Things to do in Poland
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Auschwitz
Established within disused army barracks in 1940, Auschwitz was initially designed to hold Polish prisoners, but was expanded into the largest centre for the extermination of European Jews. Two more camps were subsequently established: Birkenau and Monowitz. In the course of their operation, between one and 1.5 million people were killed.
Auschwitz was only partially destroyed by the fleeing Nazis, so many of the original buildings remain as a bleak document of the camp's history. A dozen of the 30 surviving prison blocks house sections of the State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The cinema in the visitors centre shows a short documentary film about the liberation of the camp…
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Salt Mine
Just outside the administrative boundaries of Kraków, some 14km southeast of the city centre, Wieliczka (vyeh- leech -kah) is famous for its ultra-deep Salt Mine, which has been in continuous operation for 700 years and can be visited. It’s an eerie world of pits and chambers, and everything has been carved by hand from salt blocks. The mine was included on Unesco’s World Heritage List in 1978.
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Chłopskie Jadło
Old Town (012 429 5157; ul Św Jana 3) This place, a short walk south of Wawel, looks like a rustic country inn somewhere at the crossroads in medieval Poland, and serves up traditional Polish ‘peasant grub’ (as its name says). Live folk music is performed here on Friday and Saturday, and seating in antique sleighs adds to the rustic atmosphere. We love the żurek (sour rye) soup in a bread loaf.
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Gruzińskie Chaczapuri
Gruzińskie Chaczapuri ul Floriańska (ul Floriańska 26) ul Grodzka (ul Grodzka 3) If you have a hankering for something a little different, this cheap and cheerful chain of Georgian restaurants with five branches in Kraków serves up grills, salads and steaks and, the house speciality: cheese pie.
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Monastery of Jasna Góra
Impressive though it is, the exterior of Monastery of Jasna Góra gives little indication of the grandeur layered behind its walls. Exploring this functioning monastery gives a fascinating insight into its history, and a deep appreciation for its present day relevance. Arrive early and take your time.
You are free to wander around the complex at your own leisure (crowds permitting). Audio guides are available for four routes; the most important covers the main sanctuary and takes 45 minutes.
In the oldest part of the complex, the Chapel of Our Lady (Kaplica Cudownego Obrazu) contains the revered Black Madonna.The picture is ceremoniously unveiled at 06:00 and 13:30 (14:00 …
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Kazimierz
Today one of Kraków's inner suburbs and located within walking distance south of Wawel and the Old Town, Kazimierz was for a long time an independent town with its own municipal charter and laws. Its colourful history was determined by its mixed Jewish-Polish population, and though the ethnic structure is now wholly different, the architecture gives a good picture of its past, with clearly distinguishable sectors of what were Christian and Jewish quarters.
The suburb is home to many important tourist sights, including churches, synagogues and museums. The western part of Kazimierz was traditionally Catholic, and although many Jews settled here from the early 19th century…
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Cathedral of Ss John the Baptist & John the Evangelist
Of the historical buildings outside the museum’s administration, the largest and most impressive is the giant Gothic Cathedral of SS John the Baptist & John the Evangelist. Work started around 1260 and was only completed at the end of the 15th century, by which time the church dominated the town’s skyline, as it still does today. Its massive tower houses Poland’s second-largest historic bell (after the one in the Wawel Royal Cathedral of Kraków), the Tuba Dei (God’s Trumpet). Cast in 1530, it weighs 7238kg and is rung for significant religious and national events. On the southern side of the tower, facing the Vistula, is a large 15th-century clock; its original face and…
reviewed
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Former Jewish Ghetto
Before WWII, much of Warsaw's thriving Jewish community lived in Mirów and Muranów, two districts to the west of Al Jana Pawła II. It was here that the Nazis created the Warsaw Ghetto in 1940, which was razed after the 1943 Ghetto Uprising. Today the area is characterised by cheap, communist-era apartment buildings, but a few remnants of Jewish Warsaw still survive in the former Jewish Ghetto. It is a large area to cover on foot, but fortunately the main sights are clustered together in the northern part.
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Ul Próżna
Ul Próżna, a short street leading off Plac Grzybowski, opposite the Teatr Żydowski (the Jewish Theatre), is an eerie and incongruous survivor of WWII. Its crumbling, unrestored redbrick façades, the ornamental stucco long since ripped away by bomb blasts, are still pockmarked with bullet and shrapnel scars. A few blocks to the south, in the courtyard of an apartment building at ul Sienna 55, stands one of the few surviving fragments of the redbrick wall that once surrounded the Warsaw Ghetto.
