Essential Krakow

Tour Creator

Jeffrey has traveled to nearly 70 countries across all the habitable continents as a columnist and writer for publications including The Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times. He…Read More Bio »

Krakow

GPS-directed

Remote Tour Included

1.5hrs

1km

Despite it’s location so far north, Krakow, Poland’s history is one of a near-constant stream of invasion. The city has been overrun through the centuries by Russians, Prussians, Nazis, Mongols, Tatars and Austrians, among others. Each left a mark on one kind of another, and our tour today will highlight the building and rebuilding that has turned Old Krakow in a jewel of a city.

Avoid the Crowds

Allows you to explore without having to be shoulder-to-shoulder in a large tour group

Created by an exceptional journalist

Written by a former The Wall Street Journal columnist, who has traveled to nearly 70 countries across all the habitable continents

GPS Directions

Easy-to-follow GPS directions to get you from one point to the next on your tour

Highlights include:

Barbican, Church of St. Casimir, and the Townhall Tower

Remote Tour Included

As with all our tours, a remote tour is included that can be enjoyed from home

Itinerary

Essential Krakow

  1. St. Florian Basilica - This is St. Florian’s, relatively small by basilica standards. And it exists on this spot because of politics … and a couple of cows.
  2. Battle of Grunwald Monument - This monument memorializes what’s regarded as one of the greatest battles in medieval European history – a confrontation in the year 1410 that pitted the Kingdom of Poland and the neighboring Duchy of Lithuania against the Teutonic Knights.
  3. Barbican - Built in the late-1490s, this circular Arabic-style defensive tower is one of three like it remaining in Europe today.
  4. St. Florian Gate/Wall and Planty Park - Only a few steps from the Barbican, here we will stop to learn about St. Florian’s Gate and the defensive wall that once stood here
  5. Church of St. Casimir: The Mummies of Krakow - This is St. Casmir’s, a Baroque church from the mid-1600s. What’s truly interesting here is in the catacombs below. Because of the climate beneath the church, the monks and others who are buried there have turned into well-preserved mummies.
  6. St. Mary’s Basilica and Cloth Hall - This might be the best-known landmark in Krakow – St. Mary’s Basilica, originally built in 1290 and famous for its trumpeter who never finishes the tune he’s playing.
  7. St. Adalbert’s Church - A tiny, tiny little stone church whose wooden substructure dates to about 997
  8. Townhall Tower - Here we tell the story of the Leaning Tower of Krakow. Townhall Tower, an iconic structure rising 230 feet above Krakow’s central square, is the last remaining relic of what was once Krakow’s City Hall.

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