Krakow

[Steve_Wilkos]

On 12/04/2023 at 23:20, Musketeer Gripweed said:

I am in Krakow at the moment. Did Auschwitz today, I think it was probably one of the most important things I have ever done.

 

I was there earlier this month, and saw the phenomenon of visitors taking selfies/photos on the Auschwitz II railway first-hand.

[Musketeer Gripweed]

2 hours ago, Steve_Wilkos said:

I was there earlier this month, and saw the phenomenon of visitors taking selfies/photos on the Auschwitz II railway first-hand.

Horrendous stuff. Going in to the gas chamber the tour guide specifically told us not to take photos inside it. Within 10 seconds of saying it he had to tell two women to put their cameras way. 

I then got a row from my folk because I was moaning about people. My argument, that I hated people, didn't go down well either, so I was in the bad books for the rest of the day.

[supermik]

5 hours ago, Steve_Wilkos said:

I was there earlier this month, and saw the phenomenon of visitors taking selfies/photos on the Auschwitz II railway first-hand.

You should try it when it’s the Israeli school holidays. You can’t really see anything as the kids and their massive flags are at 5 inch centres, they just blunder their way through everybody, they lie on top of everything and they love to scratch their names on the walls. 
They really don’t make themselves look very likeable.

[tongue_tied_danny]

Just booked up for 4 nights in March.

I've already looked into trips to the salt mine snd Auschwitz. 

I just plan on spending the rest of the time wandering around and visiting pubs and cafes. 

[lichtgilphead]

On 27/12/2023 at 20:31, tongue_tied_danny said:

Just booked up for 4 nights in March.

I've already looked into trips to the salt mine snd Auschwitz. 

I just plan on spending the rest of the time wandering around and visiting pubs and cafes. 

With regard to the salt mines, are you aware that there are now 2 separate tours, starting from different locations? I had done the "tourist route" twice before, but the "miner's route" is now open, and I visited both in November 2023.

Both routes visit completely different areas of the mine - the tourist route concentrates more on the carvings, whilst the miners route is more aimed at the practicalities of getting the salt out. On the miner's route, you need to wear overalls, a hard hat, a head totch & a CO2 monitor, and be prepared to saw wood, wind ropes & drive a water-wheel

You can do both tours in a day, but your legs will ache after going down so many stairs! At the end of the tourist route, it's also worth doing the optional extension into the museum area (no additional cost) Unfortunately, they've stopped using the original lifts to get you back to the surface (tiny, cramped, pitch black & scarily fast), as you now go up in a new modern lift.

It's really easy to do under your own steam, and you can do both tours in a day. Book through the official site https://www.wieliczka-saltmine.com/individual-tourist/useful-information/ticket-prices-and-visiting-hours. The tours are 122 zloty each (£24) and the bus is 6 zloty each way (£1.15) I was staying just north of the Planty in Krakow, so could catch the 304 bus at the Novy Kleparz stop at the top of Dluga . It takes 40 minutes to an hour in the bus, When you get to the salt mine stop (it's obvious), get off the bus, turn right & take the first left up the hill. The tourist route entrance is on your right. To get to the miners route entrance, cross the road from the tourist route entrance, walk between the stalls opposite & walk through the park past a monument to John Paul II. Cross the road at the other end and the shaft is on your left.

The restaurant accross the road from the bus stop is OK for dumplings & beer.

As you can probably tell, I'm a huge fan of the mine!

Similarly, it's pretty simple to do Auschwitz under your own steam - busses leave for Oświęcim (Polish name) on a regular basis from the main Krakow Bus station (North-East of the Planty) I didn't revisit Auschwitz last November, but it's well worth doing. Make surre & go to both camps. If you do go under your own steam, the last bus back is surprisingly early, so we had to take the train to get back to Krakow on my previous visit in 2014. 

Finally, it's worth doing some of the walking tours https://freewalkingtour.com/krakow/?gclid=CjwKCAiAzJOtBhALEiwAtwj8tpnKSWDoiuZjXxOZ4uteBKyiVZfCNoTWrcBjtge8lj3l0HjzX_4EZBoCFfoQAvD_BwE

The Old Town, Jewish & Communist tours (to Nowa Huta) are all good. The Macabre tour isn't so good but is still not bad. The Old Town tour starts at the Barbican, just outside St Florian's gate. There's a decent bar about 100 metres through the gate - Pijalnia wódki i piwa (Beer & Vodka bar) it;s cheaper than most in the city centre, and has a friendly crowd.
 

