Krakow Travel Guide

Tour 1: Kraków Old Town

European City of Culture and former royal capital of Poland, Kraków should be an obligatory stop on any tour of Central Europe. The millennium has seen many of Kraków's architectural highlights restored to their sparkling best and with the dark days of Communism slowly becoming a distant memory yet with the prices still cheap, Kraków certainly demands a closer look.

This tour starts with a walk across the Planty—the circular green belt surrounding the town. This park was once the site of the medieval fortifications that protected the town from the roving Tartar hoards.

Enter the city at the Ulica Florianska—the last remnant of the walls that once ringed the city. Walking past the shrine to Mary, you emerge in Ulica Florianska, the first section of the Royal Route. This is the road by which royalty would enter the city, heading towards Wawel Cathedral, The. It is now a major shopping street lined with shops selling Western merchandise. Keep your eyes open for the Jama Michalika Café on the left at Ulica Florianska, 45. Here, early 20th century artists paid their bills in kind by leaving paintings and decorations around the room.

The largest market square in medieval Europe—the Rynek Główny, can be seen at the end of the street. Make your way through the pigeons and flower sellers to the Sukiennice (or ‘Cloth Hall'), that sits in the centre of the square. Once the central market for the whole town, the stalls inside now cater solely for tourists, but they still offer a remarkable selection of amber, jewellery and local arts and crafts at surprisingly reasonable prices.

The Mariacki Church towers over the main square. Twenty years of painstaking restoration mean that you can now see it in all its glory, along with the famous Wit Stwosz altar which is opened daily at 11a. Outside don't forget to gaze upwards at the highest tower and look for the trumpeter playing the haunting Hejnal bugle call every hour on the hour.

When you're ready, leave the square at the corner by the Old Town Hall Tower, head down Ulica Åšw. Anna and turn left into Ulica Jagiellonska. On the corner of these two streets stands the oldest building of the Jagiellonian University. Admire the magnificent neo-Gothic arcaded courtyard and visit the museum where you can see a globe, showing America hidden away in the southern hemisphere, marked 'just discovered'.

Rejoin the main square and take Ulica Grodzka and then the spectacular Ulica Kanonicza following the Royal Route to Wawel Castle. For many, this is the sacred inner sanctum of the Polish nation - visit the elegant princely rooms laced with historic tapestries and the Wawel Cathedral, The where kings were crowned for 500 years and where the side chapels have been done out in different styles ranging from Byzantine to baroque. Tour 2: Jewish Kazimierz

For centuries, Kazimierz was the heart of a thriving Jewish community which was tragically decimated during the Second World War. Today, shaped by the Jewish monuments and buildings that remain, a sorrowful atmosphere of remembrance pervades its streets.

The tour begins along the Ulica Jozefa - the traditional gateway to Kazimierz. You will see the occasional newly rebuilt smart hotel, restaurant or bar, a number of half-rebuilt houses and plenty of boarded up ruins.

Stop off at No. 12 and enter into the moody and atmospheric courtyard beyond. Long renowned as a picturesque spot with the church tower behind, the stairs here were immortalised in a scene from the film Schindler's List scene where a young boy sheltered a small Jewish girl from the guards.

Carry on through the courtyard and turn right into Ulica Meiselsa. On the right is the Jewish Cultural Centre—once a prayer house, it is now a venue for lectures and temporary exhibitions with a café and an antique book shop.

The road now opens up into Plac Nowy (New Square), where a vibrant fruit and vegetable market surrounds the old Jewish ritual slaughter house. Diagonally across the square to the right—on the corner of Ulica Estery, 20 – stands the Singer Cafe which is named after the sewing machines it uses as tables. Here, you can expect candelit tables, antique furniture and melancholy music.

After a reflective mulled wine or warm beer, venture to the Isaac's Synagogue where you will be able to see films about Jewish life in Kazimierz in the 1930s and about the tragic fate of the Jewish population during the Second World War. From behind the Synagogue, keep to the right of the newly re-built Hotel Eden and follow the path round to Ulica Szeroka.

This wide road was once the heart of the old Jewish community, with 4 synagogues situated around its boundary - the oldest and most famous, the Remuh on Ulica Szeroka, 40 is still in use for worship and is open daily (except on Saturdays) to visitors. The old graveyard and the 'wailing wall' of tombstone fragments provide a poignant perspective on the fate of this district and its population.

At the end of the street, the New Synagogue houses a museum dedicated to Kraków's Jewry. Before leaving the quarter, don't forget to check out the meticulously and magnificently restored Tempel Synagogue at Ulica Miodowa.2008-08-02T07:29:22.000 116