Hey
Guys!
Hope
you are all well! So I’m back to reality this week after an amazing 4 days in
Krakow, Poland. I absolutely loved the place! My boyfriend surprised me with
this trip for my birthday back in March and I was so excited to go. He got a
really good deal on the trip and booked everything through Wowcher which included
our flights, hotel, transfers and ONE tour. For those not familiar with Wowcher
it is very similar to the online deal website Groupon except it only operates
in the UK unfortunately. I had every intention of vlogging the entire trip with
our GoPro but we left the charger for it at home and only managed to capture
the first day. Gutted. But hopefully if you were following me on snapchat you
got to see it on there.
DAY
1
We set
off last Tuesday morning from Stansted Airport on our 9.30am flight with Ryanair.
The flight takes approx. 2 hours and 5 mins which isn’t long at all and we
arrived in Krakow airport at approx. 12.30pm (they are 1 hour ahead) where our
taxi transfer was ready and waiting for us. The drive from the airport to our
apartments took around 25 minutes. We stayed in the Siesta Aparthotel which was
literally 5-10 minutes’ walk into the Main Square so it was very near! Our
room/apartment itself was lovely and I think it had been recently renovated. It was
a little on the smallish side but was perfect for what we needed it for as we
hardly spent any time there! The bed was so comfortable and the bathroom was
fab too with a huge rain shower which I fell in love with! We also had a small
kitchenette with all the usual appliances, kettle, toaster, cooker, fridge and
washing machine. I’m actually raging I didn’t get any pictures but if you
follow me on Snapchat you will have seen it on there. Just a quick note, if you
are thinking of booking this place which I would definitely recommend then make
sure you ask for a double room as on our booking we had either twin or double
and we had to be changed to a different room when we got there. However, the
staff were very obliging and changed us straight away, no bother at all.
So
after we unpacked our stuff and got freshened up we headed on out for some
lunch and a stroll into the main square. The main square itself is massive and
was bustling with people when we arrived. The place was so full of energy with all
the market and food stalls everywhere and horse drawn carriages circling the
square.
We strolled around through all the market stalls and tried out some of
the local food available on the stalls. We ate mostly all local Polish food
while we were there and it was delicious especially their traditional Polish
dumplings called Pierogi – Unreal! Restaurants and bars surround the entire
square so there is any amount of places to eat & drink.
We also strolled
around the Cloth Hall which is another big market hall right in the centre of
the square filled with merchants selling their wares and lots of different
trinkets including jewellery, clothing, flowers and souvenirs.
We then noticed
a free walking tour starting in the square as we were passing so we jumped in
and toured the rest of the city. I would highly recommend doing one of these
free walking tours on your first day. The tour guides are so informative and
know the entire history of the city and they show you around all the main
places of interest including Wawel Old Town and the Jewish Quarter so it’s
really good to get your bearings on the first day and learn some of the
history. I actually bumped into an old friend on the tour that I haven’t seen
in years! We used to be in the Reserve Defence Forces together. She is
currently travelling Europe on her own! So inspiring!
After our day of exploring we headed back to the apartment and put the glad rags on to head out for the night. After dinner we went for a few drinks and met a lovely group of Irish girls in one of the bars who were on a pub crawl. We ended up jumping in on the pub crawl and had an unreal night with the girls!
DAY
2 | Auschwitz & Birkenau Concentration Camps
On
Day 2 we had our Tour to Auschwitz & Birkenau Concentration Camps and all I
can say is WOW, what a chilling and eye opening experience. What you learn in
your history lessons at school is not a patch on what it actually feels like to
stand there and see the scale of the entire operation. Remember, the atrocity of
what happened in these concentration camps didn’t happen all that long ago!
Just over 70 years ago. If you do only one thing while you are in Krakow make
sure it is this. You won’t regret it. Granted it is a sad place, but I think
every person should experience it. I have goosebumps just writing this! We had
the most amazing tour guide as well. She was an elder Polish woman who knew so
much of the history, you could tell that she really cared by the way she spoke. She
absolutely made the tour for myself and Shane.
With regards the tour operators
and prices, we went with ‘Discover Cracow’ however this was included in our
holiday package deal but the website has prices up for €37.50 which is approx. 160zl
in polish currency or approx. £32 Sterling. I would actually recommend pricing tours
with other tour operators though to see who has better deals. Also, be aware
that this Tour will take most of the day. We were picked up from our apartment
at 1.15pm and were dropped back that evening at 8.30pm - a good 7 hours and
lots of walking so bring comfy shoes! I was told before I went that no
photography was allowed at all but this is only true for certain parts so snap
away. Also you are not allowed to bring a bag bigger than A4 paper size (odd I
know!) so any bigger will have to be either left on the bus or put in a locker.
DAY
3 | Wieliczka Salt Mines Tour | Schindler’s Factory Museum
The
following day we visited the Wieliczka Salt Mines. We had originally booked our
visit the night before with Discover Cracow and were due to set off at 9.15am
from our hotel but on our way out for breakfast that morning we saw another
company ‘Krakville Tours’ offering the same tour for nearly 50zl cheaper so we
went with them instead! (Always shop
around!). The mines were gorgeous. Totally different to what I was
expecting, again, lots of walking! The tour starts with a descent down 380
steps to 64m deep. I was dizzy by the time I got to the bottom LOL. We were
then guided through various different chambers which included salt lakes and
religious shrines. There is a huge chapel that you see halfway through the tour
which is absolutely beautiful. Its salt décor is completely hand sculptured and
took 3 men over 60 years (if I remember correctly) to complete. It’s amazing.
