Eating and Drinking in Kraków

The good news is that you can eat and drink in Kraków relatively cheaply which is excellent news if you are on a budget. It is perfectly possible to eat a simple two course meal for less than £5 and be more than satisfied with what you had. Eat Polish food if you want the best value and bargains, eating local dishes is one of the reasons I like to travel and I am sure that’s the case for many. If you like some variety there are restaurants offering a range of different cuisines from around the world as wells more fine dining options. The choice is yours. Here are some favourites from a recent visit to the city.

OLD TOWN

Pod Wawelem (Gertrudy 26-29). Close to Wawel Castle this is traditional Polish food served in a beer hall style setting. There is seating in a conservatory if you prefer something a little quieter. Portions here are very generous and you are unlikely to leave hungry. Beer served in steins is a speciality here and very good it is too, cold and refreshing after a day seeing the sights.

Milkbar Tomasza (Tomasza 24). Milkbars were popular and a common sight throughout Poland in the communist era as they offered cheap and filling food for workers. Since the fall of communism they have declined in number but Tomasza is still going strong. Order at the counter and your meal will be delivered to your table quite quickly. Expect good quality Polish food with the modern addition of paninis on offer. Milkbars do not traditionally serve alcohol and Tomasza is no exception.

U Babci Maliny (Stawkowska 17). Not the easiest place to find but well worth the effort. You must go through the building into the courtyard in the middle and then down the stairs to the basement where you will find the restaurant. It is well signposted along the way. The decor is fantastic and the food excellent. Seating is on benches at communal tables but don’t let that put you off. Order at the counter and they give you a ticket with a number. Wait until your number appears on the digital display and collect from the counter.

Gospoda Koko (Golebia 8). Close to the main square this charming restaurant offers quality local food at very affordable prices. Its much bigger than it appears, although there are relatively few tables as you enter from the street there is masses of additional seating downstairs. Once again order at the counter and food will be brought to your table. If you want alcoholic drinks you have to go to the downstairs bar for them and you can then take them to your table upstairs.

Stoccaggio Wine Bar (Krupnicza 9). Wine bar just east of the Old Town serving mainly European Wines and small plates. The wine by the glass list here is by grape variety so you are not really sure what you are going to get but the choices were fine on our visit. You can also buy wine to take away here as well.

House of Beer (Swietego Tomasza 35). If craft beer is your thing this is the place for you. With twelve taps and a huge choice of bottles there is something for everyone here. It certainly gets busy here but if its full at street level they open the downstairs area which is huge with very comfortable seating. Food here is also very good with burgers, hot wings and nachos on the menu.

Café Philo ( Tomasza 30). A small but atmospheric bar just round the corner from the House of Beer. Lots of posters and books to be found here and it is a bar with many locals drinking on their way home from work. Some nice jazz plays in the background.

KAZIMIERZ

The Jewish Quarter is home to many restaurants, cafés and bars. It is a bustling and busy place and well worth spending some time in after sight seeing is done for the day.

Kuchnia u Doroty (Augustiańska 4). Light and airy restaurant with some excellent local food, I particularly enjoyed the potato pancakes with goulash and there were many other interesting dishes on offer. It is full table service here and diners are served a complementary fruit juice on arrival which I thought was a very nice touch.

Alchemia (Estery 5). A cafe by day and a bar come evening time. Don’t expect to do some quiet reading of your guide book here as its dimly lit and has a shabby chic vibe which works really well. A great place to stop off for a beer before heading off to dinner.

Artefact Café (Dajwór 3). Came across this cafe/bar when walking back to the Old Town from Oskar Schindlers Factory in Podgórze. Consists of two rooms, one with shelves lined with books and the other with an interesting selection of photographs on the wall.

Domowka Café (Miodowa 28). Just loved this place. Called in early evening and the place was really busy, always a good sign, and there were no available tables. The helpful guy behind the bar suggested additional seating downstairs and we were lucky to bag the last table. Nearly everyone was playing board games and the atmosphere was lovely. On top of this they have a great range of craft beers. We stayed much longer than intended!

PODGÓRZE

Krako Slow Wines (Lipowa 6). Called after a visit to Oskar Schindlers Factory as its next door and was not disappointed. Serving natural wines, beers and a nice selection of dishes for both lunch and dinner. Staff are knowledgeable and very helpful when choosing wines. Wish I could have spent more time here.

Kraków Street Art

In Kraków street art is to be found in Kazimierz (The Jewish Quarter) and across the Vistula River in Podgórze. You will not find any in the Old Town where the walls are kept art and graffiti free. It is quite possible to visit all major pieces in a couple of hours and there are even a number of Street Art tours that you can join.

These two pieces can be found close to the junction of Bozego Ciala and Józefa Street in Kazimierz. The paste up of Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump is in the style of Grant Wood’s painting from the 1930s entitled American Gothic. In this version a spaceship sits above the White House in reference to the film Independence Day. This piece appeared around the time of the 2016 Presidential elections.

Closeby is this unattributed stencil of Gene Kelly from Singing in the Rain entitled I’m Happy Again.

Further up Józefa Street is a series of murals created in 2015 as part of Kazimierz Historical Murals Project by Piotr Janowczyk. It is a series of five murals of significant people in Polish history. Each mural is accompanied by a plaque giving biographical details in both Polish and English.

  • Emperor Józef
  • Helena Rubenstein
  • Karol Knaus
  • Esterka
  • King Kazimierz

At 3 Bawol Square is a mural created by Israeli street art crew Broken Fingaz for the Jewish Cultural Festival in 2014. The mural was created to honour the Bosak Family who lived in the area for 400 years until they were removed from this house and forced to move into the Jewish ghetto by the Nazis in 1941. The mural has been created in black and white to represent the sadness here. Access for photographs is difficult due to a private car park.

