As we were only together for a few days on the Krakow part of our Poland Trip, we booked to take a tour of Auschwitz-Berkinau. It is not somewhere you think of going, but I think it is an important place to visit in order to take that history to prevent it happening again.
Auschwitz-Berkinau Tour
While doing my research before going on our Poland trip, I discovered that there are only very short spaces of time for self-led exploring of Auschwitz. And that on a Sunday it would be nigh on impossible to get there by train within the allotted times. It appeared that the best way to visit was by booking a tour. After much deliberation and research, we booked with Escape2Poland. It worked out at only £28.66 each and included the hour-long journey there and back as well as the tour.
Bright and early after breakfast we made our way into Krakow for wait for the coach.
The coach was clean and tidy and a video played as we traveled. To be honest, it was hard to concentrate on both the video and to enjoy the scenery, but I just about managed. (I will be doing a complete post on Auschwitz, as this is just a round-up)
Allow around seven hours for the trip as there is around an hour to get there and then some waiting time to enter the compound. I will also give some hints and tips for visiting Auschwitz in my other post as there are some rules that you need to be aware of e.g. bag size and packed lunches.
Back to Krakow
Escape2Poland pick you up and drop you back again at a central hotel in Krakow, so it is easy to get around. If you stay in a hotel closer in, they might pick you up from there. As ours was out-of-the-way we made our own way to the meeting point.
Once back in the city, we headed for the small square again for a potter and grzaniec, listened to some live local music and we planned the rest of our day. The rain clouds had come, so we were looking for something that would take us under cover. And that is when we discovered the incredible Rynek Underground Museum in the Old Town Square.
The museum is seriously good. There are interactive displays lots of sights and sounds and some free tours (if you arrive at the right time) We jut explored on our own and spend a good couple of hours in there until the sin went down and we were drawn out by hunger. Again, I’ll be writing more about it in another post, but you can check it out in my Day 2 vlog)
The old town square is magnificent in the dark and wet, so don’t let the rain put you off exploring too.
Food time!
Following consulting the Happy Cow app again, we made your way to Green Day, a lovely vegetarian restaurant. Plates piled high with a delicious mix of food, we were certainly satisfied and ready to head back to the hotel.
We had another wander around town before making our way back to the hotel. Jit was to be at his conference the next day and I had some urban wandering and exploring to do. Yet another amazing, if mixed, day. And we were certainly not breaking the bank even though we did a tour, ate out and visited a museum. Definitely a place that is value for money.
Have you visited Krakow? Did you go to any of the places that we visited on Day to of our Poland Trip?
Let me know in the comments below.
Check out the Day 2 vlog to get more of a feeling of the day:
