Trip Report - Krakow and the Krakow Card

Great information, thanks for sharing. I'm going to Krakow next spring, and I will definitely remember this!

Valerie, thanks for the information. we leave a week from Friday.

Thanks for the report. I think you just sold a couple cards. Getting let in the door when others are being turned away is a strong selling point...

We will be there in about 3 weeks (leaving Thursday, Krakow is our last stop).

Valerie, did you get the card with transport?

Yes, thank you! That's really good to know, especially about the Krakow card. I am going next month and have been debating it. Definitely a point in its favor!

Caroline

@Barbara - I think they all come with transport. We have been walking everywhere though. This city is extremely walkable and distances to cover are not too great.

And, as someone else mentioned, the sites are not expensive in Krakow, but we really like not pulling out our wallets every few minutes.

For folks thinking of buying this card, I would advise to do the math first. Public transit and museums are really cheap in Poland. If you're planning to hit the top sites like Wawel Castle, Auschwitz, and the Salt Mines, you'll end up reaching for your wallet anyway because those site entry fees are not covered by the card. These sites alone will take up quite a bit of time to see, even if you're in Krakow for 3-4 full days. So a pass that gives you access to 40 additional museums (some of which are free already and some of which are definitely lesser tier) isn't going to be really cost-effective (compared to just paying the low entry fee for each) if you only have time to see a sliver of them. The only major plus of this card is if want to use public transport extensively and you want the ease of flashing a card vs. carrying small change, but again it's really cheap (and most people can easily see most of the city center entirely on foot). If you're going to arrange transfers to the Salt Mine or not use public transport at all (including from the airport), the value of this card diminishes further.

So I would make sure this card is really going to pay for itself before I buy it, unless you can derive some kind of non-monetary value for having it. It does make things easy, but that comes at a premium. If you're going off season, you shouldn't have issues getting into any museum - with or without the card.

The question might be, are you willing to pay for the convenience of maybe skipping the line? Many of us would definitely pay more for that convenience.

The 3 day pass with transport is only $32, without transport it is $18. Could be the lest expensive card in any city. Skipping lines and not having to keep going into my bag, win-win situation. If we don't "use" it up, it is a donation to the city. Will definitely buy one.

There is no implicit or explicit guarantee about "skipping the line" with this card (it doesn't mention it at all). At the marginal museums, there won't be a big line to begin with. Schindler's is always an exception because it's better known, and what happened to the OP may be a lucky break, who knows? If you show up first thing in the AM, I doubt it would be a problem getting in. It also depends whether you're traveling during the peak or non-peak seasons whether you'll really need to get to the front of the line.

I'd love to hear a report of the Wawel Castle visit and how the crowds were there. Last time I was in Krakow was October and there was quite a large crowd to get in.

Valerie, how long will you be in Krakow? If you have a chance to write a full report, that would be great (or I can just PM you for your blog too).

Not worried, already booked Schindler tour.