Krakow, Poland (KRK) Ultimate DO May 1st- 4th, 2008

Krakow Guide

My first time organizing a DO, but hopefully with some help I can make this one hell of a weekend.

As many know, I am studying medicine here in Krakow for the past 3 years and though I have been invited to a few DOs, never had the chance to go. And with that May week a holiday here in Poland, I was thinking of hosting a DO.

This is still a work in progress, and I do not want to leave anyone out. As many of you have jobs, I think we can manage on the prices

I was thinking..
Wednesday April 30th - Optional day in case anyone wants to fly in early. I will be most likely drinking and having a great time if someone wants to meet up for lunch/dinner/drinks.


Thursday May 1st - Many will be flying in during this time, so the day is free. I will be available for any help you might need to get to the hotel, and any questions or if you want to meet up. Thursday night around 8pmish (depends on the arrival times) I was thinking of having a nice dinner in either Leonardo da Vinci or Tetmajerowska and then from there we could go bar hopping with some VIP access to certain clubs. The usual

Friday May 2nd - Today would be reserved for site seeing around Krakow. I could arrange tours in English (or Polish if you want) of Wawel (castle), The Salt mine, and other parts of Krakow including some museums. A somewhat relaxing day and depending on the group size and weather a boat ride down the river.
Evening time again, about 8pm having a nice dinner in either Leonardo da Vinci or Tetmajerowska or maybe somewhere else (depending on group size) and then from there we could go bar hopping with some VIP access to certain clubs. The usual


Saturday May 3rd - Another day of site seeing, this time to Auschwitz (seems everyone wants to go there) and maybe some other site seeing in the area. A leisurely day as I will explain what I mean be going drinking here in Krakow shortly
Evening time again, about 8pm having a nice dinner in either Leonardo da Vinci or Tetmajerowska or maybe somewhere else (depending on group size) I think maybe even in the Jewish town and then from there we could go bar hopping with some VIP access to certain clubs. The usual

Sunday May 4th - Breakfast maybe somewhere, and everyone departs back home.

Notes: Drinking in Krakow is serious business. When I told my uncle who visited when we go drinking we don't get home till the sun comes up, I ment that. Expect to drink plenty. Of course you don't have to, but once the swarm of booze comes, its hard to say no. Krakow is like Vegas, but more affordable Anything you want to do or get can be arranged...anything and its usually affordable.
One thing to note. Please, under no circumstances show that you have a lot of money in strip clubs. You don't want to overpay

Drinking age in Krakow is 18, but as a foreigner, 17 or 16 even shouldn't have any issues. And as always no driving while drunk. There is a very strict law now in effect with random breathalyser testing. This also includes bikes (as my friend got fined and lost driving privileges biking while drunk) So if you do plan to rent a car, I would honestly not drink. Then again, I wouldn't rent a car in Krakow in the 1st place...


Hotels
Hotels will be covered in my Krakow guide, but there is a Sheraton, SAS, Holiday Inn and Andel's. Also to add some smaller hotels include Hotel Stary, Copernicus, and Amadeus which are nice.
Lower prices there are Ascor and a few others. Hostels are also available.

Airport
Try to fly into Krakow (KRK) Balice airport. Its a lot easier then Katowice. To get to the city, there is a train that goes every 1/2hr or so and takes about 15minutes to get into the main train station. Cost is about 4pln. Taxis depending on the day of the week and time can run from 50-120pln. Again, this will be explained in my guide.


Flights
From London - Krakow BA flies. I see from £32++ for Y and £140++ for I (CE)
Flight time is a bit early at 735am from LGW into KRK at 1105AM, and return departing KRK at 1150am into LGW at 120PM
LH options include multiple flights via MUC and also 1 via FRA
From the USA, LO flies nonstop into KRK from ORD and EWR. Any *A carrier has great connections into KRK via WAW, CDG, MUC, FRA, and a few other cities.
UA in W fare is giving me $815++ from ORD-KRK
CSA and AZ - Flights to KRK

Budget - depending on how far you want to go. Dinners plan on spending 150pln or more each dinner. Breakfast is usually included in the hotels, if not I know a few good places but then its 20-40PLN for a breakfast. Tours depends on the size and amount but set aside at least 600 or so PLN including if we get private English translators. Drinking depends on how heavy and what top shelf you plan to go. Polish beer is about 5-8PLN. Vodka shots run around 12PLN, Kamakazzi shouts 15-20pln for 6, Red Bull + Vodka I think is 19PLN, bottle of vodka about 200-300PLN in a club. Moet is 400PLN or so, Dom Perignon is 800-1000PLN in a club. I personally just usually buy a bottle and split it with a friend or two. Then I can make my own drinks how I like em, and save a bit of cash.

If you have anything you would want to see and do, let me know! we can fit it in somewhere. This will be more of site seeing both day and night.


I will update this with the exact specifications when we get closer to the date as since we are about 1/2 year away, there is still time. You will be notified by PM when this is so. If you have any questions, PM me.

Also if you need any help at all planning out your trip, let me know.



attendees
definitive
Jason8612 (Wed-Sun)



maybe
graraps
Sahajesh
Wireless
ElmhurstNick (Fri-Sun)
Alphaguy +1
tomekp +1 (1 or 2 days)
chris78cpr +1
R&R