Are you going to spend 3 days in Krakow? We offer You a professional assistance in planning your stay in our city. Let us make it a great and memorable adventure! We present some piece of advice from experienced, licensed Krakow guides. Lets discover Krakow in 3 days!
Krakow in 3 days is not much time, but with a perfect organization you can really see a lot! We offer a Krakow 3-day tour plan. The main points are:
- Old Town and Wawel Hill
- Kazimierz, Podgórze, Zabłocie
- Something special
Let’s move on to discuss the details!
Day 1: The Old Town and Wawel Hill
We start from the very center of Krakow. On the first day you can see the place where more than 1,000 more years ago the city was born. The optimal solution seems to walk the Royal Route to the Wawel Castle or overcome this route in the opposite direction – from Wawel Castle to the St. Florian’s Church at Kleparz. The second solution is more reasonable, because we start our tour from the Wawel Hill, the place of the earliest settlement in Krakow area.
Wawel Hill – you have to decide, what exactly among the numerous attractions and wonders that the Cathedral and Wawel Castle offer, you want to see. Basic sightseeing program includes the entrance to the Cathedral and walk through the arcaded courtyard of the Castle. All these attractions are for free. But a ticket allowing to visit all the places in the Cathedral (including the crypts and the tower with the famous Zygmunt Bell) is certainly worth buying. We also recommend you choosing any of museum exhibitions in Wawel Castle. Reading the itinerary of our Wawel Hill tour and our article dedicated to Wawel sightseeing probably will be helpful. Always remember of booking the entrance tickets!
Kanonicza and Grodzka Streets – Kanonicza Street (once inhabited by Cathedral canons) has amazing Gothic and Renaissance houses with old walls, portals, windows, ceilings etc. What is more, there are two museums presenting the magnificent monuments of sacred art – Archdiocesan Museum (in the buildings where John Paul II lived for 10 years) and the department of National Museum in Krakow in the Palace of Bishop Erasmus Ciolek. Fans of ancient art should consider a visit to the nearby Archeological Museum with fantastic exhibition of settlement in prehistoric Lesser Poland. In Grodzka Street (passage from Kanonicza through Mary Magdalen Square), we recommend visiting the Romanesque St. Andrew church and magnificent church of SS. Peter and Paul, the first baroque temple in Krakow.
All Saints Square – we encourage you to visit two great basilicas – the Dominicans and the Franciscans churches, whose interiors hide many wonders (read more about them in our texts on Krakowpedia and routes descriptions). In front of the Franciscans Basilica (decorated with magnificent stained glass windows by Stanislaw Wyspiański) is the Bishop’s Palace with the famous papal window.
University Quarter – a worth seeing place on the way to the Market Square is the University District. Enter the courtyard of Collegium Maius the oldest building of the Jagiellonian University – and, if it possible, look at the University church of St. Anne, one of the most beautiful Baroque churches in the city.
Market Square – at the Market look at former Town Hall Tower, St. Mary’s Church with its famous altar carved by master Veit Stoss and the Cloth Hall. We encourage you to visit two museums located at the market square – Polish Paintings Gallery in the Cloth Hall and the Underground Market.
Florian’s Gate and the Barbican – tour ends with a beautiful walk along the Florianska Street and passing through the gate of the same name to the famous Krakow Barbican. To see all the Royal Route go also to the nearby Matejko Square with beautiful church of St. Florian, a place where once burghers greeted Polish kings returning to the city.
To get better the monuments located on this route read our other entries: “Royal Route”, “Wawel Hill,” “University quartier” and numerous tips on how to explore the Castle and various objects in the Old Town, which have been published so far on the Krakowpedia!
Day 2: Kazimierz, Podgorze and Zablocie
Second day considers exploring on the one hand great monuments of Kazimierz district, and on the other knowing better everyday life of Krakow’s Jews during World War II.
Pauline Monastery and the Church “On The Rock” – our tour starts on the Vistula riverbank (of course, as in the previous route, this can be done in both ways as well, depending on how it is convenient to you). We encourage you to visit the magnificent, Baroque church and walk through the monastery garden. Do not forget to drink “holy” water from St. Stanislaus pool and visit the Crypt of the Meritorious Poles!
