Krakow
Poland
Poland’s best-preserved old town, and very good value
Photo by Kevin Perez Camacho on Unsplash
Photos by Jacek Dylag, Nomadic Julien, Ostap Senyuk and Jacob Fryer on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Poland
May to June, September to October
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 94mm in Jun
Where it is
50.06°N, 19.94°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Several days- Walk the Main Market Square and Cloth Hall
- Tour Wawel Castle and cathedral
- Explore Kazimierz and its synagogues
- Descend into the Wieliczka Salt Mine
- Eat at a traditional milk bar
- Visit Schindler’s Factory museum
Krakow travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Poland
Very cheapPoland uses the złoty, not the euro. Kantor exchange offices give good rates — much better than banks or airports — but compare a couple and avoid ones right on the Main Square.
ATMs & cards
PKO Bank Polski, mBank and Santander machines are reliable. Avoid Euronet, which is everywhere in the old town. Always decline the ATM’s conversion offer.
Avoid these
- Euronet
- Planet Cash
- machines on the Main Market Square
Use these instead
- PKO Bank Polski
- Pekao
- mBank
- Santander Polska
Euronet is the default machine in the old town and consistently the worst rate.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Poland
Very safeVery safe. Be aware that Auschwitz-Birkenau requires booking well in advance and is an emotionally heavy full-day trip — plan it deliberately, not as a casual add-on.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (5 areas)
Worth more attention
- Kraków Główny — the main station and the bus station at night
- Unmetered taxis outside the Old Town
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Poland visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Poland
Good and affordableRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
- Tick-borne encephalitis for forest areas in the east and north-east
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment. Private clinics are inexpensive and much faster than the public queue for anything non-urgent.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodMilk bars (bar mleczny) are subsidised canteens serving pierogi and soup for a few euros — the best value meal in Europe. Zapiekanka from Plac Nowy is the late-night staple.
Nightlife
A hundred-odd bars in one medieval square and the streets off it, plus Kazimierz, which is better.
- Kazimierz — the old Jewish quarter, and the best bars
- Plac Nowy — the square Kazimierz drinks in
- Rynek Główny — the cellars under the main square
Closing: 03:00 or later; Kazimierz does not really stop at the weekend.
A beer in a bar: 12–20 PLN
Vodka is the local drink and is ordered by the 50ml glass, cold, with food.
Getting around
Easy- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- FREE NOWWorks here
- From the airport
- Kraków airport to the old town 50–70 zł; Warsaw Chopin to the centre 40–60 zł
- Against a taxi
- Cheaper than a street taxi, and far cheaper than one waiting outside a station.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Warsaw — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Poland
What these numbers mean
Home broadband — Fast. Several people on calls at once, large uploads, 4K. Broadband here runs at 1.8× the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Fast. Enough to work from a cafe or a beach on a hotspot all day. Mobile runs at 1.7× the global median of 109 Mbps.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Poland, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Polish
- HelloDzień dobryjen DOH-bri
- PleaseProszęPRO-sheh
- Thank youDziękujęjen-KOO-yeh
- Yes / NoTak / Nietak / nyeh
4 more phrases
- Excuse mePrzepraszampsheh-PRA-sham
- How much is it?Ile to kosztuje?EE-leh to kosh-TOO-yeh
- The bill, pleaseRachunek, proszęra-HOO-nek
- Cheers!Na zdrowie!na ZDRO-vyeh
Religion
Catholic
One of the most observant countries in Europe, and it shows: churches are full, roadside shrines are everywhere, and religious holidays close everything. Dress modestly in churches.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Say dzień dobry on entering shops
- Accept hospitality — refusing food or vodka repeatedly can offend
- Give flowers in odd numbers, and never chrysanthemums, which are for graves
- Dress respectfully at churches and memorial sites
Don't
- Do not say "Polish concentration camps" — they were German camps in occupied Poland, and the phrasing causes real offence
- Do not treat Auschwitz-Birkenau as a sightseeing stop; dress and behave as at a cemetery
- Do not mix vodka or drink it slowly in company; it is taken neat and together
- Do not be loud in churches, which remain in active use
Where to stay in Krakow
No Holistay rentals in Krakow yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Krakow on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into John Paul II KRK
20 minfrom the airport· 11 km as the crow flies
Train to Kraków Główny, 20 min.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
