Myself and friend, both senior citizens, are planning to visit Krakow for 5 nights in May. Would love some recommendations for a nice hotel, not too expensive, in the Old Town. Want to pay our respects at Auschwitz and Birkenau and also visit the ice museum. Would really appreciate any advice for our visit. Many thanks.
Posted by
Columbus, OH, USA
2111 posts
Consider the Hotel Wielopole. Excellent location, friendly and helpful staff, very nice breakfast. The room was comfortable and immaculately clean. They arranged a door to door tour to Auschwitz that was excellent and easy. We don’t take tours but we were impressed enough that we scheduled another the following day for the salt mines. Safe travels.
Posted by
40 posts
We were on the Best of Poland tour last June and stayed at Hotel Grodek. Excellent location, staff and breakfast buffet. There are lots of packages for excursions to Auschwitz & Birkenau. Auschwitz provides their own guides to ensure that the tour is consistent and respectful for all visitors. We booked our visit through Viator which provided hotel pickup in a van, they purchased tickets for you, sack lunch for between Auschwitz & Birkenau, transport between both camps and return trip to hotel. Very emotional day. Some friends booked a similar tour that included the salt mine visit. They were surprised that the elevators were so old and claustrophobic. That was a very long day for them.
The RS tour included a pierogi making class in a private home. This was a highlight in so many ways! You were able to gain insight into their lives by spending an afternoon with them. RS Poland expert, Tomas, offers this. He is probably listed in the guide section of this website.
Hope this helps!
Bernadine
Posted by
40 posts
The pierogi class is through Krakow Urban Tours.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Sincere thanks for all the advice. Will enjoy checking out all the recommendations.
Posted by
Salem, Oregon, USA
2820 posts
My RS tour that stopped there was many moons ago so I don't have a good hotel recommendation (plus I didn't care for where we stayed). But in my free time I took a Crazy Guides tour of Nowa Huta. You get to ride in an old school Trabant (or similar) and learn about a very different aspect of Krakow life. It was a welcome respite from the heavy history we learned about. If you see the photos of the pink panther themed car on the web page, that was the one we rode in, until it died and they had to call for back up car. It was super fun and unique thing to do.
I also recommend seeing Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine (stunning) and going to at least one milk bar for old school food.