Krakow for Solo Travellers

Arrive at the airport for your flight to Krakow. We transfer by coach to the four-star Novotel Krakow Centrum for three nights, with breakfast.

This evening we will gather with our tour manager for a lovely welcome dinner, where you will get a chance to meet other travellers joining the tour on their own.

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4* Novotel Krakow Centrum - Krakow

Chosen for its great location and excellent service.

• Central location
• Breakfast buffet included
• Comfortable and modern rooms

Morning

After breakfast we enjoy a guided walking tour of Krakow’s historic centre. Rynek Glowny, the medieval main square, is lined with grand pastel-coloured buildings dating back centuries and always busy with locals going about their business. In the centre of the square is the Cloth Hall, a splendid colonnaded Renaissance building that’s been the centre of the textile trade since the 16th century. Today it’s full of colourful stalls selling amber jewellery and other local crafts, and also houses an art gallery.

Overlooking the square is Saint Mary’s Basilica, richly decorated with a stunning carved wooden altarpiece and a vaulted nave painted with stars. The 14th-century stained glass is particularly ornate. When the sun shines through, a kaleidoscope of colour decorates the chancel below. Listen out for a trumpeter sounding an hourly warning from the top of the taller of the basilica’s two ornate spires.

We visit the Wawel Royal Castle district, built on a low hill on a bend in the Vistula inhabited since the Palaeolithic period. The complex includes the cathedral, royal apartments, state rooms, crown treasury and armoury. In the royal apartments you’ll see the impressive range of rooms that have been restored to their original Renaissance and Baroque glory, overflowing with fine furniture, works of art and one of Europe’s largest – and best – collections of tapestries. There will be free time to explore the rest of the complex, including the three-tiered Italianate Renaissance courtyard. 

Afternoon

This afternoon there’s an opportunity to tour the famous 13th-century Wieliczka Salt Mines, a spectacular subterranean attraction adorned by statues and even a chapel, all sculpted from rock salt that looks like marble; your tour manager will advise you about timings and cost. Alternatively, you may choose to join a street food tour to sample Polish specialities and explore Krakow’s Kazimierz neighbourhood with a local guide. 

We thought long and hard about how appropriate it would be to include this morning’s destination – Auschwitz and Birkenau – on a holiday itinerary. As a company, our philosophy is that we try to inform our clients about all aspects of the countries we visit from the ‘tourist must-sees’ to places of historical importance. Our guided tour to Auschwitz and Birkenau is extremely moving and thought-provoking, but it is optional and you can choose instead to stay in Krakow for the whole day. 

Now a museum and monument, Auschwitz and Birkenau have been left virtually as they were when liberated in 1945. From the notorious watchtower at Birkenau you’ll get some sense of the sheer scale of the atrocities that took place here. After our tour we return to Krakow in the afternoon and the mood will lift as we have time to further explore the city’s wonderful attractions. 

Transfer to the airport for your return flight.