I'm a regular ppruner but doing this on the QT under an alias as you never know who might be reading in....
I'm surpising SWMBO for our 5yr anniversary with a long weekend in July this year to Krakow. The hotel (apartment in fact) is booked, located nearish the railway station, north end of old town, flights are organised thanks to EZ.
My questions are generic really, but one night would like to have a 'special' meal, but not in a touristy hotspot. I would really like to have something that is authentic, unusual and of course good. budget is not unlimited, but don't want to spend silly money...
Also what to do, where to go, etcetera. Auschwitz concentration camp is definitely on the cards and looking into the best way of going there and being guided - don't really want to be part and parcel of a large jabbering party.
Most of the touristy things will be taken in also - can't wait to see the main square in the old town, but would be grateful for any further suggestions or advice. We're both pretty travel savvy, but neither of us have been to Krakow before.
and if you scroll down offers a list of the main attractions.
The Dorling Kindersley book on Krakow is well worth purchasing. Apart from the main city square the royal castle on Wawel Hill is a must ( absolutely beautiful) In addition ther is a walk you can do which goes to various buildings and museusm associated with John Paul II when he was Bishop or archbishop
Krakow is a wonderful place just to wander around as the old city centre is quite compact and it is fun just ot wander along the old streets and admire the buildings.
I have heard mentioned that you sholud not plan on " fun" activities after a visit to Auschwitz as it can be a depressing experience ( I did not go as I did not ha ve that much time).
The taxi from the airport to the sheraton was about £10 IIRC.
I had dinner in the hotel ( quite cheap ) so cannot offer any advice on good restaurants, sorry.
I have just come back from a few days in Poland and did Krakow, surrounding areas & Auschwitz.
The salt mines just outside Krakow arent worth it IMHO unless you like looking at models of little gnomes working!
Krakow main square is lovely just to sit and watch the world go by and the places to eat there were all pretty reasonable.
The coach tours from Krakow dont give you very long to appreciate the horrors that happened at the Auschwitz and Auschwitz-Birkenau. Try and get a taxi to take you down and then you can spend as long as you need. Regardless of what tour you decide to take, chances are you will actually spend longer at the Birkenau camp than the majority of the people sent there!! It is something that words can never do justice, it has to be seen to understand the scale and enormity of what went on.
Enjoy is the wrong thing to say when visiting the camps but enjoy Krakow and the rest of your time
Krakow is indeed a beautiful city. As mentioned before, plan the trip to the Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz carefully, as it is truley a sad, eye-opening experience that will likely leave a lasting impression, and give you an up close and personal idea of what actually had happened there.
Krakow is filled with historic, old architecture. If you pick up a Krakow travel brochure most of the main points of interest should be on it.
Wawel castle is absolutley stunning, as is St. Mary's Basilica built in the 14th century, as are the old Sukiennice (considered worlds oldest shopping mall) in the town center dating back to the 15th century, etc. etc. The Wieliczka salt mine is also impressive, operating from the 13th century till 2007 was one of the oldest salt mines operating in the world, with a salt mine in the city of Bochnia in Poland being the oldest. You can check out some pictures and info on it online. Krakow by night is beautiful as well, nothing like taking a walk along the Wisla river with your wife in the evening under the Wawel castle, and having a seat on one of the many benches in the area. Or having an evening drink and dinner in the old town center in the various beer gardens/restaurants there. Plenty of things to do.
Plenty of bars and restaurants around every corner in every alley, so dont skip past those because there are plenty there. I usually went to the cheaper ones so I don't know too many fancy places. But "Wierzynek" I believe is one of the fanciest, most expensive ones in the old town center. Located on the right if your heading towards Grodzka street, just as your leaving the main square.
Enjoy your time in Krakow!! I am very jealous of your trip.
http://www.cracow-life.com is a site you may want to look at as well, lots of good info, and has probably many answers to the questions you have.
Thank you for all your replies - they are helpful and informative.
I'm still looking for a wonderful restaurant to take her for the special meal though...
I've realised that in my original post, the funds comment read somewhat badly. I meant to say that I do have a fairly generous budget for the meal, but don't want to be caught in a tourist trap, eat food that is not of the area, etcetera. It would be fantastic if I could find a place that is atmospheric, interesting, great local food, good wine and a helpful maitre'd - to be fair, one does have to ask if such places exist anywhere on this planet though?!
