Is Krakow guide in two days It is designed for travelers who want to know one of the most beautiful cities in Europe in a weekend, seeing its most essential places.
Medieval walled city, Krakow has one of the first old towns declared World Heritage, which revolves around the magnificent Market Square where in addition to touring all the streets of the center, you can visit the Jewish quarter, where you will know the tragic past of the city, with the Nazi occupation during World War II.
During these 2 days in the city you can also spend half a day visiting some of its essentials that are nearby, such as the Wieliczka Salt Mines or the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
Based on our experience during the trip to Krakow in 5 days, we have made this practical guide to get to know the best of Krakow in 2 days. We start!
How to go from the airport to the center of Krakow
To go from the international airport of Krakow, located 16 kilometers west of the city, to the center you have these means of transport:
- Bus: Lines 208, 252 and 902, the latter at night, connect the airport to the center of Krakow for about 2 euros. Although it is the cheapest option, it is not the most comfortable and can take a long time, up to 45 minutes.
- Train: The Balice Ekspres train travels to the center in 20 minutes for less than 3 euros.
- Cab: The price of a taxi is just over 20 euros and it takes half an hour, if the hotel is not far from the center.
- Private transport: With the same price as the taxi, it is the alternative we choose to be the most comfortable. With this service a driver will wait for you inside the airport with a sign with your name and will take you directly to your hotel in Krakow. You can book it here.
You can find more information about the transfer in this post on how to go from Krakow airport to downtown.
Accommodation in Krakow
Our recommended accommodation to tour Krakow in two days It is the Logos Hotel, located 10 minutes from the Market Square and 15 minutes from Wawel Castle. In addition to its location in a central and very quiet area, the hotel has a good buffet breakfast, 24-hour reception and one of the best quality / price ratios in the city.
Tips for Krakow
- In Krakow card payment is widespread and you will not have problems paying in all businesses. To avoid paying commissions and always having the current change, we recommend using the N26 card to pay and the Bnext and Revolut cards to get money at the ATMs. They are the ones we use, They are free and will save you a lot. You can find more information in this article about the best cards to travel without commissions.
- A good option if you visit the city for the first time and want to know its interesting history is to book this free tour of the old town and this free tour of the Jewish quarter, both free and with a guide in Spanish.
- To buy souvenirs there are numerous shops on Florianska and Grodzka streets and craft stalls within the Cloth Hall, located in the Market Square.
- One of the best tips for traveling to Krakow and eating cheap is to approach the dairies or milk bars, fast food restaurants created in the communist era.
For more recommendations you can consult the post of tips to travel to Krakow essential.
First day of Krakow in 2 days
The route of the first day of Krakow in two days Start early with a short walk along the Vistula River until you reach Wawel Castle, one of the symbols of the city. On the same shore and before entering the castle complex you can see a large statue of the Wawel dragon that fires fire from its mouth every five minutes. This statue marks the end of a 270-meter-long grotto that communicates with the castle and can only be traveled in summer.
If you have time in addition to seeing the outside of the castle, with its magnificent arcaded galleries, you can visit the interior where the royal apartments are decorated with Flemish tapestries, different rooms, the treasure and the Weapons Room.
Wawel Castle
On the same Wawel hill is the cathedral, another of the essential places to visit in Krakow. This Gothic-style cathedral and considered the National Pantheon, has inside several interesting places like the chapel and the great bell of Segismundo I, the mausoleum of San Estanislao and the crypts.
Keep in mind that if it is Sunday the visiting hours inside the cathedral starts at 12:30 pm as a result of the masses.
A good alternative to learn about the history of Wawel Hill is to book this tour with a guide in Spanish that visits all the important points of this area.
From the cathedral square, where there is a sculpture of Pope John Paul II, one of the icons of Poland, you will continue the Krakow in 2 days crossing the castle walls through the doors of Escudos and the Vasa.
