Krakow
 

Am flying with BA to Krakow in May and booked into the Stary hotel as I thought the location would be ideal, this being my first visit to Poland. I appreciate that I am right in the tourist part of the city but would like to sample some real Polish food so will have to get away from this area. I am not interested in eating French cuisine, Italian,Chinese etc etc but just genuine Polish cuisine. How far out of this central area will I need to travel to find this? Any suggestions of restaurants? Also any good bar suggestions? I am not a young guy so NOT looking to join in with stag nights or to go clubbing, just a nice comfortable bar with a reasonable choice of draught beers and where I won't get ripped off!

Personally, I would go onto tripadvisor and have a look at the travel forums on Kraków. We went a couple of years ago (first timers) and picked up some useful information. I can't offer any advice on the specific questions you ask but would strongly advise you to take the tour to Auschwitz.

Thanks for that Mike. Perhaps I should have mentioned in my previous post that I have already organised my visits to Auschwitz, Wawel Castle etc but was inquiring more about evening activities.

You may also wish to ask this in the Europe travel forum: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/europe-477/

Visiting Krakow with some friends in May as well.

This pub guide might be useful. Not sure from what year it is though.

http://www.europeanbeerguide.net/krakpubs.htm

I am not the best person on the drinking side, but actually when it come to the stags - which are not so present there are used to be the case - it's extremely obvious where they go. Some of the very many students in Kraków are paid by these bars owners to hang around the main intersections and persuade the groups to go to their joint nearby. They won't be so interested in middle class singles/couples. Stags are there Friday and Saturday, and less obvious at other times.

For food there are plenty of options within a few hundred metres of your hotel. And even on the main tourist streets there are some good options. Here are a few in my address book:

1) Marmolade - something for everyone
2) Café Oranżeria (it's got a terrace over the river so it gets packed on hot days, but Poles are total wimps about cooler weather so that's the time to go there)
3) Pod Aniołami - very hearty solid food, one of my favourites
4) Wentzl (I think they are owned by Marmolade)
5) Wierzynek. Well this is the oldest restaurant in Krakow, it's something like 700 years old. The food isn't so fantastic, but it is an institution. George Bush snr and François Mitterand have both eaten there. I remember eating there when the Communists were still running Poland, it was basically an aspect of divide and rule.
6) Domowe Przysmaki. This is at the other end of the social spectrum, student dumplings place. It will only cost a few quid to eat here, it's very basic, but authentic with it.
7) Gospoda Koko - similar to above but more central, still cheap.
All of these are within 5 minutes walk of your hotel/centre.

Bear in mind that Poles can often get good food at home, so in fact many of the better restaurants in Kraków are Italian, Spanish, Sushi and what not!

Almost all of the hotels in Kraków will have a free monthly (?) English magazine called Kraków In Your Pocket. It's quite thick, 150 pages, about half are on restaurants. It doesn't slate any of them, but it does highlight the best aspect of more or less every place to go in the area. I would say that magazine is 90% reliable.

This thread has been split from a thread on BA forum and newly created in this section where it is more suitable as it is a question about Krakow itself rather than about BA.

LTN Phobia
Moderator: BA forum

Download In Your Pocket - it will explain all on p.44
You will not need to walk for more than 5 mins to food :)

http://www.inyourpocket.com/data/download/krakow.pdf



I would avoid this one though - its overpriced and the food is terrible
5) Wierzynek. Well this is the oldest restaurant in Krakow, it's something like 700 years old. The food isn't so fantastic, but it is an institution. George Bush snr and François Mitterand have both eaten there. I remember eating there when the Communists were still running Poland, it was basically an aspect of divide and rule.

SFO777 has an excellent as always TR of Krakow.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...-poland-7.html

My guide I posted back is a bit outdated but has soe good recommendations
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/europ...cow-guide.html

Pod Baranem (http://podbaranem.com/) is still my favorite Polish cuisine restaurant in the city. I love their beef tartare and their main courses are traditional Polish food.
Hawelka in the Rynek (some 20m from Hotel Stary) is also excellent for Polish food. They also have a great beef tartare and traditional Polish food.
In both restaurants I would recommend the mushroom soup. Both use a breadbowl and also both use wild mushrooms, which gives it a excellent taste.

If you want to try something unique:
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaur...rn_Poland.html

also, if your in the Jewish Quarter, there are plenty of excellent Polish/Jewish restaurants to go to such as:
Klezmer Hois
Ariel
AWIW
The first 2 have live music (usually with a cover) every day - it's something different to experience.

Hope this helps!

Folks,

jason8612 is THE PERSON for Krakow tips :)

mfk

I agree. jason8612 was an excellent guide at the Krakow Do. ^

Thank you very much for your replies, really helpful information.

Thanks for the kind words :)

Thinking of getting a Polish sim card for my visit. Any suggestions as to what network I should buy?