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Krakow and Auschwitz, Easter weekend
My H and I will be in Krakow, Poland over Easter weekend for 3-4 full days. We'll be arriving on Saturday morning and leaving either Tuesday or Wednesday.
Here are the plans we have so far.
Saturday: Arrive in the morning, an afternoon walking tour of main sights: Old Town, Wawel Castle, Jewish Quarter, etc. The evening is open to explore more.
Sunday: Easter Mass in the morning, and nothing else planned this day. From what I've found online, there are festivals and markets on Easter. We're also open to suggestions for anything else to do on Easter that might be open.
Monday: Visit Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. We'd like to do a guided tour. Any idea on the best way to do this day trip? Should we book a tour ahead of time or just take the bus there and get a guide when we arrive?
We're considering staying an extra day to tour the salt mines also.
Any advice or suggestions on Krakow? We like museums but will be coming from Berlin where we might get burnt out on them, so we plan to take it a little slower in Krakow.
Re: Krakow and Auschwitz, Easter weekend
I visited Krakow and Auschwitz several years ago. In terms of Auschwitz, I took a combination of train and taxi to the site. Once there, I signed up for one of the guided English tours; it was super easy!
Aside from what you are already planning on visiting, make sure to visit St. Francis' Basilica. The interior of this church is very colorful and beautiful!
You can read the blog entry I wrote on the trip here in my old travel blog: http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Lesser-Poland/Krakow/blog-331747.html
I went to Krakow for 5 days a couple years ago. We went to Auschwitz on the train and it took a half day - honestly, after a couple hours there, we were pretty overwhelmed so we skipped Birkenau and came back to regroup. There was something really poignant about arriving by train actually.
One of my husband's all-time favourite places we've seen in Europe is the salt mines. It's where I found out that I still get claustrophobic sometimes so I have less positive memories but he abolutelly loved it. It's pretty awe-inspiring so if you have the time, you could add it in. I believe there are tours that go to Auschwitz and the Salt mines in a day but after Auschwitz I personally wouldn't plan to do much. We just kind of wandered around and then went to an ice hockey game (which was super fun!). Auschwitz and the mines were each a half day trip for us.
BFP Apr 2012, EDD Dec 19 2012 * twin h/b at 6wk, 9wk scan * Baby A lost at 12wks, Baby B was my rainbow born at 36wks
We booked a tour for Auschwitz/Birkaneau through our hotel. It was way more expensive than going it alone but I can be a very lazy traveler and was willing to shell out $100 per person for it. A van picked us up at our hotel and drove us first to Auschwitz and a guide was waiting for us upon arrival.
The van then took us to Birkenau, where the tour continued. I had no idea there were two sites, and most victims stayed/died at Birkenau. If I could only choose one of the two to see, it'd be Birkenau. It just felt more untouched. And vast.
The van then took us back to our hotel. I have no idea what company we went through, we just took whatever the hotel was offering. Naive travel plan? Yes. But the tour guide was really good and informative, and we had this personal headphone system that the guide was connected to so he didn't have to yell. I'd never seen this genius device before.
I licked the wall of the salt mines. It was...salty.
Auschwitz/Birkenau will take a whole day (decompression time is needed) but you could do the salt mines in half a day. We did the same kind of easy-peasy-hotel-pick up tour for it and were again not disappointed (though totally paid more than necessary).
ETA: Eat nothing but perogies while you're there. Seriously. A perogi-only diet.
TravelingJen -- Thank you for the blog link and info! It's very helpful. St. Francis looks beautiful so I'll definitely add it to my list.
PittPurple -- Thanks for the Auschwitz info and rec. with the salt mine. It sounds really neat and like something my H would love also. Can you tell me a little more about the tight spaces? How bad is it? I'm pretty claustrophobic and this hadn't even crossed my mind. I wonder if I can find videos on YouTube so I can prepare myself, lol.
lol at licking the wall.
I'll have to look up the regular ingredients for perogies. I have a newly developed soy allergy (*kicks dirt*) and have to be careful, but even if I can't have them I'm sure my H will be indulging! They sound delicious.
If we take the train to Auschwitz and get a guide there, how early in the morning do you think we should try to arrive? Were there crowds when you all went? I'm hoping it won't be too overrun with tourists on a weekday (wishful thinking).
You can't go wrong with early. Easter is going to increase the tourist crowds, regardless of day of the week.
The only tight space I recall is the elevator back up to ground level. They make you walk down (tons of stairs) but that's not a tight space at all. Once you're down there it's not very different from being outside! Plenty of open space and air.
The elevator back up is 4-5 minutes tops so unless you're super claustrophobic you should be able to handle it.
Side note: Don't ever go into a pyramid. It was awful, and I'm not even claustrophobic.
Thanks for the info! This sounds doable to me if it only lasts a few minutes and it's spacious once getting down there.
I've never been in a pyramid, but I can only imagine how bad it is. When we went to Italy I had a hard time with going up towers and such, especially the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the dome in St. Peter's. I hate tight spaces to begin with but having people squeeze past me was what bothered me the most.
I have a fear of being underground apparently. The spaces weren't tight - the paths through the mines were wide enough for maybe 3 people to walk next to each other? and the caverns and spaces were enormous - particularly the ballroom area. It really is amazing, my DH loved it.
And pierogies are very, very delicious. I hope you can eat them!
BFP Apr 2012, EDD Dec 19 2012 * twin h/b at 6wk, 9wk scan * Baby A lost at 12wks, Baby B was my rainbow born at 36wks
I know in some parts of Europe Easter Monday is also a holiday. Maybe you know this already, but I found some stuff closed that day; better to double check!
I actually looked up the Auschwitz website a few days ago and it looks like they're only closed on January 1, Christmas Day, and Easter Sunday. I'm not sure about other sights in the area, but luckily it looks like the camp is open that Monday so we'll have something to do for a while.
Thanks for the heads up! I double checked again just to be sure.