This synagogue in Kazimierz is the oldest left standing in Poland. It was built in the 15th…read morecentury, and functioned as both a synagogue and a fortress. You can still see the defensive walls today. It went through a couple of renovations until the Nazi invasion of 1939. There's a memorial that marks the site where 30 Poles were executed right outside the building. It's been repurposed into a branch of the Museum that specializes in the history & culture of the Jewish community in Kraków. It's worth a visit, and especially if you want to learn more about Judaism. There are exhibits of ceremonial relics used during holidays and festivals, as well as family ritual artifacts from events such as birth, marriage, and death. The history of the synagogue is also on display. There's a gift store inside the museum. The painting of Shylock and Jessica really stood out to me the most. It was painted in 1887 by Marcin Gottlieb. Check it all out as you're exploring Kazimierz. There's so much to see and do in this part of the city.

For a small museum and one that is entirely focused on photography, I enjoyed visiting for an hour…read more The main exhibit shows signs of the Polish Jewish community once the Soviet Union fell. It's Holocaust heavy, but the detailed description of each photo is helpful and makes you think. Even if you don't buy a ticket, go. The bookstore and kosher cafe inside are inviting. There's an excellent collection of books and several tables to enjoy a coffee. There's even a kids play corner with toys.

This is the Jewish Museum. We stayed about 25 mins. After all the other museums this one was…read morebare-bones. It was mildly interesting, but I can't highly recommend.

This place is super cool. Note you buy tickets on one side of the market building and then walk…read morearound to the far side to the elevator to take you down. It was about 35PLN/pp, we didn't have to pay for the toddler. Once underground it is much larger then it initially appears. It has recently opened since the site was still being excavated in 2005, but the ruins date back to mid-10th century. It is very cool to realize that this whole city/civilization you are walking through is now buried under the city center. When you come above ground it's remarkable still to think it's all under you. Kid friendly, clean, lots of fun exhibits and everything has English subtitles.

This underground (literally) museum was a great experience. It was a little difficult to spot the…read moremain entrance as it's on the same building as the cloth hall and there's lots of shops. The crowd was decent and there's a lot to see. There's screens that make it interactive with descriptions where you can choose your language and read. It's definitely for children that can read and older. Toddlers or non-readers might not find interest in it. There's a lot to see and you can easily spend 2-3 hours there if you take interest and read.

Hmm... Yelp has a separate listing for the Castle and the Cathedral. The Cathedral is on the castle…read moregrounds; you can't get there without going into the castle area. So... basically just do it all. The castle grounds are within solid brick walls. The main building is heavily art work and tapestries. The cathedral has some really creative tombs. I'll attach pictures - better than words. There's also a small cave that you can go through and see a dragon statue that breathes fire periodically. The cathedral and the cave cost a small amount. We got an English speaking tour guide for the castle which really helped us understand the history. Poland's been through some tough times and came out successful.

There's no way that you can stay in Kraków and not see Wawel Castle. It's the heart and soul of the…read morecity. A national treasure! The castle grounds, cathedral, and royal residences are all very impressive. You can spend as much time as you want up there taking in the views of the city and the castle complex. There's no admission fee to walk around the castle grounds. It's a small fee to enter the cathedral to see the exhibits, royal tombs, and the bell tower. There are separate fees to enter the residences and the museum. I didn't see any combo tickets offered to see everything. However, I believe you can purchase them online if you know exactly what you want to see on the day of your visit. We just bought our tickets at the cathedral ticketing office. There wasn't much of a wait in the afternoon on a weekday. We actually visited twice during our stay since our hotel was nearby. The first time was during a walking tour of Old Town. We decided to go back a 2nd time on our own to see the cathedral & gardens. It was a beautiful sunny day.

It's the iconic gated fortress that defended the city from its enemies back in medieval times. I…read moremust say that it's very well-preserved for a Gothic fortification built in 1498. It's located at the end of Floriańska Street, and just outside of Florian's Gate. The Barbican once had a bridge connecting it to Florian's Gate. You can still see the moat around it today. The part of the moat that extended to the city walls and surrounded the city is now called Planty Park. It's easy to imagine what it all looked like just be seeing a map of the city with the park surrounding it. There's also a model of it near Florian's Gate and the remnants of the wall. It's a very nice design. It's all part of the Museum of Kraków. There's a small fee for admission to view the exhibits inside, and to walk up to the upper levels for views of the city and wall. I didn't see many people entering on a Sunday morning, and it was definitely open. We were just meeting up at this location for a walking tour of Old Town. It was nice to see & learn about it at the beginning of the tour.