To get to the city center you can stroll along Grodzka Street, which was part of the royal road that linked the St. Florian's Gate with Wawel Castle. This street, next to Kanonicka, stands out for its beautiful Renaissance houses, old churches and craft and souvenir shops.
Grodzka Street
The first stop on Grodzka Street will be in Santa María Magdalena Square, where the church of San Andrés and the church of San Pedro and San Pablo are located, two of the most important churches in the city. At the end of Grodzka Street you will see the entrance of Passage 13, a small and curious alley full of exclusive shops.
Just outside this street is one of the most beautiful squares we have ever seen, the Market Square, surrounded by buildings and historical palaces of medieval origin that are the meeting point of tourists and locals.
It is worth taking something in one of its many terraces to see the daily transfer, being at least for us, the best option the Cafe Szal, from where you have incredible visits.
Visit to the Market Square in Krakow in two days
After drinking something you can continue with the Krakow in two days visiting some of the most interesting buildings in the square such as the Cloth Hall, the Tower of the Old Town Hall, the Church of San Adalberto and the incredible Basilica of Santa Maria.
This Gothic church stands out for the two towers of different heights, the porch of the Baroque style facade and the interior, where you can see the largest wooden altarpiece in Europe.
In addition to the interior, it is worth climbing the highest tower to have the best views of Krakow's old town. As a curiosity, every hour from the top of the tower a trumpeter plays the melody “Hejnał Mariacki”.
Keep in mind that the number of tickets to go up is very limited, so it deserves to come early as the ticket offices open at 9:15 a.m.
Views from the Basilica of Santa Maria
Before continuing the route of Krakow on a weekendYou can try traditional Polish food at Czarna Kaczka, also known as The Black Duck and one of the best restaurants to eat in Krakow. Some of their most recommended dishes are zurek soup, which is served inside a bread and duck. Another of the most typical dining options in the city are the dairies, within which the Feared Pod is one of the most recommended.
Today's route continues near the Market Square where the Collegium Maius is located, one of the oldest and most charming buildings in the city, where he studied the most famous astronomer in history, Nicholas Copernicus. Inside this university campus there is a museum with ancient instruments of astronomy and other sciences although for us the real wonder of the building is sitting in the beautiful central courtyard, one of the best things to do in Krakow.
Collegium Maius
Upon leaving school, the route of Krakow in two days Continue with a pleasant walk through the Planty Park, built in the place that occupied the defensive wall of the city. The walk will take you to the Florián Gate, which was the main entrance to the walled city in medieval times and the only one of the 8 doors that are currently preserved. In addition to the door you can see a piece of 200 meters from the old wall, where numerous paintings by local artists and two towers are exhibited, that of the Carpenters and that of the Cabinetmakers.
If you cross the Florián Gate you will see an original circular building called the Barbican, which was used as a fortification for the defense of the city.
Florián Gate
After these two visits, you can return to the Market Square by Florianska, the main shopping street in Krakow where Żarówka Cafe is located halfway, a beautiful corner with an inner courtyard, perfect for having a cake with a coffee.
To end the first day of Krakow in two days We recommend you approach Maly Rynek Square, another of the most beautiful in the city.
Maly Rynek Square
During the weekends in this square a street market is set up with different stalls where you can dine the famous "pierogi", vegetable stuffed ravioli.
Map of the first day of Krakow in 2 days
What to see in Krakow in two days
The second day of Krakow in 2 days It starts early in the morning with a visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Although you can visit Auschwitz from Krakow on your own, we choose to book this tour with a guide in Spanish to learn more about the history and not miss anything important in the fields.
Although you can visit for free, you should keep in mind that the guided tour of the concentration camp is only allowed before 10 in the morning and after 4 in the afternoon. You will also have to take a bus at the city bus station that can take more than an hour and a half to travel the 68 kilometers that separate the Krakow concentration camp.
Entrance to Auschwitz
If you do not want to spend more time in Krakow this day, you have the possibility to book this offer that includes the visit to Auschwitz in the morning and the visit to the impressive Wieliczka Salt Mines in the afternoon, considered the two best excursions in Krakow.
