Krakow in the Cold

We visited Krakow very briefly tagged onto a business trip. It was February and there was snow on the ground although we managed to escape more in the time we were there. At the time of Travel we had to fly via Warsaw which is available with Emirates from Dubai but now there are direct flights available with FlyDubai and it’s just 6hrs direct. If you travel from UK there are lots of options at about 2.5hrs.

The city is around a 30minute easy journey from the airport and we had checked into a lovely little boutique hotel between the Jewish quarter and the main old town market square. This meant that most things were in easy walking distance for us. We put in a lot of steps during our short trip and we wanted to walk as much as possible so we didn’t miss anything. Krakow is a really pretty city with a lot of history and historical buildings to explore. One of which was the old Schindler Ceramics factory now housing a museum telling the story of Oskar Schindler and the Jewish prisoners.

A visit here was a sobering experience as was a visit to to the Ghetto Heroes Square monument with 33 memorial chairs symbolising the plight of the Polish Jews. Following these visits we chose not to visit Auschwitz but this is very easily accessible from Krakow around 1hr away. Another worthwhile trip is Wieliczka salt mines which is listed in the UNESCO register. We chose to stick closer to the city and enjoyed our frozen walk up to medieval Wawel castle in a dominant position looking down and protecting the city.

Also Krakus Mound, the pagan ritual site, which is the highest point I the city with wonderful panoramic views. So there were we enjoying seeing the sights in the snow so we did need warming up. Enter the Polish food and beverage outlets! As always when travelling we did want to try some traditional fayre which is still very popular and available in most bars and restaurants. We were amused to arrive on the day of an annual “Fat Thursday’ celebrations so were offer a sweet treat wherever we went which was lovely.

Borscht, a hearty sour soup was a winner for me along with a variety of dumpling dishes such as Pierogi. All washed down with a Polish hops brew or wine learning that whilst it’s not a massive industry, the country does have good local wineries. The trip was very short but we packed a lot in and really enjoyed ourselves. If you get the opportunity Krakow is well worth a visit.