Old Town Krakow

Krakow is not one of the places on the American Tourist bucket list, so I think many Americans skip Krakow. Now the popular Holocaust Camp Auschwitz-Birkenau is near Krakow so I maybe wrong in my assumption of Krakow not being visited.

What you should know is Krakow is a UNESCO Heritage Site. I went into more detail about UNESCO during my Bergpark entry. Long story short, UNESCO is an organization which preserves important sites around the world. Did you know Krakow was on the original list of UNESCO? Krakow is renowned because it is a marvel in urban planning. I don't mean to be lazy but I took this from the UNESCO site, "[Krakow] is characterised by the harmonious development and accumulation of features representing all architectural styles from the early Romanesque to the Modernist periods."

To summarize what is here you got the Vistula River, Wawel Castle, Jagellonian University, Gothic Cathedrals, large market square, and famous houses.

Visiting Krakow

My initial impression of Krakow is old and run down. However as we walked through the town many of the places inside are neat and up to date. It could be that the Polish want the appearance of an old run down town, but keep everything modern.

We stayed at the Zulian Hotel for 5 days which is a 10 minute walk from Old Town Krakow. Our hotel was not American Standards, no fridge and no AC. Being American it is an inconvience. Maybe in the future I have to make sure that the hotel has those two amenities. There was wifi though making the kids happy.

The cost of many items in Krakow is affordable according to what we spend in Germany and the United States. For example a big bottle of water is 40 cents, in Hawaii that big bottle would be $2. Our first family meal was only $29. I even tipped the waitress $3.50 and she had a smile on her face making me think that was a big tip. We tipped a lot and were very generous since the pandemic affected a lot of businesses.

As the days went on we became enamored with the city. It has its own uniqueness. At nights it was loud with people walking home drunk from the bars. The Polish are in the top 5 alcohol drinkers in the world. Even though many Polish people drink alcohol, some do it for cultural purposes and not to get drunk. For example, during Polish celebration, everyone celebrates with a shot of vodka. The Polish and Russians compete for the Best Vodka in the world.

Old Town Krakow is a nice place to visit. The last few days were hot and almost unbearable reading over 90°F. With no AC in hotel, sleep was miserable. I took 3 cold showers a day to handle the heat.