Krakow 2026

Do What? Where? Why?

Well, there were several reasons why — some of which I touch on below and in more detail in the individual posts. But that’s not the whole of the “why”, because when do I ever make things simple?

As for the “what” and the “where”, those are kind of obvious from the title. I went for a long weekend in Krakow. The one in Poland. Not the one in… well, actually I don’t think there is another Krakow, but you never know. There might be one somewhere in the American midwest.

The “why” is a bit more convoluted. Earlier in the year I’d been mucking around with holiday plans, as I often do. I booked a whole fortnight off with a grand idea of swanning off to the Caribbean. Then I looked at the cost and decided that maybe, just for this year, I didn’t wan’t to take out a mortgage. An agent I spoke to advised that flights and hotels would be cheaper if booked much earlier, and if I planned to visit earlier in the year.

(Not) Making my Mind Up

So I switched tack and thought about driving around northern Europe. That also fell by the wayside. To get the two new parkrun countries I wanted, I’d have needed to drive to Denmark — realistically about 2,000 miles over the fortnight. It wasn’t that I couldn’t afford it, but two weeks of moving location every 3–4 days sounded exhausting. I couldn’t be bothered. My laziness won that battle convincingly.

In between all this, I also dabbled with a two‑week driving tour of Ireland. That one failed mainly because of the “constant moving around” issue, and also because accommodation (at short notice) seems to be highly priced. A little birdy told me that there’s not enough accomodation in Ireland, and a lot of it is purchased in advance by the government. So again, maybe next year.

So I found myself in May(ish) with two weeks booked off and nowhere to go. In the end, I settled on a long weekend in Krakow followed by a week in the Lake District. A plan that involved neither bankruptcy nor 2,000 miles of motorway. More like a holiday. Less like a punishment.

The Booking

I booked it as a long weekend: arriving Friday, leaving Wednesday evening. That gave me four full days plus a long half. Probably not enough, but I didn’t really know what to expect. At least I wasn’t there long enough to run out of things to do — always a risk when I’m left unsupervised. I can often get myself over-worked and over-tired.

I did the whole thing with individual bookings. My preferred airline was BA, from Heathrow T3. It’s only two hours away from home, and once you’re used to the size of the place, Heathrow works surprisingly well. Like a giant, confused melting-pot of peopleness, from which aeroplanes occasionally escape.

BA only flies to Krakow once a day, though, which meant options were limited. The outbound flight leaves Heathrow at 5pm and returns around 9:30pm. Hence the flight home was late enough that departure day was basically a bonus full day. Always nice when the schedule accidentally works in your favour.

The Hotel

I picked the Vienna House hotel up by the main station. It’s owned by Wyndham Andel’s, moderately priced, and well located. Krakow’s old centre isn’t very big, but staying inside it adds a significant chunk to your hotel bill — presumably for the privilege of being able to roll out of bed straight into a medieval square.

I booked a rate without breakfast. With a parkrun and an early‑morning Auschwitz trip in the mix, paying for breakfast every day seemed wasteful. In the end, I used the hotel breakfast twice in five days. There was a Starbucks over the square, and they got my custom on two mornings. On Saturday nobody got my custom, because it was parkrun morning.

Stuff to Do

I had several plans. One reason for coming to Krakow was that it has a parkrun beginning with a Z. Another was that Poland would be a new country for me in geocaching terms. Those two reasons were the main drivers.

That’s not enough for a weekend, though. Technically I could cache all weekend, but that might be wasteful in such a lovely city. Or obsessive. Or both.

Obvious candidates were a needed (rather than wanted) trip to Auschwitz and a visit to the Wieliczka Salt Mine. I did those on Monday and Tuesday respectively. Both were booked as prearranged tours with transport — easy enough to find, and I booked both through third parties on Booking.com.

Other notable things to do in Krakow include visiting the Wawel Royal Castle and walking through the old Jewish district of Kazimierz — now a trendy neighbourhood just outside “old” Krakow. Trendy enough that you can get coffee served in a jar, if that’s your thing. And food served without crockery.

My itinerary was also guided by a “Mini Rough Guide” for Krakow — a pocket-sized book I managed to read cover‑to‑cover on the plane. It confirmed most of my choices and set the scene for a few other areas I wandered through while caching. I bought similar guides for Oslo and Vienna ahead of upcoming trips. They are an ideal size and length for a weekend trip.

Thoughts

I’d never been to Eastern Europe before, apart from a trip to Russia in 1992 (which was more Wild West than Eastern Bloc) and an afternoon visit through the Berlin Wall in 1988. So I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. My mental image of Eastern Europe was still stuck in a world of Secret Police, dour weather, dour food, and a regimented absence of individuality.

Yes, yes, I know that’s nonsense — but stereotypes plant themselves in the proverbial noggin until they are replaced by something else.

So, some observations:

Krakow’s old town is as pretty as any in Europe.
I find Polish very confusing. Clearly the soil conditions in Poland are very suitable for growing Zs, Ws and Js.
Most public areas are well maintained, clean, tidy, and safe.
The outer suburbs have lots of faceless apartment blocks — but they mainly looked too new and nice to be Communist era.
Prices weren’t high, but maybe not as low as I’d expected.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the place and would happily go back — aside from the small issue that there are so many other places I’ve never been.