A small, but lively exhibit. It has the benefit of being adjacent to the old city without actually…read morebeing in it. This means smaller crowds, quicker access to trams to move away from the center, and a nearby open air market with excellent produce.

One of the things that surprised me most was learning that the factory wasn't originally…read moreSchindler's. It began in 1937 as "Rekord," an enamelware factory founded by three Jewish businessmen before the German invasion. After Poland was occupied in 1939, the business was confiscated through the Nazi expropriation process and became Schindler's Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik (DEF). Schindler himself is a fascinating contradiction--a Nazi Party member and war profiteer who gradually risked everything to protect more than 1,000 Jewish men and women by employing them in his factory and shielding them from deportation. The exhibits are immersive, emotional, and incredibly well designed. Every room serves a purpose. By the time you reach Schindler's office, where the famous "list" was created, you understand that it wasn't just paper--it represented lives.

This is an extraordinary museum in Krakow. It really is much more than a museum about Oskar…read moreSchindler's life, the people he saved and the factory. It covers decades of history. You get to see Schindler's actual desk and some of the ceramic pots that were manufactured here. I definitely learned a lot about him. But the scope of the museum is much broader than just the factory. It goes into a lot of depth with what Schindler did to save Jewish people, the factory laborers, what happened in the Holocaust and basically decades of the Polish history surrounding it, building up to it, and why it happened, what happened in Krakow, etc. Everything is so detailed and well done and you could spend hours here because the exhibits are so multi faceted and there are so many videos and things to watch. Make sure to buy your tickets in advance. I was really lucky because I went off-season in the middle of the week and waited in line for about half an hour and was able to get tickets, but I don't think it's going to be that easy if you go in the summer at peak times. It's definitely worth visiting and it's so easy to get to from old town Krakow. It's walkable here from the old town, about 35 minutes. The area surrounding the museum is quite trendy and has some great art museums. There's actually a fabulous modern art museum attached to this museum. And there are all kinds of coffee shops and some interesting shops around the neighborhood. It was really a very deep and moving experience to visit this museum and I highly recommend it. Just try to get your tickets in advance if you can, otherwise go early in the morning and you probably will be able to get in if you wait in line during the mid week.

The Museum of Municipal Engineering is a place dedicated to fans of science, ingineering and old…read morecars. The place consists of a few buildings, each one with a different kind of exhibition such as: old trams, printing machines, new ingineering projects. My favourite one is however the part dedicated to all the significant car types that used to be produced in Poland in the past, included some very interesting prototypes that never went into mass production :) The rest of the museum is maybe not as much entertaining, but for this particular part it's worth to visit the place at least once!

The Muzeum Etnograficzne was a pleasant and insightful stop in the Jewish Quarter of Kraków. At the…read moretime of our visit, there was an exhibition of the photography works by Michala Greima which documented Polish life in the 1800s. The exhibition was haunting and all of the photographs had a psychological depth to them. They were all very thought provoking and presented an honest view of Poland at the time. The other half of the museum was equally as interesting, showcasing the lives of the people of Peru who live entirely off the land and forestry that they've created for themselves. It's very visually stimulating with examples of their craftmanship and the natural resources they put to use. For just 10zl, it's a worthy 45 minutes!

The ethnographic museum in Krakow is located in Kazimierz in a building that used to be the town…read morehall of Kazimierz back in the days. I enjoyed the permanent exhibition, and especially the part with the national costumes which were very nicely displayed. Otherwise I also liked the ground floor rooms that were set up as private homes with kitchen/living room/bedroom areas and classrooms and items used in schools. The musical instruments were also interesting to look at. The main thing that the museum is lacking though is English translations of the descriptions, which limited my understanding a little, though not completely as the exhibits are quite self explanatory most of the time. Worth a visit if you're interested in Polish culture or just anthropology in general.

Pinball and beer. If you're into either of these things, then a visit here is well worthwhile. You…read morepay by the hour and play unlimited amount of games. Be respectful and don't put your beer on the games to avoid damaging them. There is not just pinball, but other old school arcade game cabinets. This is definitely an ideal place to have some good old fun without fancy iPad screens.

Totally unexpected find on our one day in Krakow! We expected to like the historic landmarks and…read moremuseums, but this was one of the highlights of the day. Flat rate to play all the games you want? Score! I wish we'd found this sooner, because we were only here for about an hour, and had a blast trying out the games from the 70s to the 2000's. Almost all the machines are in playable condition, and there are a lot. Great fun for an afternoon.

It's a cool place full of birds and butterflies. You can touch butterflies, just don't touch their…read morewings. The best for preteen girls and old programmers.