72 hours in Krakow Poland – Day 1
Are you looking for things to do, wondering what and where to eat or how much things cost in Krakow? Then this post is for you! In this 4 part blog series, I will be sharing itineraries from our short 3 nights 4 days trip to Krakow Poland. Hopefully you will find it useful, enjoy!
Day 1 (Arriving day)
In November 2021, we flew to Krakow Poland from London Stansted airport with Ryanair. The flight was £7.99 each way (p.p).
The flight took about 2 hours. There was about an hour delay and we arrived in Krakow at around 5pm local time.
The passport control also checks passengers’ COVID passes and you may have to queue for a little bit.
Krakow airport has a tourist information desk. I went to ask about the city transportation pass and people were really friendly and helpful.
There are different ways to get to Krakow city centre from the airport. If you are in a rush or heading towards the Old Town, you might consider taking a train, apparently it takes about 20 minutes to the city centre. We were happy with public buses which happen to be the cheaper option. A single bus ticket from/to the airport will cost 6zł (£1.10). We decided to buy a 72 hours ticket for 50zł (£9.20) as we knew we would be hopping on and off the busses and trams in the city a lot. Also, this ticket was valid for zones 1-3 which means the journey from/to the airport was included.
Tickets can be bought from a machine at the bus stop or inside the bus. You can purchase the ticket after boarding the bus, but check with the driver if there is a machine inside just in case. You can use a card.
I don’t know if it was just me, but I struggled with this ticket machine. First you choose your language, this is the next screen after choosing ‘English’.
If you’re just getting a single ticket, this is okay, but I wanted to get a 72 hours ticket, so I pressed ‘Complete ticket offer’. And then this was the next screen, where is the 72 hours ticket!? Can you only buy up to 24 hours!?
It took me a while to figure out that tapping the ‘Time limit 24 hours’ button will lead to this screen.
Bus 208 and 252 go to/from the airport. 208 goes all the way to the main train station and 252 only goes to the West edge of the city centre. As the West edge of the city was where we were heading, we took the 252 bus.
We booked a room at Premium Hostel which was located in the NorthWest edge of the city centre. Our plan was to have dinner at a restaurant called Ramen People before heading to the hotel.
We got off the bus at Muzeum Narodowe. I think the journey was about 40 minutes from the airport. We took a random bus that went towards the direction of the restaurant only for 1 stop, but you can easily walk too (Google says 10 minutes by walk).
I was so glad we chose Ramen People for our first night’s dinner. The place was modern but comfortable, buzzing but with enough space between the tables, had super friendly yet professional customer service, and of course tasty food! To celebrate our relatively hustle free arrival, we both had 500ml Kirin beer (13zł, £2.40). I missed Japanese beer!
C ordered Tonkotsu Yokohama style special (38zł, £7) and I ordered Hokkaido (33zł, £6.10).
Both broth were refined with depth of umami whilst retaining that friendly warmth that we look for in ramen. Noodles were a little like a pasta hybrid, but everything together made sense and was really tasty. C was full of praise for their Chashu pork!
Tummy happy. We took a bus just for a couple of stops towards the North and reached our hotel.
Premium Hostel was another thing that I was really happy about on this short trip. As the name suggests, they have dormitory, but also twin and double rooms and basically operate as a 2 star hotel. Clean and tidy everywhere. Our twin room had an en-suite toilet/shower, towels, plenty of storage space and a TV. They also have a big communal kitchen which is always kept clean and with tea and coffee for the guests. People at the reception were always friendly and kind. They also printed our flight tickets for us free of charge. We paid 278zł (£51) for 3 nights (per room).
With warm drinks, yummy Polish snacks, watching BBC news on a comfy bed, we slowly settled in.
Tomorrow, we are visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau.
72 hours in Krakow Poland
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