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    Insight Guides Explore Krakow (Travel Guide eBook): (Travel Guide eBook)
    Insight Guides Explore Krakow (Travel Guide eBook): (Travel Guide eBook)
    Insight Guides Explore Krakow (Travel Guide eBook): (Travel Guide eBook)
    Ebook480 pages1 hour

    Insight Guides Explore Krakow (Travel Guide eBook): (Travel Guide eBook)

    By Insight Guides

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    About this ebook

    Insight Explore Guides: pocket-sized books to inspire your on-foot exploration of top international destinations. 

    Experience the best of Krakow with this indispensably practical Insight Explore Guide. From making sure you don't miss out on must-see attractions like St Mary's Basilica, to discovering hidden gems, including Podgorze, the easy-to-follow, ready-made walking routes will help you plan your trip, save you time, and enhance your exploration of these fascinating islands.


    ·       Practical, pocket-sized and packed with inspirational insider information, this will make the ideal on-the-move companion for your trip to Krakow
    ·       Enjoy 16 irresistible Best Routes to travel, from the main Market Square to the Wieliczka Salt Mine
    ·       Features concise insider information about landscape, history, food and drink, and entertainment options
    ·       Invaluable maps: each Best Route is accompanied by a detailed full-colour map, while the large pull-out map provides an essential overview of the area
    ·       Discover your destination's must-see sights and hand-picked hidden gems
    ·       Directory section provides invaluable insight into top accommodation, restaurant and nightlife options by area, along with an overview of language, books and films 
    ·       Includes an innovative extra that's unique in the market
    ·       Inspirational colour photography throughout


    About Insight Guides: Insight Guides is a pioneer of full-colour guide books, with almost 50 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides with user-friendly, modern design. We produce around 400 full-colour print guide books and maps as well as phrase books, picture-packed eBooks and apps to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherInsight Guides
    Release dateMar 1, 2019
    ISBN9781789193305
    Insight Guides Explore Krakow (Travel Guide eBook): (Travel Guide eBook)
    Author

    Insight Guides

    Pictorial travel guide to Arizona & the Grand Canyon with a free eBook provides all you need for every step of your journey. With in-depth features on culture and history, stunning colour photography and handy maps, it’s perfect for inspiration and finding out when to go to Arizona & the Grand Canyon and what to see in Arizona & the Grand Canyon. 

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      Book preview

      Insight Guides Explore Krakow (Travel Guide eBook) - Insight Guides

      How To Use This E-Book

      This Explore Guide has been produced by the editors of Insight Guides, whose books have set the standard for visual travel guides since 1970. With ­top-­quality photography and authoritative recommendations, these guidebooks bring you the very best routes and itineraries in the world’s most exciting destinations.

      Best Routes

      The routes in this book provide something to suit all budgets, tastes and trip lengths. As well as covering the destination’s many classic attractions, the itineraries track lesser-known sights, and there are also ex­cursions for those who want to extend their visit outside the city. The routes embrace a range of interests, so whether you are an art fan, a gourmet, a history buff or have kids to entertain, you will find an option to suit.

      We recommend reading the whole of a route before setting out. This should help you to familiarise yourself with it and enable you to plan where to stop for refreshments – options are shown in the ‘Food and Drink’ box at the end of each tour.

      Introduction

      The routes are set in context by this introductory section, giving an overview of the destination to set the scene, plus background information on food and drink, shopping and more, while a succinct history timeline highlights the key events over the centuries.

      Directory

      Also supporting the routes is a Directory chapter, with a clearly organised A–Z of practical information, our pick of where to stay while you are there and select restaurant listings; these eateries complement the more low-key cafés and restaurants that feature within the routes and are intended to offer a wider choice for evening dining. Also included here are some nightlife listings, plus a handy language guide and our recommendations for books and films about the destination.

      Getting around the e-book

      In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

      Maps

      All key attractions and sights mentioned in the text are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

      Images

      You’ll find lots of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of the destination. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.

      © 2019 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd

      Table of Contents

      Recommended Routes For...

      Catholic visitors

      Courting couples

      Gourmands

      Jewish Krakow

      Night owls

      The rich and famous

      Shopping

      Something different

      Explore Krakow

      Former capital of Poland

      Cultural, religious hub

      Geography, climate and people

      A city of many sights

      The Planty

      Beyond the Old Town

      Entertainment central

      Fairs and festivals

      Dining out

      The city’s future

      Food and Drink

      Polish specialities

      Snacks and sweets

      International cuisine

      Drinks

      Café culture

      Entertainment

      Theatre and cabaret

      Music and opera

      Jazz

      Nightlife

      Clubbing

      Cinema

      Shopping

      Cloth Hall and the markets

      Shopping streets

      Opening hours

      What to buy

      Clothes and jewellery

      Antiques

      Sweets and vodka

      History: Key Dates

      Early to medieval Krakow

      Renaissance to the Hapsburgs

      20th century to the present

      Main Market Square

      Burghers’ houses and palaces

      St Adalbert’s

      The vaults

      The southern facade

      Town Hall Tower

      Exhibitions

      Museum of the City of Krakow

      The northern facade

      Cloth Hall

      Ground floor

      First-floor gallery

      Rynek Underground

      Adam Mickiewicz Monument

      St Mary’s

      Veit Stoss’s masterpiece

      The trumpeter

      St Barbara’s

      Sacral art

      Chapel

      Skirting the Royal Route

      Small Market Square

      St Thomas the Apostle and the Holy Cross

      Juliusz Słowacki Theatre

      Florian’s Gate

      Piarists’ Church

      Czartoryski Museum

      The Arsenal

      Church of the Sts John

      Wawel

      Wawel Castle

      State Rooms

      Royal Private Apartments

      Treasury and armoury

      Wawel Cathedral

      The interior

      Royal tombs

      The crypt

      Sigismund’s Bell

      Cathedral Museum

      Lost Wawel

      Sandomierska Tower

      Dragon’s Cave

      By the river

      Kazimierz

      Tempel Synagogue

      Beautiful interior

      Ul. Szeroka

      Remuh Synagogue

      Renaissance cemetery

      Old Synagogue

      Museum of the History and Culture of Jews in Krakow

      Two former synagogues

      High Synagogue

      Lunch options

      Isaac Synagogue

      New Square

      Centre for Jewish Culture

      St Catherine’s Church

      Ethnographic Museum

      Church of Corpus Christi

      Galicia Jewish Museum

      New Jewish Cemetery

      National Museum

      National Museum

      Gallery of Decorative Arts

      20th-century Polish Art and Sculpture

      Leonardo da Vinci’s Lady with an Ermine

      Jordan Park

      Ul. Marszałka Piłsudskiego

      Hutten-Czapski Palace

      Two churches

      Historic Colleges and Imposing Churches

      St Anne’s Church

      Collegium Nowodworskiego

      Collegium Maius

      Collegium Maius clock

      Professors’ Dining Room

      Copernicus Room

      Basilica of St Francis

      Tadeusz Popiel Mosaic

      Mehoffer and Wyspiański

      Dominican Church

      Ul. Stolarska

      Two Historic Thoroughfares

      Ul. Grodzka

      Historic facades

      Church of St Peter and St Paul

      Church of St Andrew the Apostle

      Street of the Canons

      Buildings of note

      Archdiocesan Museum

      Church of the Missionary Priests

      Matejko Square

      On the square

      Academy of Fine Arts

      St Florian’s Church

      Around the Square

      House Under the Globe

      Church of the Nuns of the Visitation

      Churches of Eastern Krakow

      St Nicholas’ Church

      Society of Physicians

      Jesuit Church

      Bukowski murals

      Church of the Immaculate Conception

      Botanical Gardens

      Museum

      Marksmen’s Fraternity

      Museums and Galleries

      Jan Matejko Museum

      Matejko’s home

      Museum of Pharmacy

      Cellars

      First floor

      Pod Różą

      Plac Szczepański

      Szołaysky House

      The collection

      Stary Teatr

      Palace of Art

      Arts Bunker

      Józef Mehoffer House

      Period interiors

      Green Krakow

      Northern Planty

      Victims of Communist Provocation

      Barbican

      Water features and monuments

      Western Planty

      Ul. Karmelicka and the Carmelite Church

      Collegium Novum

      Church of the Sacred Heart

      Towards Wawel

      Archaeology Museum

      Wawel’s walls

      Bernardine Monastery

