Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial
The most important visit of your trip. I plan it with care: a good guide, the right time of day and quiet space afterwards.
31 experiences · Kraków & surroundings
The classics, done properly. And the places you’d never find alone.
A glimpse of what we plan. The full list, with our tips, opens when we plan together.
This is a selection, not everything. I also plan restaurants, concerts, day trips and quiet spots that aren’t on this site: just tell me what you like.
Wieliczka Salt Mine
Chapels, lakes and chandeliers carved out of salt, deep under the ground. Or put on a helmet for the miners’ route.
Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory
The best museum about Kraków under occupation, in the real factory from the film. Book it, because it sells out.
Wawel Castle & Cathedral
Where Polish kings were crowned and buried. I pick the rooms worth your time, so you don’t queue for the ones that aren’t.
Pierogi class with Hanna
Make pierogi by hand in a real Kraków home, then sit down to soup, your pierogi and cake. Yes, Hanna is my wife.
Slow Kraków walk with Hanna
Not a march past the highlights: a slow walk with a born Krakowian, with time to look up and ask questions.
Polish home dinner with Hanna
A private evening at our table with dishes from Kraków and stories about Polish life. For groups of four to ten.
Obwarzanki baking with Hanna
Twist, boil and bake Kraków’s own ring bread, the one sold from blue carts on every corner. Great with kids.
Kazimierz after dark
Synagogues, hidden courtyards, a late zapiekanka at Plac Nowy and the bars locals actually pick.
Nowa Huta, the socialist dream town
A whole town built after the war as a communist ideal. Wide avenues, a church its people built themselves, lunch in a milk bar.
Sunset on Krakus Mound
A prehistoric mound with the whole city at your feet, and an abandoned quarry around the corner.
Swimming in Zakrzówek lagoon
Turquoise water between limestone cliffs, a short tram ride from the Old Town. Bring your swimsuit.
To Tyniec Abbey by bike or boat
A flat riverside bike path from Wawel to a Benedictine abbey on a white cliff. Monks’ beer and cheese at the end.
Ojców valley & Pieskowa Skała castle
Poland’s smallest national park: white rock towers, caves, castle ruins and a Renaissance castle on a cliff.
Zalipie, the painted village
A farming village where the women paint flowers on everything: houses, wells, barns and even the dog kennel.
Lanckorona & Kalwaria Zebrzydowska
A sloping wooden market town that inspired painters, next to a UNESCO pilgrimage park in the hills.
Błędów Desert, the “Polish Sahara”
Yes, a desert, in the middle of Poland. Combine it with castle ruins on the Eagles’ Nests trail.
Silesia: Nikiszowiec & Guido coal mine
A red-brick miners’ town that time forgot, and a real coal mine you ride down into.
Two days in Zakopane & the Tatras
Mountain air, wooden villas, smoked sheep’s cheese and highlander music. Away from the busy main street.
Morskie Oko
The most beautiful lake in the Tatras. Get there before the crowds and the light is yours.
Rafting the Dunajec gorge
Glide through a limestone gorge on wooden rafts, steered by raftsmen in traditional dress. Calm water, no wetsuit.
The painted wooden church of Dębno
A 15th-century larch church, built without a single nail and painted inside like a jewellery box.
Thermal baths under the Tatras
Hot outdoor pools with mountain views. The best end to a hiking day, especially in winter.
Morning market & milk bar breakfast
Where Krakowians buy their pickles, cheese and flowers, followed by breakfast where pensioners and students eat side by side.
Nalewki & vodka tasting
Grandma’s fruit and herb liqueurs, proper vodka and the snacks that go with them. Not a shot-bar crawl.
Jazz in Kraków’s cellars
Under the Old Town lies a maze of brick cellars, and in some of them very good jazz plays late into the night.
Leonardo’s Lady with an Ermine
One of only a handful of portraits by Leonardo da Vinci in the world, and usually without a crowd in front of it.
Bochnia, the other salt mine
Older than Wieliczka and much quieter, with an underground boat ride and a long wooden slide. Kids talk about it for weeks.
Energylandia theme park
Poland’s biggest theme park, with rollercoasters for brave teenagers and gentle rides for little ones.
Wadowice and the papal cream cake
The home town of Pope John Paul II, his family museum, and the cream slice he loved as a boy.
Winter sleigh ride with torches
A kulig: horse-drawn sleighs through the snow by torchlight, ending at a bonfire with grilled sausages and highlander music.