Two days in Krakow, planned for you

Jiri ZmidlochSeptember 11, 20268 min read62 views

Krakow packs a lot into a compact space, and Lonely Planet says two days give you a decent shot at most major sights, as long as you keep moving. This krakow 2 day itinerary does the deciding for you: Rynek Glowny and the Old Town on day one, Wawel Hill and Kazimierz on day two, with the Rynek Underground slotted into a quieter evening. No backtracking, no guessing which ticket to pre-book. Here is the plan, plus the swaps worth making if your interests run to WWII history or the salt mine.

How This Krakow 2 Day Itinerary Works

Krakow's core is compact and walkable, which is why two days actually work here. Lonely Planet says two days give you a decent shot at most major sights, as long as you keep moving and stay focused, with plenty of cafes along the way for a coffee or a slice of cake when your feet complain. The plan below front-loads the ticketed sights each morning and saves the free wandering for the afternoon.

One rule saves the whole trip: book the timed stuff before you arrive. Lonely Planet notes that Wawel Castle tickets are limited and sell out quickly, so an early start matters. Rick Steves forum regulars add that Auschwitz and Schindler's Factory both require advance purchase, and Auschwitz realistically eats a full day. Everything else on this route you can walk up to.

Wawel Royal Castle interiors (Royal Private Apartments and State Rooms): reserve ahead, since Lonely Planet says tickets are limited and sell out fast.
Schindler's Factory: book in advance, per the Rick Steves forum.
Auschwitz-Birkenau: book in advance and set aside a full day, per the Rick Steves forum.
Wieliczka Salt Mine: a half-day trip about 30 minutes from the center, per National Geographic.
Rynek Underground: quieter in the evening and open until 8pm, per Culture Trip.

Day One Morning: Rynek Glowny and St Mary's

Start where the city does. Rynek Glowny, the Main Market Square, is Europe's biggest medieval town square at roughly 200 meters by 200 meters, according to Lonely Planet. Get there early. National Geographic describes mornings on the square as its best hours, when flower sellers haul in buckets of blooms and pushcarts sell fresh obwarzanek, the ring-shaped Polish bagel topped with salt. Grab one and eat it standing up, the way Krakovians do.

The Renaissance Cloth Hall runs down the center of the square, and its ground-floor market still sells Polish crafts and curios, per National Geographic. For a view over the rooftops, climb the Town Hall Tower, which Lonely Planet flags for its aerial outlook. Then give St Mary's Basilica at least half an hour. Lonely Planet singles out its Gothic interior and the carved wooden altarpiece. Step back outside on the hour and listen for the hejnal, the bugle call played from the taller of the church's two towers. National Geographic traces that tradition back seven centuries.

Day One Afternoon and Evening: Old Town Edges and the Underground

Walk off the pierogi with a loop through the streets north and east of the square. Lonely Planet points to the Gothic Collegium Maius, where Copernicus once studied and which now holds a collection of medieval scientific instruments. Keep going to the Barbican and Florian's Gate, the old northern entrance to the city, then curl back through the Planty, the ring of parkland that circles the Old Town. Krakow Travel calls it exactly that, and warns you to watch for pigeons overhead.

If you like art, detour to the Czartoryski Museum. It holds Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine, which the Cityglide local guide on escooters.krakow.pl calls the most famous woman in Poland, in a collection that recently reopened with a new look. Save the Rynek Underground for the evening. This high-tech museum sits in the excavated tunnels beneath the square, showing the medieval market stalls and 700 years of city history, per Lonely Planet and Culture Trip. Culture Trip notes it stays open until 8pm and thins out after dark, so you dodge the daytime lines.

Day Two: Wawel Hill, the Castle, and the Dragon

Wawel Hill is a limestone rock rising over the Vistula in the middle of the city, and Krakow Travel calls it an ancient center of power. The Renaissance palace you see today is the result of a refurbishment of the older Gothic Royal Castle in the first half of the 16th century, per Krakow Travel. You can walk the grounds and the arcaded courtyard for free. The ticketed interiors are the Royal Private Apartments and State Rooms, and Lonely Planet warns those tickets are limited and sell out fast, so arrive early.

Do not skip Wawel Cathedral, with its Renaissance chapels and the royal crypts where many Polish kings and leaders are buried, per Lonely Planet. Down at the foot of the hill sits the Dragon's Den. As the legend goes, a dragon once terrorized the city, and today a metal dragon statue there breathes real fire, a favorite with kids, per Krakow Travel. Krakow Travel ties the whole hill to Krak, or Krakus, the mythical founder of the stronghold, so treat that as folklore rather than documented history. For how much of the dragon tale is actually recorded, see our Krakow legends story.

Day Two Afternoon: The Vistula and Kazimierz

From Wawel, drop down to the river. A walk along the Vistula is on Krakow Travel's own list of essential missions, and it is the easy way to reset between the castle and the old Jewish quarter. Cross the Father Bernatek Footbridge, another item on that list, where couples clip love padlocks along the rails, and you land near Kazimierz.

Kazimierz rewards slow wandering. Krakow Travel suggests a coffee in one of its many cafes, and the local guide on escooters.krakow.pl points to zapiekanki, the open-faced baguette pizzas sold at Plac Nowy, as the district's cult street food. Rick Steves forum posters recommend going into a synagogue and the old cemetery, and lingering over lunch or dinner here. This is the loosest part of the two days on purpose. After a morning of timed tickets, Kazimierz is where you stop watching the clock.

What to Swap In If Your Interests Differ

This route is Old Town plus Wawel plus Kazimierz. If you have a strong pull toward WWII history or the underground, trade out an afternoon.

Schindler's Factory, in the Podgorze district across the river, is a WWII museum in Oskar Schindler's old enamel works. Culture Trip slots it into a single afternoon, and forum travelers on Rick Steves call it well presented and doable in a half day. Wieliczka Salt Mine is the other big pull: National Geographic describes a 13th-century UNESCO site about 30 minutes from the center, a nine-level labyrinth running some 1,100 feet down, with St Kinga's Chapel that three miners took 70 years to carve, from 1896 to 1963. Auschwitz-Birkenau is the heaviest option. Rick Steves forum members agree it takes a full day and needs tickets booked ahead, so it fits a three-day trip better than a tight two.

Where to Eat Without Wasting an Hour

You can eat well between sights without a reservation marathon. For breakfast, Culture Trip and Lonely Planet both flag Cafe Camelot in the Old Town for eggs and coffee. On the square itself, Lonely Planet points to Hawelka for a traditional Polish lunch. Near Wawel, Lonely Planet recommends Miod Malina and Restauracja Pod Baranem, the latter useful for diners with food sensitivities or allergies.

For a cheap, fast, genuinely local meal, do what the Rick Steves forum crowd does and find a milk bar (bar mleczny). One poster names Pod Temida as a favorite. These self-service canteens serve pierogi and soups for a few zloty and keep you moving between checkpoints on the map.

Two days in Krakow works if you decide in advance and walk the rest. Book Wawel's interiors and any WWII sites before you land, which both Lonely Planet and the Rick Steves forum stress, spend day one on Rynek Glowny and the Old Town with the Rynek Underground after dark, and give day two to Wawel Hill and a slow afternoon in Kazimierz. Keep Schindler's Factory or Wieliczka as your swap if history or the salt mine pulls harder than a second cafe stop. The whole loop is walkable right now, on foot and self-guided, which is exactly how Krakow rewards the curious over the rushed.