      Eastern Planty

      Natural History Museum

      Church of the Dominican Nuns

      Podgórze: the Jewish Ghetto

      Heroes of the Ghetto Square

      Museum of National Remembrance

      Ghetto wall

      Ul. Limanowskiego

      Schindler’s Factory

      Nowa Huta

      Central square

      Main street

      Ludowy Theatre

      Museum of the Armed Deed

      Arka Pana

      The Steelworks

      Zakopane

      Town Centre

      Tatra Museum

      Two parish churches

      Villa Koliba

      Karol Szymanowski Museum

      Up to Gubałówka

      Funicular and food

      Auschwitz

      Auschwitz I

      ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’

      Wall of Death

      National Memorials

      Gas Chamber

      Auschwitz II-Birkenau

      Wieliczka Salt Mine

      Level one

      Level two

      Level three

      Saltmaster’s Castle

      Accommodation

      Around Main Market Square

      Around Wawel Hill

      Kazimierz

      Around Planty

      Krakow outskirts

      Nowa Huta

      Zakopane

      Restaurants

      Old Town

      Kazimierz

      Krakow outskirts

      Nightlife

      Theatre and cabaret

      Music

      Bars and clubs

      Cinema

      A-Z

      A

      Addresses

      B

      Business hours

      C

      Climate

      Crime and safety

      Customs regulations

      D

      Disabled travellers

      E

      Electricity

      Embassies and consulates

      Consulates (in Krakow)

      Embassies (in Warsaw)

      Emergency numbers

      H

      Health

      I

      Internet

      L

      LGBTQ travellers

      M

      Maps

      Media

      Money

      P

      Post

      Public holidays

      R

      Religion

      T

      Telephones

      Time zones

      Tipping

      Toilets

      Tour operators

      Tourist information

      In Krakow

      Outside of Poland

      Transport

      Arrival

      Airport

      Transport within Krakow

      V

      Visas and passports

      Language

      General

      On arrival

      Emergencies

      Shopping

      Sightseeing

      Dining out

      Days of the week

      Numbers

      Books and Film

      Books

      Fiction

      Holocaust

      Poetry

      Film

      Schindler’s List

      Polish film

      Recommended Routes For...

      Catholic visitors

      Visit John Paul II’s student digs (route 7), the site of his first Mass as a newly qualified priest (route 3), and go to Mass yourself at St Mary’s Church (route 1).

      Gregory Wrona/Apa Publications

      Courting couples

      Moonlit walks around the Planty (route 11) are what romance is all about, while a kiss by Sigismund’s Bell (route 3) is said to guarantee eternal love.

      Alamy

      Gourmands

      Main Market Square (route 1), with its rich variety of restaurants and cafés, is a foodie’s dream, while a number of delicatessens on ul. Floriańska stock a wide range of tasty Polish treats to take home.

      Gregory Wrona/Apa Publications

      Jewish Krakow

      Kazimierz (route 4) was for centuries Krakow’s Jewish heart; the Old Synagogue remains a symbol of the city. Don’t forgo the poignant former ghetto around Plac Bohaterów Getta (route 12), or Auschwitz (route 15).

      Gregory Wrona/Apa Publications

      Night owls

      Main Market Square (route 1) is surrounded on all sides by cafés and bars that stay open late; Kazimierz (route 4) is considered the real home of Krakow nightlife by those in the know, however.

      Gregory Wrona/Apa Publications

      The rich and famous

      Take dinner at Wierzynek (route 1), the city’s most expensive and exquisite restaurant, before going on a spending spree in the boutiques of ul. Grodzka (route 7).

      Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

      Shopping

      The little stores of Wawel Hill (route 3) and the Cloth Hall in Main Market Square (route 1) offer fine local wares, while the huge Galeria Krakowska (route 11) has all your favourite international brands.

      Gregory Wrona/Apa Publications

      Something different

      Make a beeline for the Socialist Realist enclave of Nowa Huta (route 13), or Poland’s oldest salt mine at Wieliczka (route 16).

      Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

      Explore Krakow

      A city where religion and culture have long had the upper hand over trade and commerce, Krakow is in many ways Poland’s soul. Respect for the past keeps it anchored firmly in tradition, while its thousands of students keep it young.

