I finally got to my last post on Krakow, which was a very nice trip for 2013, the city getting to impress me much more than initially expected.

This post is mostly about the practical part of the trip, how we got there, where we stayed, where we had dinner.

Getting to Krakow :

We took a night bus from Cluj Napoca to Budapest, from where at 7AM we got on another bus to Krakow, arriving there at 2 PM. We traveled with Orange Ways, as it was the only option we had from Romania. From all around Europe there are direct flights, even some low costs ones so most probably you will find a better connection. The bus ticket was 80 EUR for a return trip. From Budapest to Krakow the bus ticket was about 40 EUR for a return ticket.

The trip was quite long and a bit exhausting, but we did travel almost most of it at night time so we did get quite a lot of sleep. Leaving from Budapest, we had rain all the way to Krakow, so that helped a lot to get some more sleep.

Accommodation :

We chose the Tramp ApartHostel because of the location and it also had some good reviews on HostelWorld. We paid 200EUR for a double room for 5 nights. It’s a nice and clean hostel, but the rooms were a bit cold, we only got heat for 2 nights, I think. They also serve breakfast in the morning, but it’s not the best breakfast in the world. If you need a hot tea and a sandwich before starting your day, that will do. The staff there is very friendly and nice, they did offer us lots of info on what do visit and how to visit it as locals would.

The hostel is 10 minutes walk from the main square, close to all the tourist attractions in the city center and also 15 minutes walk to the main train station.

Eating out:

Momo. We read about it on TripAdvisor and we went for the first time and them came back another 3 or 4 times during our trip. It’s a vegetarian and vegan restaurant, very simple, but with absolutely delicious food. Each day they have a different menu, but you will always find soups, main dishes and deserts. The prices are quite low, we paid for a full meal somewhere less than 10 EUR.

Moo Moo Steak and Burger house. We chose this place as it was right next to our hostel, but it turned out to be a very good choice. They have a variety of dishes. We went for some onion soup and some burgers, which were absolutely delicious. They also have some vegetarian dishes, so it’s a place for everybody. Again, prices were not so high, a burger is about 5 EUR (and it’s a huge burger) and a soup was about 3 EUR.

Milk Bar. This was another place on the same street as the hostel and we also went there twice. They don’t serve alcohol, but they do have delicious dishes. We went first for dinner and tried some sausages and grilled Camembert cheese with salads and french fries. We also went there for lunch before leaving Krakow, and had the menu of the day. Very nice atmosphere, very tasty food, I enjoyed this place a lot.

In the city center, at every street corner you will see people selling some kind of traditional Polish pretzels, which cost about 30 cents and are very tasty and perfect for a quick snack.

Drinking:

House of Beer. We didn’t have much time to go out in pubs at night, as we mostly went to parties every night, but we did go twice to House of Beer, again right next to our hostel. It’s a very nice beer pub, with lots of Belgian, American, British beers, but also Polish, Czech and Slovakian beers, bottled or drought. A beer costs about 3 – 4 EUR. A very nice and young atmosphere, the bartenders can always recommend a good beer.

Leisure:

The city center is circled all around by a park, so you can always chose to have a nice walk if it’s warm and sunny outside. On our last day in Krakow, as we already did all the visiting, we chose to go in the park in front of the Wavel Castle, on the Vistula river side and just sit on the grass and enjoy a good book.

Krakow is a very touristic city, with very competitive prices. It’s a good option if you want to chose a low cost holiday but also have beautiful places to visit. Food (which is absolutely delicious) and drinks are quite cheap comparing with Western Europe (sometimes even cheaper than what we have in Romania), public transportation and taxis are again quite affordable. It’s a city with lots of young people, during the weekends the streets are crowded with people going out for fun. Almost everybody speaks English, except the post office, where we had a bit of a difficulty in trying to send a post card to our parents.

Below are the other posts about Krakow, that tell the story, step by step, of our nice trip to this even nicer city :

Wondering on the streets of Krakow

Wieliczka Salt Mine

The Auschwitz Experience