[Sergeant Wilson]

https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g274754-d24172863-Auschwitz_Birkenau_Skip_the_Line_Tickets-Oswiecim_Lesser_Poland_Province_Southern_.html

I was thinking about a trip, googling and found this. Seems a bit more Disney than concentration camp.

[lichtgilphead]

That tour looks a right rip-off! No transport plus 90 minutes is nowhere near enough time to see Birkenau. 

Book the tour through the official site (you can actually get into the grounds for free, but still need to book), but it's better to take the official tour. It's very detailed at Auschwitz, but less so at Birkenau - you are taken to one hut, then left to explore on your own. It's well worth the walk down to the ruins of the gas chambers then going to pay your respects at the memorial.

Ir's a really strange atmosphere. Definitely not Disney!

 

[O_Kahn]

Slightly OT, but has anyone visited Zakopane in summer?  Planning a trip to Krakow + somewhere else, had considered Zakopane but a few articles I've read suggest half of Poland comes to visit in July.  

Plan B would be Krakow plus Stary Smokovec or somewhere else in that region over the Slovak border.  

Edited January 17 by O_Kahn

[vikingTON]

What are you planning on doing re: Zakopane/Slovak side of the border? 

[O_Kahn]

On 17/01/2024 at 19:42, virginton said:

What are you planning on doing re: Zakopane/Slovak side of the border? 

Cable cars, easy hikes, water parks, high ropes etc (travelling with 2 kids under 10)

[vikingTON]

Zakopane from my recollection is the bigger and therefore probably better equipped resort for those activities. The equivalent town in terms of water park etc. on the other side of the border would be Poprad (pretty decent too), but Zakopane is the chocolate box themed one; Poprad is a wee bit more functional. 

Stary Smokovec and the other high Slovak villages are a good base for hiking but wouldn't offer all those things in easy range AFAIK. Although it is a very quick jaunt into Poprad by the electric rail. 

[The Holiday Song]

Ah this is good timing as planning a trip that will include Bratislava and Krakow in it. Plan at the moment is train from Bratislava to Poprad, stay there and then bus it to Krakow. Anyone (looking at vT here!) with feedback if that seems a decent idea? Would maybe do a bit of walking but mostly looking for some mountain scenery, Slovak beer and food. And was thinking two nights in Poprad.

[O_Kahn]

2 hours ago, The Holiday Song said:

Ah this is good timing as planning a trip that will include Bratislava and Krakow in it. Plan at the moment is train from Bratislava to Poprad, stay there and then bus it to Krakow. Anyone (looking at vT here!) with feedback if that seems a decent idea? Would maybe do a bit of walking but mostly looking for some mountain scenery, Slovak beer and food. And was thinking two nights in Poprad.

Getting between Zakopane and Krakow has a few options I think from research so far.

1 Simple Flixbus (there seems to be a bus that takes 3 hours and one that takes 4+ as it stops in Zakopane

2 Taxi or bus to Zakopane/Poronin then train from there

3 Train Poprad via Muszyna to Krakow (might take 6 or 7 hours but perhaps the most interesting).  The train from Poprad to the Polish border only seems to go some weekends in winter and summer.

 

 

[vikingTON]

On 19/01/2024 at 08:48, The Holiday Song said:

Ah this is good timing as planning a trip that will include Bratislava and Krakow in it. Plan at the moment is train from Bratislava to Poprad, stay there and then bus it to Krakow. Anyone (looking at vT here!) with feedback if that seems a decent idea? Would maybe do a bit of walking but mostly looking for some mountain scenery, Slovak beer and food. And was thinking two nights in Poprad.

Easily doable I'd say and Poprad will be the key transfer point regardless. The main centre of Poprad is decent - another interesting area to stay is Spišská Sobota. It used to be its own village but is attached to Poprad itself now. It has retained its own centre though and has a good range of accomodation and some food options too on its main square. 

If you want to stay much closer to the mountains (and so a direct base to start some hikes) then have a look at Ždiar too. It's a village strung out along the main mountain pass between Slovakia and Poland (all Poprad-Krakow buses will pass through, most will stop too). Most of the buildings are in the log cabin style and there's a few good, classic Slovak restaurant/pub options too. The red hiking route goes straight from the village (about 900m height) to the mountain ridges (2,000m) in barely an hour - you can then follow the red route to one of the mountain pubs near the lakes, then the blue route down to Tatranská Lomnica (about 20 minutes by bus back to Ždiar - as it's also on the main road). 

Unfortunately it looks like the Ginger Monkey hostel is no longer operating in Ždiar, which is genuinely sad news. 

[The Holiday Song]

Great info, cheers. Thanks for taking the time to write that up.