance and follow the path up to the ticket office. The walk from the bus stop takes about ten minutes.

The tour: I was also unsure about how long the tour would last, as every source I had varied from 1.5 to 3.5 hours. I think our tour was about 2 hours long. When it finishes, you have the option to linger in the restaurant or continue to a tour of the museum. The museum was included in the price of our tickets, so we went along. This took about an hour, but the tour guide really rushed us. I don't know if it was because it was the end of the day and our tour guide was eager to get off on time, or if we started the tour too late or what, but it was a little bit annoying. She didn't give us much time to explore each room and she got angry at some members of our group, who lingered behind after she had moved on to another room.

On the tour, you will start with a lot of steps going down. Then you will see lots of different rooms, salt sculptures and chapels. We got to see one chapel that they only open in the winter, because they want to preserve it. We also learned about the history of the mines, which was interesting. The museum has examples of salt crystal formations, historical documents from the mine, and tools that were used in excavating the salt. If it doesn't cost extra, it's a good deal and I recommend it, despite being a bit rushed.

All in all, I had a good time on the tour, but I can imagine the tour groups might be much larger and less pleasant in the summer months. Our group was only about 15 people and was pretty pleasant. Plus, it's just a cool experience, if you've never been in a salt mine before :) Read Less

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on November 29, 2008

Wieliczka Salt Mine
10 Danilowicza Street
Krakow, Poland

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Polskie Smaki

Restaurant | "A Quick and Affordable Taste of Poland"

Quote:

web site in English: http://www.polskie-smaki.pl/en/Contact.html(I swear, when we were there the sign said they were open just til 9pm, but according to the web site it's open til 11!)After our not-so-wonderful experience at the much-recommended Pierogarnia, we came upon this "little" restaurant. Like the Pierogarnia, Polskie Smaki offers self-service Polish food at good prices (about 7 to 9 zlotych for an order of pierogi, which is generally 8 or 9 pieces). Most other dishes on the menu seemed to be around 10 zl. Drinks between 2 and 5 zloty, and soup about 3 or 4 zloty. The service seemed much friendlier than at Pierogarnia. There is a more easily viewable menu (in Poilsh and in En...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on November 19, 2008

Polskie Smaki
ulica Sw. Tomasza 5
Krakow
+48 (12) 429 38 69

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Pierogarnia

Restaurant | "Maybe Not the "Best" Pierogis in Town..."

Quote:

Both of our guides listed Pierogarnia as the place to go to try pierogis, but we left unimpressed. On the plus side, this tiny "restaurant" (more like Polish fast food?) is now open 24 hours. However, I wouldn't call it a restaurant. It's self-service and there are only four or five tables to sit at. It's tiny and if it gets busy you can feel a bit rushed. Also, your food is served on styrofoam plates with plastic utensils. The only choices of drink are about five flavors of Cappy juice or a drink called Kwas, which looks like beer but is not! I gave Kwas a try but it was possibly the worst thing I've ever put in my mouth. The pierogi were not bad, but I think we had better ones elsewhere,...Read More

Member Rating 1 out of 5 on November 19, 2008

Pierogarnia
ulica Slawkowska 32
Krakow
+48 (12) 422 74 95

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Wawel Hill, Castle and Cathedral

Attraction | "What to See at Wawel Hill"

Quote:

Wawel Hill is one of the first things you'll read or hear about when you look into visiting Krakow. On a map it looks like Wawel Hill is outside of the city, but it's really not. Krakow is very tiny and Wawel is no more than ten minutes' walk from the center. Maybe less.There are several attractions at Wawel Hill, so you can pick and choose what to see or go ahead and see it all! There are lots of signs around the city directing you to Wawel, but you can't miss it when you come upon it. It is indeed a hill, surrounded by a wall. There are two entrances, just walk around and find them, or follow the crowd. Dogs, luggage and food are not allowed inside the walls. There is a place to check yo...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on November 19, 2008

Wawel Hill, Castle and Cathedral
Wawel 5
Kraków, Poland 31-001
(+48 12) 422 51 55

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Getting around Krakow

Story/Tip

Quote:

Krakow is a pretty small town. We didn't realize just how small til we arrived. If you look on the map, you can see the center (Stare Miasto) is surrounded by a ring road. It's incredibly easy to walk all throughout this center, not to mention beyond. Our first evening, we were wandering around Kazimierz (the Jewish quarter), and decided to walk across the bridge to the other side of the river. It's not far at all from the center! I was surprised and I think this may have influenced my choice of accommodation. I remember thinking some hotels or apartments looked out of the city but actually the city is very small so keep this in mind when you are booking your accommodation!Also, we never u...Read More

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Old Town Apartments

Hotel | "Apartments: A Cheaper Alternative to the Hotel?"

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It took me a good three days just to make a decision on where to stay. Do we want privacy? Do we want breakfast included? Is it worth 150zl a night to have a private room in a hostel, with shared bathroom facilities? Should we just do a shared room and pay a bit less? or pay a bit more and get the privacy and comfort of a hotel?Eventually it was the last minute deals from Old Town Apartments that swayed me. What's the difference, anyway, between a hotel and an apartment, other than the free breakfast? Well, I guess I didn't think about the staff that's always on hand when you need something in a hotel... still, I was pretty happy with our choice. I would definitely recommend an apartment i...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on November 18, 2008