The tour finishes 134m deep but thank the lord there was a lift that brought us
back up to the surface so we didn’t have to climb anymore steps haha. The
air/microclimate of the mines is also very healthy because it is so clean and
filled with nutrients that it is supposed to be really beneficial for people
who suffer from asthma or similar allergies. They even have a rehabilitation
centre down there. It is also apparently a very popular place for weddings. We
passed through one of the function chambers and it was amazing. I expect you
would pay an arm and a leg for its amazingness too! The tour of the mines took
about 2 hours and we were dropped back into the city centre by around 2.30ish.
After
we arrived back to the city we decided to walk down through the Jewish Quarter
and visit Schindler’s Factory Museum. This came highly recommended by my friend
who we met on Day 1 on the walking tour. Your all probably familiar with the
movie ‘Schindler’s List’ and if you haven’t seen it then it is well worth the
watch! I’ve seen it a couple of times before so I was excited to see the
museum. It is the factory itself that has been turned into a museum which takes
you on a journey through World War II experiences in Krakow under the five-year Nazi occupation and of
course a lot of the museum is devoted to Oskar Schindler himself and his
efforts during the war to help/save his Jewish workforce. It takes about an
hour to walk around and I would highly recommend seeing it. The price for our
entry was 19 zlotys (£4/€4.60). Right next door is a modern art museum too if
you’re interested in that sort of stuff!
DAY
4 | SHOPPING
Day
4 was our last day and we had full intentions of getting up early to pack and
check out early so we could get the most out of our final day… needless to say
we woke up late with our heads a little sore from the night before haha. As it
was our last night we got dolled up and headed out for a 3 course dinner and
some drinks. We ended up meeting these two lovely Swedish guys and started
knocking back the drinks (I was on the cocktails lol). I think we fell in the
door around 4am...stop it I know very bold haha. But we had great craic with them and it
was a great night! Anyways, our flight wasn't until 10.00pm that night so we checked out about 12.30pm and after breakfast we
headed straight for the shops! There is a huge shopping mall there called ‘Galeria Krakowska’ located directly across from the main railway station which has over
270 shops and plenty of restaurants to choose from. All the high street shops are
there but to be honest, the prices aren’t any different to at home. We only
had a little browse and I didn’t end up buying anything as we have the same stuff
here at home! (I also didn’t have any room in my suitcase lol). So after a
little browse we headed back into the city centre and shopped for some souvenirs
and trinkets to bring home. I always buy
fridge magnets haha typical tourist! I was gutted that I only copped the
Sephora store before I had all my money spent as I would have had a field day!
But I’ll make up for it when we go to New York in November!
When we got back to
the main square we also had a look around St Mary’s Basilica - a stunning
church with a very Gothic theme and highly detailed décor. There was a small
fee of 10zl to look around and an extra 5zl to take photos which is peanuts.
Because
it was Friday there was so much more activity in the main square and it was absolutely
heaving with people. There were even more market stalls set up and a stage with
local theatrics and musicians performing. Such a lovely atmosphere! So for our
last few hours we strolled around some more through the markets and ate more
traditional polish delicacies from the food stalls before we headed back to our
apartments to catch our taxi to the airport.
OUTFITS
OUTFIT
1
Top: ZARA
Jeans:
Topshop
Shoes:
PRIMARK - £13
OUTFIT
2
Fur Poncho:
Polish Market
Jeans:
Topshop
Shoes:
River Island
MY
TOP TIPS
1. Shop
around for the best deals for each of the different tours. It’s not all that
much in the difference but every penny counts!
2. Schindler’s
Factory Museum is free on Monday's if your there and the Art Museum next door is
free on Tuesday's.
3. Do
the free walking tour on your first day. They start at different times
throughout the day and are really great for getting your bearings and discovering
all the main spots in the city.
4. If
you do only 1 tour then do Auschwitz! I cannot recommend it enough.
5. Try
all the local food. Its delicious! I always like to eat what the locals eat
while I’m away in a different country. Definitely try the Traditional dumplings
‘Pierogi’ – they are unreal.
6. Bring
a warm jacket haha and some comfy walking shoes. You will be on your feet all
day every day.
7. Drink
the local beers and vodka. I don’t drink beer but if I’m drinking I stick to
vodka. Vodka is the most popular drink in Poland and it is so cheap! But really
good quality as well. They also tend to drink it raw too and don’t be surprised
if you are offered a shot after your dinner. They have loads of different
flavours too so drinking it this way is actually ok – just not too many haha. My
favourite was the cherry vodka – I brought a bottle home with me. The local
beers are also way cheaper than the main stream beers and also good but to be
honest all the beer is cheap.
8. You
don’t need to bring as much money as you think! I literally only changed up
£150 going and I got 720zl which was loads! Food & drink is very cheap. I
did end up spending more while I was there but honestly there is no need. In
total I spent £300. When your trying to work out the price of stuff in relation to your euro or pound I just divided by 5 - the exchange rate for pound to zloty is approx 4.8zl for £1 and for Euro its around 4.30zl for 1 Euro.
9. Our
favourite little breakfast spots over there were ‘Papryczki 5’ for a delicious European
breakfast and ‘Fitagain Café’ for the
most scrumptious pancakes and scrambled eggs.
So
there you go guys, a complete round up of our trip to Krakow and all my top
tips. If you have a planned trip coming up soon I hope you have an amazing time
and got some useful tips from this post or if you know anyone else going there
be sure to share this post and tag them! I’m happy to answer any more questions that you
have as well just shoot me a comment or a message!
Hope
you all enjoyed this post guys – next up, New York New York :)
Big
Love
Aileen
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Facebook: The Aileen Crowe Show
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Facebook: The Aileen Crowe Show
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Snapchat: missaileencrowe
I recommend in Krakow a great place located on the street "Dolnych Młynów" - great atmosphere and excellent food and alcohol.
ReplyDeleteVery nice article, exactly what I needed.
ReplyDeletediscount womens clothing