Cracow Sightseeing

Cracow is very easy to navigate on foot as most of the main sights are located within Planty - a leafy park that forms a green belt around the historic centre or Stare Miasto (Old Town). The epicentre of tourist Cracow is the Rynek Glowny (Main Market Square), one of Europe's largest and most impressive public spaces, which is overrun by tourists during the high season. Relaxing in a pavement cafe here is a good way to get acquainted with the city.

Away from the main square, busy Grodzka leads towards Wzgorze Wawelskie (Wawel Hill), from where Cracow's castle overlooks the city. It was here that the Polish kings ruled from the 14th to the late-16th centuries and there is enough to occupy you for at least a full day, including the Castle itself, the Royal Chambers (or State Rooms), Crown Treasury and Armoury and Wawel Cathedral with its Royal Tombs in the crypt.

A 10-minute walk south from Wawel is the district of Kazimierz, where the city's sizeable Jewish population prospered before the Nazis arrived. There is little of sightseeing merit on the right bank of the sleepy Wisla River (Vistula River) farther south, apart from what's left of the old wartime Jewish ghetto of Podgorze, an area that has received an ever-growing number of visitors following the release of the film Schindler's List in 1993.

Cracow Tourist Information Centre
ulica Szpitalna 25 (kiosk on Planty)
Tel: (012) 432 0110.
Website: www.krakow.pl and www.karnet.krakow.pl

There is also a tourist information centre in the Town Hall Tower on the Main Market Square (tel: (012) 433 7310) and one on ulica Jozefa 7 (tel: (012) 422 0471) covering the Kazimierz district. Orbis Travel, Rynek Glowny 41 (tel: (012) 619 2459; www.orbis.pl), also offers information and tours.

The Malopolska Tourist Information Centre
Rynek Glowny 1/3 (Cloth Hall)
Tel: (012) 421 7706.
Website: www.mcit.pl

The Krakow Card (www.krakowcard.com) is available for two or three days and entitles the holder to free travel on public transport (including bus 192 to the airport), free entry to 32 museums (not including those on Wawel Hill) and discounts on organised tours and at certain restaurants.