It is advisable to book these excursions well in advance as they are the most demanded and both have a limited number of daily visitors, especially on weekends and parties.
To visit Krakow in two days We recommend doing only one excursion and in this case we would clearly opt for Auschwitz. Although the visit to the concentration and extermination camp is very bleak, we believe it is essential to become aware of what really happened in this tragic period of history and so that it is not repeated again.
Birkenau entrance
The meeting point and departure of the excursion to the concentration camp is located in the Plaza de Matejko 2, very close to the Barbican. At this point a guide will wait for you in Spanish who will accompany you to the bus and will be with the group throughout the visit.
The Auschwitz concentration camp is actually a complex of several camps built by the Nazis and which included Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, Auschwitz III-Monowitz and 45 smaller camps. During its 5 years of operation it was the largest extermination center with more than one million (90% Jews) of people killed.
In 1947, the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum was created that encompasses the Auschwitz I and Auschwitz-Birkenau fields, so that the world will not forget the atrocities that were committed there by the Nazi regime during World War II. The tour of the two camps can take more than 3 hours and there are free buses that connect Auschwitz I with Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Barracks where Birkenau prisoners slept
After the visit and back to the city, you can invest what is left in the morning and afternoon to explore the Jewish district of Krakow or Kazimierz.
On the way to the Jewish quarter we recommend you to stop at this Krakow in 2 days to try the best sweet and savory pierogis of the city in Przystanek Pierogarnia or the healthy food of Vegab.
The 14th-century Krakow Jewish neighborhood, located near the old town, is one of the areas with the most character and atmosphere in the city. During the Nazi occupation this area was desolate with the transfer of the Jewish community to the nearby Krakow ghetto and it was not until the filming of the mythical film "Schindler's List", who recovered.
Visit the Jewish Quarter in Krakow on a weekend
At this point on the route of the Krakow in two days We recommend you start the tour of the neighborhood with a visit to the Old Synagogue, the oldest in Poland and the Remuh located on the beautiful Szeroka Street and which has an old Jewish cemetery.
Although there are up to 6 synagogues that can be visited in this area, we believe that seeing the other four, Tempel, Isaac, Kupa and Wysoka, outside is enough.
When you leave the last synagogue you can approach Nowy Square, the liveliest square in the neighborhood with several bars and restaurants around. In the center there is a 1900 roundabout building called Okraglak, where there are lots of stalls that serve all kinds of food and the famous zapiekanka, a huge sandwich.
Nowy Square
The route of Krakow in two days continue visiting one of the famous stages of Steven Spielberg's movie known as the "Schindler stairs". For the followers of the Schindler List it can be very interesting to book this tour through the stages where some sequences of the film were filmed.
To end the visits to this area you can go to the huge Basilica of Corpus Cristi in Gothic and Baroque style.
The best thing about the Jewish quarter besides seeing these tourist spots, is to enjoy the great atmosphere in streets such as Szeroka and cafés, where tourists and locals are mixed.
Street Art in the Jewish Quarter
For dinner we recommend the traditional and forceful food of the restaurant Starka.
If you have more days, we will shortly publish the Krakow guide in 3 days.
Map of the second day of the Krakow route on a weekend
Do you want to organize a trip to Krakow in two days?
Get it here:
The best offers of Flights to Krakow here
The best hotels at the best prices in Krakow here
Get € 35 for your reservation with AirBnb here
Book the best tours and excursions in / from Krakow in Spanish here
Book your Airport⇆Cracovia transfer here
Krakow guide in one day
Book your travel insurance with a 5% discount here
The best offers of Flights to Krakow here
The best hotels at the best prices in Krakow here
Get € 35 for your reservation with AirBnb here
Book the best tours and excursions in / from Krakow in Spanish here
Book your Airport⇆Cracovia transfer here
Krakow guide in one day
Book your travel insurance with a 5% discount here
