We land in the morning in Krakow, if all flights arrive promptly, on the 14th of April. I have booked a tour of Auschwitz for the 15th. I know I should book the Schlinder Factory early too, but I just looked at our dates and there is no availability. I assume those dates aren't available YET. Should we do a guided tour or just walk through on our own? I am leaning toward to guided tour, but I am open to suggestions. Are there other things we should book ahead of time? I booked the hotel for four nights, but we are thinking of visiting Bulgaria afterwards, a country we haven't visited, to wind up in Paris or London, cities we have been to many times for one to two nights just to decompress from all the touring and just walk around and have a great dinner. Are four nights a good amount of time in Krakow? Thanks for any info.
Posted by
36 posts
Depending on where you are staying you cal walk to Schindlers museum. You can do a self guided tour. Stop in the Jewish quarter on your way. Also include the Salt mine on your short list. Its well worth it. Spend time walking around the old town. Zakopane is also a beautiful place to go. You will enjoy the High Tatras.
Posted by
Washington DC
30014 posts
When I went to Krakow in 2018, the Schindler Factory was fully English-accessible, so I don't think you necessarily need to take a tour. However, I'm the sort of traveler who either skips a museum entirely or reads all the explanatory information posted in English. Most travelers spend less time at each place, and for them a guide can be very helpful in highlighting the key information.
I originally booked 7 nights in Krakow but ended up adding a night so I could take a Communism tour of the Nowa Huta district. I went to Auschwitz but didn't otherwise go out of town. There's a lot to see in Krakow, and it's also a very pretty city.
Posted by
NZ
39 posts
I would second the visit to Nowa Huta, and most especially the Arko Pana church, with its astonishing construction story. I didn't go to Schlinders Factory, but opted to go to the Jewish Museum which is very well presented. Krakow is a lovely city to walk and make sure you catch the trumpeter playing from St Mary's Basilica at least once- an amazing back story there.
Posted by
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
3007 posts
Four nights is good for Krakow. I spent five nights and was glad I had that much time, but four would work if you are pressed for time. Not counting your Auschwitz day, you have two full days. I might skip the salt mine so you can spend those days in Krakow, which is just wonderful. Zakopane is nice, but you don’t have enough time for it. There is a lot to see in Krakow.
Posted by
50 posts
Third vote for Nowa Huta. We did it with Crazy Guides in a Trabant. (https://www.crazyguides.com/). We LOVED this tour! We loved Krakow and 4 nights is terrific. We didn't do Auschwitz as we had done Dachau years before, but found Schindler's Museum absolutely incredible and walking the Jewish quarter. We didn't do any other formal tours of the town - great to walk around day and night! Also, where we tayed, we were able to walk from and to the train station.
Posted by
Colorado
154 posts
Good luck on booking tickets Shindler's Factory ahead, it's known for being quite befuddling how they run it, they seem notorious for having very limited amounts of tickets online. We and at least 100 other people went there and stood in their line outside to wait for the other tickets that they keep held back. There is a screen inside that shows you how many tickets they release each 10 minute interval so you can count the people in line and look at the screen to calculate your wait.
You do know Schindler's Factory has almost nothing to do with Schindler's Factory? It's an excellent museum on the Nazi occupation of Krakow but other than one room and his desk (maybe it's his, maybe not) and a wall of pots on display it is 99.9% not about Schindler.
Posted by
OP
114 posts
Thanks for all the replies. After researching, we have decided to go to Gdansk for several days instead of visiting Bulgaria. We have visited Warsaw in the past.
Are four days in Krakow and three days in Gdansk a good amount of time? We don't like to rush, but we like to see a lot. Near Gdansk there seems to be enough for at least one full day in the city and maybe two day trips. In Krakow, we have already booked Auschwitz which is one day which gives us two full days in the city. What do you all think?
We arrive from the states early in the morning on our first day in Krakow and we plan to take the train, over five hours, from Krakow to Gdansk. Thanks again.
Posted by
50 posts
Our favorite city was Gdansk! (Really enjoyed Krakow and Warsaw, but.....favorite...) The Solidarity Museum and WWII Museum are both excellent. Just walking RS's walk is worthwhile. I wouldn't cut any time from Gdansk. We loved it so much this past fall, I'm going back in May!
Posted by
Washington DC
30014 posts
The two large Gdansk museums are excellent. By "large" I mean I spent 8 hours in the Solidarity Center and 20 hours in the WWII museum. That's how long it took to read all the English-language information and watch the English-subtitled videos. A less insane visitor will not need that much time, but those are not the only things worth seeing in Gdansk.