I did look into the salt mines but thought as it was so far away... well, we'll only be there for four days and didn't want to spend the whole time bussing around and having to rush for various appointments and meetings (get quite enough of that in our 'real' lives thank you very much! ). I'm hoping that it will be a relaxing 'time out' for us which means just soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the walking and a drink or two, and out of the two major trips on offer, the campsites won by miles. I fully realise that they will be provocative and atmospheric....
Still enjoying doing all the research. I have close friends who have been there and know the city well who have been extremely helpful, but thought that I would take the opportunity of the bottomless well of information that can be harvested from PPRuNers!
as I'm from Poland (Warsaw, unfortunately, but been to KRK many times) I'll try to give U some hints
First try to google Wierzynek if your wallet is really fat - this is one of the oldest restaurants in Poland (!), and VERY FANCY !!! Or Da Pietro which is Italian but nice interiors (also not a cheap one). Generally look at main sq. or in the surroundings cause there are plenty of nice (anniversary) restaruants.
I give U a link to page which is in polish - but I've already set it to show places "for dates" only http://www.glebiasmaku.pl/0,0,3,0,0,,0,restauracje.html - so try to use it, just click any name, and there U'll find a direct link to the restaurant... I didn't find any as good as this one web sites in english, here U have a huge choice.
Happy anniversary
P.S. the number of paprikas next to places shows the quality - i guess - not the spicyness
Oh, and about the sites - go to Nowa Huta - with a guide (http://www.crazyguides.com/) or without to see the monuments of communism... the city was built specially for factory workers and in a special urban plan
Billy Excellent place to visit anytime and enjoy nice romantic meal. Try this yahoo site. It lists restaurants by category of neighborhood, type of cuisine, atmosphere etc. It also gives you the price range per person (in US $) so you know what to expect. You might want to check reviews of the restaurants patrons. The site provides maps to each place which is nice.
I truly would recommend “Polskie Jadlo” (“Polish Grub”) on Sw. Jana 30 street or Ariel on Szeroka 18 street. Offers you typical Polish food.
Have fun and make sure you both shall stroll the streets or sit by Sukiennice (Old Cloth Market) where you have a full vew of Kosciol Mariacki (St. Mary’s Church). Everyday on an hour, atop of which you can see a guy playing trumpet in 4 directions of the world. It is called “hejnal” (Hymn). A bit of interesting story of it here:
Hi Billy would also recommend Polskie Jadlo , at Jana 30 street.We had excellent selection of Polish dishes here (the waiter described it as a " farmers basket" ) ,washed down with some local beers and tasty vodkas. We organized a tour to Auschwitz through our hotel -(we were picked up and returned by coach).Whilst touring the camps we had an English speaking guide ,who had all the facts and figures of what went on during this period . Krakow is an excellent city , grab a table at one of the cafe/bars on the main square and watch the world go by.
As in a previous post www.cracow-life is a good source for info ,we pre-booked a taxi pick-up from the airport to our hotel. Enjoy and a happy anniversary.
and have decided that we'll use these guys for a tour on our first 'whole' day there - particulalry like the look of the deluxe tour : http://www.crazyguides.com/ hope they answer my queries soon though....
I have bookmarked Polskie Jadlo for another evening - it looks wonderful!
This is going to be a good weekend....
Still open to offers etc - have decided that we'll probably hire our own guide for the camp as would prefer to do it at our own pace rather than the pace of a hundred camera waving japenese or their ilk... . . . . . . Jetsy - further thanks for your kind pm's.
A wonderful place just to wander, stop for coffee, cake etc. Lots of good eating places. As well as your anniversary meal try just popping into one of the small bars in the side streets off the square for really good simple food. Some of the bars are in cellars, good music. Not really into churches but other half is. remembering that people may be at prayer just pop in to some of them for a look - very impressive. Instead of coffee try a hot chocolate, dark but sweet and lovely with a liqeur in it.
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). I'm hoping that it will be a relaxing 'time out' for us which means just soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the walking and a drink or two, and out of the two major trips on offer, the campsites won by miles. I fully realise that they will be provocative and atmospheric.... 
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