Krakow

In 2013, we and a group of friends decided to take advantage of cheap flights to Krakow and visit it over an extended weekend.

It was a great decision. Krakow is simply a stunning city which still retains its ancient identity. The main town square of 10 square acres is the largest in any of Europe’s medieval cities. It’s great to just wander around and have a coffee in 1 of the many cafes or explore the market in the middle.

Fire Breathing Dragon, on the river bank

Another favourite activity is free to walk around the city wall – it’s free, too! You can visit the castle overlooking the river and with a fire breathing dragon on the shore, why wouldn’t you? Yes, that’s right, it actually breathes fire for free.

Where we stayed

We stayed 4 nights at the Radisson Blu Hotel near the centre of town on the 4th floor facing into the courtyard.

Our taxi from the airport cost us 85 ZLTP for 4 people.

Our room was fine aside from some minor points. It has a comfortable bed, warm shower, but the pressure is a bit low for me. My wife would have preferred a bath, if you want that avoid room 422.

Weird lighting problem in the hallway – if you turned off the bedside light the hall light came on and vice versa. After 2 days of trying to get it fixed, the management gave up and just took out the bulb in the hallway!

Rooms do get warm but you can always turn off the heating or open the window.

We chose not to have breakfast at the hotel, it was expensive and within a few minutes walk you are spoilt for choice at a 3rd of the price.

Staff are excellent and service in the bar is great.

I enjoyed our stay and would stay at the hotel again.

What to do around the hotel…

There is so much to do in and around Krakow. The food and drink is excellent, plus it’s quite reasonably priced. I would, also, suggest seeing some live music – they are excellent musicians!

It’s around a 5-10 minute walk to either the castle or square. There is a park outside the front of the hotel which follows around the centre of the city and back again. It’s a lovely walk and takes about an hour but expect longer if you stop to look at the sights such as the fire breathing dragon outside the castle.

Visit the castle, walk around the old city wall, the nearby salt mines and the depressing Auschwitz.