KRAKOW VISITOR GUIDE

With family and friends now arriving in Krakow ahead of race-day-one tomorrow, there's one more blog to share (or I should say travelog). This one brought to you by New Zealand's own canoe slalom Krakovite (well nearly) and 2021 J&U23 WC Chair, Agnieszka Grudzinska.

For all the visitors, here's Agnieszka's top tips for exploring Krakow:

"Here are some suggestions of how to amuse yourselves in Krakow (not an exhaustive list, by any means). A note: ul. is just an abbreviation for street (st.); it's put in front of the street name, same deal with pl. which mean square; the number come last. Although I dare say google will help you find everything without such insights. Have fun! Agnieszka"

Centre of Town – lots to see and experience just strolling around.

• Main Square – Bazylika Mariacka (main church) – definitely worth a visit inside, but need to get a ticket in the first half of the day, I'd recommend including the climb of the tower to enjoy the view and to experience, first hand, the unique ‘hejnal mariacki’ (trumpet announcement of the hour, quite an ancient and quirky history there…).
• Main Square – City Museum (underground – an interesting perspective on medieval life and identity in Europe, pre-nation states of the last 500 years +) need to reserve tickets, at least a day in advance.
• Wavel Castle– just a walk around can be fun, and to get into the Cathedral is usually possible without pre-booking, but if you want to see some of the key inside areas such as the State Rooms, Royal Private Apartments or Treasury & Armoury, you’d need to get the tickets, in advance.
• Krakow is full of culinary delights but the scene is pretty dynamic, with stars raising and falling constantly, so I’ll confine myself to just a couple of tried and true restaurants featuring Polish cuisine:
• Miod Malina ul. Grodzka 40
• Kogel Mogel ul. Sienna 12

Kazimierz – Jewish Quarter – again, just fun strolling around; the Old Synagogue is worth a visit, again may need to get tickets in advance though it used to be possible to get them for the same day.

A few must do:

• While strolling around town at night (very safe) stop by a vodka bar – many to pick from but Singer ul. Estery 20 in Kazimierz is one of the classics (make sure to order a herring for a chaser) and drop by the best bread bakery in Poland Piekarnia Mojego Taty (My Dad’s Bakery – ul. Mejsela 8) open every day until 2 am – the smell is heavenly
• For special ice cream in a quaint setting – Lody ul. Starowiślna 83 (a cult ‘hole in the wall’ place with limited selection; 6? flavours, all fab, but wild strawberry, if it’s available, is a must try, also, while in Poland consider trying ‘cream’ rather than vanilla flavour for something different, not found anywhere else that I’m aware of)
• Super special cakes (ask the Bell’s – I helped the grandparents order one for Josh’ b-day) Ciastkarnia (Vanilla) ul. Brzozowa 13

Pogorze (on the other side of the river, recommend taking the pedestrian bridge and strolling along the river) - Schindler’s Factory

For an inexpensive, no fuss traditional Polish obiad (main meal of the day traditionally eaten before 5 pm) stop at Jadłodajnia Wczoraj i Dziś - pl. Boh. Getta 10  - that’s on the way to Schindler’s.