      Wawel Castle in deepest winter

      Dreamstime

      At once both a centre of European Catholicism and Jewry, Krakow is nothing if not one giant contradiction. At its heart is the only medieval town centre of Poland’s major cities to survive the horrors of the 20th century, yet Krakow is nevertheless a forward-thinking and outward-looking city. A Unesco World Heritage city, it records nearly 13 million visitors each year – at times it can feel as if they’re all clustered on Wawel Hill, but in reality the city is large enough to contain everyone, with plenty of green space affording relief, particularly in the height of summer.

      With the recently improved transport connections, Krakow is as good a base as any to explore the rest of southern Poland, and a number of places are accessible on easy day trips: the mountain resort of Zakopane, the former Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz, the Wieliczka Salt Mine and the Socialist-Realist ‘new town’ of Nowa Huta. Slightly further afield are no fewer than six national parks, the industrial city of Katowice and Krakow’s former rival, Tarnów, which has its own charm.

      Former capital of Poland

      The name Krakow comes from Prince Krak, or Grakh, ruler of the Lechici, a Western Slavic people who inhabited the Lesser Poland (Małopolska) region towards the end of the 7th century, and who is credited in some quarters as founding the city. It is, however, generally believed Krakow was founded in about AD 950 by merchants using it as a staging post on the Amber Road from the Baltic to the Adriatic. Amber, most European of gemstones, remains a must-buy souvenir on any trip to the city, yet while the stone has been crucial to the city’s development, it was the more prosaic commodity salt (mined at nearby Wieliczka since the early 11th century) that first made Krakow rich.

      Royal approval arrived a century or so later, in 1038, when Wawel Hill and its cathedral became the official residence of Polish kings. Kazimierz the Restorer moved the capital here from Gniezno shortly after. It would remain the seat of power in Poland – and the region – until the 16th century, and though since then Warsaw has claimed political primacy, Krakow remains the cultural and religious heart of Poland.

      The wonderfully preserved Main Market Square

      Dreamstime

      Cultural, religious hub

      The country’s oldest university is in Krakow – the Jagiellonian University, founded in 1364. In 1533 the Dominicans staged Poland’s first play here, and about two and a half centuries later the country’s first permanent theatre, the Stary, was built. In the late 19th century the Stary, and Krakow, were major players in the development of the Młoda Polska (Young Poland) movement of artists, architects, poets and dramatists, whose adaption of Art Nouveau, or Secession, styles became synonymous with the city. More recently, Krakow was one of the European Capitals of Culture chosen for the 2000 millennium.

      As the city from which Karol Wojtyła (born in 1920 in Wadowice, 40km/25 miles southwest of Krakow) became Pope John Paul II in 1978, Krakow has since become a centre of Roman Catholic pilgrimage as important – to many Poles at least – as the Vatican itself. To the many Jews who visit, Krakow is an important place of remembrance: the wartime ghetto the Nazis established was one of Europe’s largest, though the horrors of life within its walls pale into insignificance when the nearby site of Auschwitz is visited.

      The Secession

      The Secession was an influential movement in art and architecture, which from the late 1890s until the early 1920s had a profound and lasting impact on all territories of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. Regarded as the Viennese branch of the contemporaneous Parisian Art Nouveau movement, Secessionism represented a return to the notion of art for art’s sake after the realism, linearity and functionalism of the neoclassical movement. Originating in Vienna in 1897, the Secession spread quickly to Budapest, Bratislava and to Krakow, where it manifested itself primarily in the decorative architecture of the old city centre, and in Kazimierz. The Young Poland movement, led by Stanisław Wyspiański (for more information, click here), was very much influenced by the Secession.

      Icons for sale

      Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

      Geography, climate and people

      Krakow sits more than 200m (700ft) above sea level at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains, and the larger city is split in two by the Wisła (Vistula), though the areas that tourists visit are neatly encircled by the river. A city of extreme weather, Krakow can be covered in snow for two or three months of the year (December to February), yet in July and August temperatures often climb to over 30°C (86°F). Dress and plan your activities accordingly, and note that downpours are a frequent menace, even on the warmest days.

      Home to some 763,000 people, Krakow is Poland’s second-largest city. Nowadays, almost all of its inhabitants are Poles. Until 1941 and the

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