Top 5 Things to See in Kraków’s Old Town (from a Local)

Po polsku: Zabytki Krakowa: 10 najważniejszych miejsc

Friends often ask me: „I have one day in Kraków, what do I really need to see?” Here’s my answer, counting down from 5 to 1. They’re all in the old town, within a 20-minute walk of each other, so you can see all five in one day and still have time for pierogi.

5. The Barbican and St Florian’s Gate

Start where the kings started. The Barbican is a round brick fortress from the end of the 15th century, one of the best-preserved in Europe. Right behind it stands St Florian’s Gate, the only surviving gate of the medieval city walls. Walk through it and you’re on Floriańska Street, heading straight to the Main Square.

4. The Cloth Hall (Sukiennice)

The long Renaissance building in the middle of the square. In the Middle Ages merchants sold cloth here, today it’s a market hall full of amber, wooden toys and lace. Upstairs there’s a gallery of 19th-century Polish painting, and underground a museum built on the excavated medieval market. Look for the old knife hanging in the passage, it belongs to a legend about St Mary’s.

3. St Mary’s Basilica

The brick church with two different towers. Inside is the huge Gothic altarpiece by Veit Stoss, opened every day just before noon. And every hour a trumpeter plays the hejnał from the taller tower, stopping in the middle of a note. Here’s why: Kraków’s hejnał, the bugle call that stops mid-note.

2. The Main Square (Rynek Główny)

One of the largest medieval squares in Europe, and the heart of the city for almost 800 years. Sit on a bench, watch the horse carriages and the pigeons, look at the Town Hall Tower and the colourful townhouses. My tip: come early in the morning or late in the evening, when it’s calm and the light is beautiful.

1. Wawel Castle and Cathedral

Number one had to be Wawel. On a hill above the Vistula stand the Royal Castle, with its Renaissance arcaded courtyard, and the Cathedral, where Polish kings were crowned and buried. You can walk around the hill and the courtyard for free; the state rooms, the royal tombs and the bell tower with the great Sigismund Bell have tickets.

Bonus: the Wawel Dragon

Walk down from Wawel to the river and you’ll find the Dragon’s Den, a cave under the hill, and a bronze dragon that really breathes fire every few minutes. Kids love it, adults secretly too. The whole legend is here: the Wawel Dragon and the Dragon’s Den.

More Kraków guides: Kraków & Małopolska in English.

Łukasz, Niezwykła Małopolska