St. Catherine and Corpus Christi churches – there are two stunning, Gothic basilicas build by the king Casimir the Great in our itinerary. Among them you will see a part of the former city market square with the town hall – a picturesque Wolnica Square.
Jewish quarter – walk through wonderful, picturesque streets of the Jewish quarter and admire the seven synagogues built in the period from the 15th to the 19th century. Stay for a while in Szeroka Street and visit the Old Synagogue (the oldest synagogue in Kazimierz) with an excellent exhibition dedicated to Jewish culture and religion.
Podgorze: Market Square, Krak Mound and Ghetto Heroes Square – from Kazimierz you can easily get to the Podgorze district, eg. walking across the Bernatka Footbridge. It is good to start sightseeing from the Podgorski Market with huge, Neo-Gothic St. Joseph church, then go through the Bednarski Park and Lasota Hill to the Mound of Krak, legendary ruler of the city. Here you will be welcomed by a great view of Krakow, worth this little effort that you have spent on climbing. Visit to the ancient mound introduces us to the matter of … World War II, because we can see the “Lebanon Quarry”, which has a very creepy, war history. During the Nazi Occupation, quarry functioned as a forced labor camp also for Plaszow Concentration Camp prisoners (Steven Spielberg shoot here his “Schindler’s list”). Going back to the Podgorze, the last stop is in the Ghetto Heroes Square, an important memorial place dedicated to victims of Krakow Ghetto liquidation. You can also visit the Under the Eagle Pharmacy, whose owner Józef Pankiewicz and his employers helped Jews, imprisoned behind the Ghetto walls.
‘Emalia’ Oscar Schindler’s Factory– we finish the second day of our tour with a visit to one of the most interesting museums in Krakow located in a former enamel factory, run by Oscar Schindler (walking through all the ‘Krakow under Nazi Occupation 1939-1945’ exhibition takes approx. 3 hours).
If you want to know more about the objects on the route, read a description of our ‘Kazimierz – Jewish district’ tour and texts on Krakowpedia.
Day 3 – special attractions – Krakow in 3 days!
During the first two days of sightseeing, routes includes so-called “obligatory points” (especially when you are in Krakow for the first time), but the list of beautiful and important places in the city and the surrounding area is much more longer! Then we propose you to spend your third day of sightseeing on an expedition that specifically reflect your tastes and interests. We have a few suggestions to choose from!
Long trip – we encourage you to go around Krakow, where you will be delighted by the magnificent scenery and unusual sights. Particularly recommendable are in our opinion: Ojców National Park, Wieliczka Salt Mine, the Benedictine Abbey in Tyniec or the slightly more distant Kalwaria Zebrzydowska. Consider also your visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum.
Nowa Huta – a good idea to spend a third day in Krakow is exploring Nowa Huta. Read the entry of the “Nowa Huta” route, and you will see that there is a huge number of remarkable objects which can provide incredible emotions.
Churches and Sanctuaries – if you are interested in the religious life of Krakow or in sacred art visit famous sanctuaries, like the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy in Łagiewniki or places associate with John Paul II.
Museums – try to visit other interesting exhibitions from a huge Krakow museum offer. Aviation Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art “MOCAK”, Matejko House, Main Building of the National Museum – this are only a few suggestions.
Recreation – finally something for your bodies, recommended for those who like walking tours. It is really good to consider, especially if you are visiting Krakow with kids. A great idea to spend some time in far from the city is a trip to Wolski Forest combined with a climbing to the Pilsudski Mound and visit to the Krakow Zoo. Then you can walk to Bielany, where at the Silver Mountain stands the magnificent Camaldolese Monastery.
As you can see, a 3 day trip to Krakow gives you a possibility to enjoy many attractions. Our plan is recommended for both, individual tourists and groups. In the implementation of each of the points can help you a professional guide from Krakow Guide. It is a comfortable solution worth considering!
