Last summer Peter and I spent a week in Kraków. It was his suggestion and at first I wasn’t that enthusiastic. I didn’t know what to expect, had never ever thought of going on vacation there, but the moment we arrived I started to love it.
Just a few notes before I start my list of where and what to eat when you’re in Kraków:
– Don’t worry about the language. I couldn’t speak a word of Polish before I got there, but everyone speaks English there, you’ll get English menus in restaurants and bars, so there’s no need to worry at all. (In case you were wondering, I could say about four things in Polish when we left, so there was not a lot of improvement there.)
– Try to find a hotel or an apartment that’s close to or preferably right in the middle of the old town of Kraków. Our apartment was on Grodzka Street, which was perfect, because we had everything in reach. You wouldn’t want to take the train, tram or bus to the center every day, because – let’s face it – the old town (Stare Miasto) is most likely where you’ll spend most of your time.
– Don’t think that you’ll get to know Kraków by staying there a few days – or even a week. Sure, you can walk around the old town in one day and pass every street, but that doesn’t mean you actually saw everything. We recently had brunch at some friends‘ apartment, who coincidentally spent ten days in Kraków last October and will return there this fall. We exchanged our Kraków food and restaurant memories and there was about one restaurant that both they and we went to. So, you can get out your little map of Kraków and think you will know it all within a few days, but you’re wrong. There are fantastic restaurants, amazing cafés and exciting jazz bars on every corner. So, if you decide to actually go there (based on my mouth-watering recommendations, I am sure), be prepared to be overwhelmed.