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City

Kraków

The royal city, never destroyed.

76 museums
All museums ↓
📷 Zygmunt Put Zetpe0202 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Kraków is Poland's old royal capital, with a huge market square, Wawel hill and the old Jewish quarter of Kazimierz.

The story of Kraków

Start at the Main Market Square with the Cloth Hall and St Mary's Basilica, home of Veit Stoss' altar. Walk up to Wawel for the castle and cathedral, then visit the Czartoryski Museum for Leonardo's Lady with an Ermine. In Kazimierz, visit the synagogues and the Galicia Jewish Museum. Eat an obwarzanek, Kraków's ring-shaped bread, from a street cart.

  • 1978the old town on the UNESCO list
  • 1596the court moves to Warsaw

Kraków through time

The big moments, and where to see them today.

  1. 1364The university is founded.See it: Collegium Maius →

What to do in Kraków

  1. 01

    Wawel Royal Castle

    State rooms, tapestries and the treasury.

    Kraków3 hours
  2. 02

    Czartoryski Museum

    Leonardo and Rembrandt.

    Kraków1 to 2 hours
  3. 03

    Rynek Underground

    Medieval Kraków under the market square.

    Kraków1 to 2 hours
  4. 04

    Galicia Jewish Museum

    Jewish life in Galicia, past and present.

    Kraków1 hour
Getting there

Getting to Kraków

From the airport to the city centre by public transport, then the trains and local lines to the museums.

Arriving by plane

KRK
Kraków John Paul IIKraków · Krakow · Wieliczka · Oświęcim

Getting around Kraków

Lines and timetables change. Check the operator’s website before you travel.

On the map

Route ↗
Hidden story

The broken trumpet call

Every hour, a trumpet call from St Mary's stops mid-note.

Read the storyClose

Every hour a trumpeter plays the hejnał from the tower of St Mary's Basilica, to the four directions. The tune stops suddenly in the middle. Legend says it remembers a watchman shot in the throat by a Tatar arrow in the 13th century while warning the city. At noon the call is broadcast on Polish radio.