jason8612

I would recommend the salt mines also.
A trip to Warsaw won't be bad either to see the city. There are quite a few nice restaurants in Warsaw and plenty of pubs there to grab a drink.

Krakow city has a lot to see. I would recommend seeing the church, a few museums, Jewish quarter, etc. So theres also plenty to see in Krakow.

gaobest

My wife and I want to visit Krakow in early June for 2-3 days, as part of a trip starting in Germany. We'll rent a car in Germany, drive to visit Prague, and then drive to visit Krakow before driving back to Germany. This will be our first time in Poland, but we've visited much of Western Europe a lot in the past 2 decades, and especially the past few years.

So... silly questions, but is it easy to drive from Prague to Krakow? We'll hotel in Krakow, park the car with the hotel, and just walk/etc in town. Are there any specific hotels (of the ones initially named) that are better for car storage? We've read suggestions of just keeping the car in Germany and then using trains to get around Prague / Krakow, but we enjoy driving and have enough driving experiences in France / Germany / Italy.

We don't speak Polish, just some German / French / Spanish. Is it still easy to get around Krakow? I know others visit there, but I tend to sometimes feel uncomfortable when traveling and not knowing the local language (not even sure if it's Polish or a Krakow dialect).

Any specific ATM brands to look out for when withdrawing money? Is the limit 1000PLN or closer to 1500PLN?

Thanks,
Michael

jason8612

Prague to Krakow is a good drive. I did it a few years back andI think it took about 7hrs or so. It is basically all highway.
Car storage is a tough one in the city as parking fees are quite a lot. I think HI charges about 80pln for 24hrs. There are a few parking centers near the town square for about 50pln/day. You can check with the hotels directly and see if they offer any packages or discounts on their parking rates.
"Parking Stezony" means guarded (or watched) parking. Current average rates are about 4-6PLN/hr with a option to buy a 24hr pass at most places.
You can park on the streets, but from 10am-6pm Mon-fri (maybe sat now. I don't park often in the center on the streets) you have to pay in zone C 3pln/hr and finding a parking spot is a pain already.
http://www.cracow-life.com/poland/krakow-parking-zones

Many people speak English so I wouldn't worry about a language barrier. I speak English quite a bit here (and I can speak Polish) There's not really a Krakow dialect. There are just 2 - normal Polish and mountaineer Polish.
Limit is whatever your bank has. I think USA cards are 500USD/day and you can change it. So whatever that is at the exchange rate (some USA banks charge a fee of 3%). But the rate is usually just as good if not better to withdrawal from a ATM vs a money exchange.
Big bank's ATMS like Pekao, PKO, HSBC, Millennium are all good choices. I usually use Pekao. Blue ATM with a Bison logo.

Let me know if your interested in anything specific to see/do. I could help you out with that.

gaobest

Thanks for the information (I'm late at reading it, yikes!). We're still doing trip research, so for now I've only three questions...

With driving Prague to Krakow, are there any towns worth stopping at / overnighting along the way?

What about driving Krakow to Dortmund, Germany? Is it totally crazy to consider? Via Michelin previously gave 11 hours via Dresden.

The other option is to just use trains from Munich to Prague to Krakow and then fly to Dortmund, but we do like the idea of cars...

gaobest

We are also considering flying Krakow to Budapest. As Jason mentioned (and as we learned), it involves KRK-WSW-BUD on Lot Polish for a total 2:50 time. How reliable are Lot in terms of transit time, baggage transfer, and such?

The times:
Depart: KRK-6:00am
Arrive: WSW-6:50am (Terminal 2)

Depart: WSW-7:35am (Terminal 2)
Arrive: BUD-8:50am

I believe (from Lot website) that these are E70 planes, although I don't know what that means.

Alas I think it's the only action in town for the transit. So our choice may be a matter of flying or not flying!

Is there any other way to get to Budapest without taking a night train?

Thanks,
Michael

jason8612

You can drive, but if you want to fly, that's the best route. LO is usually good on time and WAW airport is very easy to transit in. I wouldn't be worried about that conx.

jason8612

1. Honestly not too sure. If you drive the straight route, I don't think so, but if you drive up to Wroclaw, that is a very nice city to see and then hop on the A4 to Krakow. It might add 2hrs more to your journey, but it would be a nice drive in the mtns and then to Wroclaw.
2. Not sure about that drive. Probably A4, Wroclaw also.
3. You can fly via WAW (or maybe you can fly direct to KRK) and there's a the train, but that's about it. I like the drive.

rankourabu

There is also the Eurolines coach from the RDA main coach station

Sa/We 15:00
Su 16:45

takes about 7 hours
cost: 55 zloty ~~$16 per person

buy tickets online at www.voyager.pl (click on the little british flag for english

The flights on LO are fine, but it will take you minimum 5-6 hours city centre to city centre with checkin times, etc...

gaobest

Thanks guys - we finally booked our Budapest-Krakow plane tickets, as well as Krakow-Dortmund plane tickets. Exciting! And we booked a hotel - Hotel Meltanski (sp). Now I'll wait til May or so, to read up on this fabulous thread. We are so excited and thrilled for Krakow.

Michael

best

OP---super work. Any updates or corrections for 4/2010?

jason8612

I will try to do a update in the next week or so.

jason8612

I did a small update. Not much has changed. If you need anything specific, tips, recommendations, anything just reply or send me a PM and Ill be happy to help you out.
Theres just so much to do in the city, its hard to type it all up.

gretchendz

from 3 nights in Krakow. We loved it.

We rented an apartment a few blocks between the square and the Castle.

I highly recommend the daily free walking tour (2-3 hours) that meets at 11 a.m. in front of St. Mary's on the square. The guide will hold up a sign. The guides work for tips. They give a thorough, fun, informative tour. They cover Old Town, Florian Gate, the Castle, and end in the Jewish quarter.

Due to time, we booked a ten hour tour for both Auschwitz and the Salt Mine. Although seeing Auschwitz is hard, it is a must (and I was openly sobbing during some parts). The Salt Mine is touristy fun. Rather than find our own way or get on a big bus, we booked a private van (6 seat) through Krakow Shuttle. http://www.krakowshuttle.com/ We were five and a single traveler joined us. They picked us up promptly at our apartment and dropped us off on the square as we requested. Very professional. English speaking. We usually don't do tours, tend to be independent, but knew we'd be short of time.

We enjoyed Pod Aniolami for dinner--liked it so much we went twice Also went to Miod Malina which was good but not as good as Pod. Ariel was so-so--too touristy.

Wonderful town--we hope to return.

ldsant

As I am planning a trip to Krakow for next month this is such a valuable guide! Thanks for pulling all of this together. Any updated information re: new restaurants/museums that you would recommend?

jason8612

There are a few new spots. I will update this guide later in the week