Krakow, Poland and surrounding areas

Guessing from your other post you will be traveling between Krakow and Budapest? If so you might consider visiting Slovakia. There are some really nice towns, castles and landscapes. Here are a couple of the places we have made it to over the years. http://budapestflat.shutterfly.com/slovakia but the must see list is a lot longer. Slovakia is one of those unde rated places in my mind. You just have to get away from Bratislava. I dont know what sort of budget you are on but you might consider a car or a car and driver (I prefer to look out the window without having to worry about getting lost).

Thanks James! We're actually going to be flying into Prague, then headed to Krakow, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Croatia, Austria and possibly Eastern Germany. We spent a day in Bratislava last year and loved it, enough so that we are headed back there and will be visiting other places in Slovakia as well. By the way, great pictures!

If it helps any i know great guides in Hungary and Romania and Bulgaria. I just post the photos from Central Europe on that site as its intended to help our rental guests decide what to do in the region. We have been a lot of places but Central Europe is my favorite place and Romania and Bulgaria are at the top of the list (right after Budapest).

Depending on how much time you have you can stop in Olomouc on your way from Prague to Krakow to divide your long train ride. From Krakow you can go to Zakopane- mountain resort in High Tatras, beautiful mountains which I call condensed Alps. Jagged peaks like the Alps only on much smaller area. If your trip is in late spring visit Morskie Oko- a very picturesque lake right under the highest mountain of Poland - Rysy. For hikers there is an all day strenuous hike to the summit and back but unfortunately for you not doable in spring because of snow. The border between Poland and Slovakia is right on the summit. From Morskie Oko get back to the road and to nearby Lysa Polana. From there you can catch bus to Stary Smokovec, mountain resort in Slovakia, plenty of accommodation. From there either by bus across the Low Tatras, very scenic ride, or by train you can get to Bratislava and Hungary. If you have time in Stary Smokovec I could suggest more hidden gem places.

Hello Christina, i will be visiting Krakow in the spring as well, along with Warsaw. I just made arrangements. I haven't heard of the Crazy Guys tour yet. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hi David! We did the Communism Tour in which they drive you around the city in a Trabant. The college age guide was fantastic! At the end of the tour they brought us to an old airstrip where my husband was able to drive the Trabant. We traveled for three weeks all throughout Europe and this was by far our favorite tour! We are actually going to do one of their other tours this time around. http://www.crazyguides.com/ If you can handle it I would also suggest going out to Auschwitz. It's a bus ride from Krakow. It was a very hard tour but one we were glad we did.

Hey Christina, thanks for the info, i'll have to check it out. Am definitely planning on doing Auschwitz. I can't skip it if i'm going to be there. When in the spring are you going? I'll be there in mid-late may.

Hi All I am planning a weekend trip to Krakow at the end of March. Can you recommend any hotels or B&B's ($50-75 per night) that I should consider? I'll of course check Rick's guide books for advice, but I'm sure that those of you who have been to Krakow will also have lots of good recommendations for me. Thanks for your help. Penn