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Ruins of the Castle
History buffs should take the opportunity to check out the remnants of the town's original medieval fortifications. To the east, in a triangle squeezed between the Old and New Towns, are the Ruins of the Castle, built by the Teutonic Knights. It was destroyed by the town's inhabitants in 1454 as a protest against the order's economic restrictions (they must have been really ticked off - those Teutonic castles were solidly built).
reviewed
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Gardzienice Theatre's Ticket Office
Founded in 1977, 28km southeast of Lublin, Gardzienice Theatre is renowned in artistic circles for energetic, heady performances. Under the guidance of artistic director and founder Wlodzimierz Staniewski, dramatic montages derive inspiration from gatherings with indigenous communities throughout and beyond Poland. Check whether they are in town at the ticket office.
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St Mary's Church
Rising over the northeastern corner of Rynek Główny, St Mary's is Kraków's most important church, after Wawel Cathedral. The original church, built in the 1220s, was destroyed during the Tatar raids, and the edifice you see today is a 15th-century creation. From the outside, the most striking feature of the church is its two towers, of unequal height.
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With Fire & Sword
Named after the historical novel by Henry Sienkiewicz, this dark, atmospheric restaurant re-creates the Poland of yesteryear. The wood interior is made even more rustic with animal pelts and a roaring fire. The menu features well-researched old-time recipes, such as the succulent roasted pig that comes stuffed with fruit.
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Parish Church
The Parish Church was originally built for the Jesuits by architects from Italy. After more than 80 years of work (1651–1732), an impressive baroque church was created, with an ornamented façade and a lofty interior supported on massive columns and crammed with monumental altars.
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Singer Café
Louche hang-out of choice among the Kazimierz cognoscenti, this bar pays tribute to the sewing machine that was once produced here. By day, it's an atmospheric, antique-filled cafe, where patrons sit at sewing machines and sip cappuccinos. By night, they turn up the music and the place hums until dawn.
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Kuranty
The menu is firmly based on the three Ps: pizza, pasta and pierogi (including a rather tasty baked version which looks suspiciously like the Italian calzone). Random photos and extraordinary Art Nouveau lights add to the atmosphere. Be warned: sports-playing TVs hang off the walls.
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Hiking
Gorlice sits at the foot of the mountains and is excellent starting point for hiking into the Beskid Niski. Two marked trails, blue and green, start near the tourist office and wend southeast from the town up the mountains, joining the main west-east red trail that crosses the range.
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Jama Michalika
Established in 1895, Jama Michalika is famous as the birthplace of the Młoda Polska movement - a hang-out for writers, painters and other creative types in the days of yore. The grand Art Nouveau interior has historic appeal, but the bored staff do not offer much in the here and now.
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Church of St John of Jerusalem
One of the oldest brick churches in the country, this late-12th-century building was extended in the Gothic period and later acquired a baroque chapel. The interior contains beautiful Gothic star vaults, and the Romanesque doorway in the main western entrance is magnificent.
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Cafe Blikle
The mere fact that Blikle has survived two world wars and the pressure of communism makes it a household name. But what makes this legendary café truly famous is its donuts, for which people have been queuing up for generations. Join the back of the line and find out why.
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Bagel Mama
How clever of someone to think of selling bagels in the Jewish quarter. Whether you are a bagel traditionalist (lox and cream cheese) or a bagel innovator (warm brie and tomato), you'll find something you like. For some reason, there are also burritos on the menu.
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Green Way
Folksy blue-and-yellow space serving vegetarian and organic dishes ranging from soy cutlets to Mexican goulash. As the ultimate accolade, even nonveggies come to eat here. There’s another, more central, branch at ul Długa 11.
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Weigh House
The Weigh House is a postwar replica of the 16th-century building designed by Quadro, which was dismantled in the 19th century. South of it are two discordant postwar structures on the site of the old arsenal and cloth hall.
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Karczma Zbójecka
An attractive basement eatery, this place offers regional dishes and meats grilled on a huge wood-burning rotisserie. There’s always a buzzy atmosphere and decent local folk music on some evenings.
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International School of Polish Language & Culture
A private school that gets good reports is the International School of Polish Language & Culture, with courses lasting one/two weeks (25/50 hours) costing €170/260.
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