The Galicia Jewish Museum on Dajwór Street has three interesting pieces. The large mural on the outside wall of the museum is by Marcin Wierzchowski and is made up of Jewish symbols.

The other two are on the wall of the courtyard which can only be accessed through the museum. These are of two important figures in the Jewish community from the Second World War. Irena Sendler was a nurse who is credited with saving the lives of 2500 children during the Holocaust. In 1965 she was named as one of the Polish Righteous Among the Nations. The inscription alongside the work reads, “people should be divided into good and bad. Race, origin, religion, education, possessions have no meaning. Just what kind of man he is.”

The other is of Marek Edelman who was an activist and took part in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1943. Following the end of the war he became a cardiologist and went on to oppose Poland’s communist government. there is an inscription alongside the work which reads “Hate is easy. Love requires effort and sacrifice.”

Close to the museum is this stencil of Clark Gable and the famous quote from the film Gone With the Wind.

Judah depicts a child’s face surrounded by the head of a lion. Painted by Israeli street artist Pie Peled for the 2013 Jewish Cultural Festival. The child is said to depict vulnerability whereas the lion represents strength, together they represent the struggles of the Jewish community to survive. The work is partially obscured by food trucks as the area adjacent to the work has become a popular location for street food and is now known as Food Truck Square.

When street artist Pikaso was asked to produce a mural in 2012 for the Grolsch Artboom festival his original proposal was rejected. In response he painted this self portrait obscured by a thick black line. The piece is entitled “For God’s Sake Censorship is Everywhere.”

Across the river in the Podgórze district Italian street artist Blu created a huge mural entitled “Ding Dong Dumb” in 2012. Located at 3a Piwna it is a challenging and thought provoking work. Painted in the colours of the papal flag it is a comment on the relationship between Polish culture and the Catholic Church.

Closeby at Jozefinska 24 are two murals on either end of a rather unassuming building. Len’s Robot by Filip Kuzniarz which celebrates science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem.

At the other end of the building is the Mayamural. According to Mayan prophecy the world was to end on 21st December 2012. This work appeared just before the actual date.

Heading towards the Schindler factory you pass this work just after the underpass.

Between the Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków and Oskar Schindlers Factory is a pathway that leads to an area used as a car park but has also been used as a free walls space for street artist. It is here that you will find a varied, diverse collection of colourful art. As is the nature of these sorts of places the art can be ephemeral with new works appearing fairly frequently. Local street artist Pieksa has a number of works here.

For others I have not been able to determine the artist.

Wieliczka Salt Mine

Until its closure in 1996 Wieliczka was one of the oldest operating salt mines in the world. Salt has been mined here since the thirteenth century, initially producing salt for the table and later salt for the chemical industry and salt for winter roads. It has now become one of the most visited tourist attractions in Poland, attracting over a million visitors a year, it is a Polish Historic Monument and, since 1978, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The mine is huge going down to a depth of 327m with nine different levels. The total distance covered by passageways and chambers is 287Km. Visitors to the mine follow a route that takes them down to 135m, accessing the first three levels only. It covers less than 2% of that which has been excavated.

The town of Wieliczka lies about 16Km/10 miles south east of Kraków. The journey time depends on traffic but should be around 30 minutes by car/bus. The 304 bus leaves from Kurniki Street which is just north of the Old Town every 20 minutes. Tour companies also have pick up points in the city and also go direct to the mine. Some even do hotel pickups. It is also possible to travel to Wieliczka by train. Trains run half hourly from Kraków Glowny to Wieliczka Rynek Kopalnia and costs about 4 Zloty each way, the journey time is 20-25 minutes. This option does however involve a ten minute walk from the railway station to the mine.

The mine is open to visitors every day except New Years Day, Good Friday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Times do vary with the season so it is worth checking before you go. Entry to the mine is 89 Zloty and includes a guide. Tours in English depart every 30 minutes between 8.30 and 18.00 between April and October. Outside this period there are obviously less tourists so tour times may vary. There are refreshment and toilet facilities adjacent to the entry to the mine if you have to wait for an appropriate tour

The tour begins with a descent of 350 steps down to the first level. Once in the mine the temperature is a constant 15 degrees Celsius so take a jumper or light jacket if you think you may need it. The underground trail covers 3.5Km and in total you will descend 800 steps. The tour takes about two hours with a couple of short breaks. There are toilets at two locations on the tour as well as restaurant/cafe facilities and the opportunity to do some souvenir shopping. Return back to the surface at the end of the tour is by high speed lift.

The tour itself is quite remarkable as you encounter salt sculptures, dioramas detailing the history of the mine, chapels and huge chambers. Perhaps surprisingly the salt is grey due to the presence of small levels

The Chapel of St. Kinga ia perhaps the most impressive with crystal chandeliers and the most intricate relief carvings on the walls. The detail here is such that it took thirty years to complete. The chamber is vast and can hold up to 400 people seated for concerts or private functions.

The Erazm Baracz Chamber contains a salt lake with. density greater than the Dead Sea. Floating here would be very easy indeed. The highest chamber is the Stanislaw Stasiz Chamber, the ceiling is so high it has been used for indoor bungee jumping and hot air ballooning.

I joined a small group tour from Kraków and the total trip was four and a half hours so it makes an ideal half day activity. To make maximum use of my day I took the tour leaving Kraków at eight thirty in the morning, returning just in time for lunch and leaving the rest of the day to spend in the city. I really recommend a trip to the salt mine as its such a unique experience.