{"id":1408,"date":"2017-05-20T14:15:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-20T14:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lineontravel.com\/website_6fa5d958\/?p=1408"},"modified":"2024-12-13T14:01:09","modified_gmt":"2024-12-13T14:01:09","slug":"krakow-poland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lineontravel.com\/website_6fa5d958\/krakow-poland\/","title":{"rendered":"Krak\u00f3w, Poland"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Krak\u00f3w, Poland<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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City and local notes: Line on Travel\u2019s vignettes of larger cities, well-known attractions, and short trips.<\/strong><\/p>

With a millennium of Polish royal history and its historic buildings, Krak\u00f3w is Poland\u2019s biggest tourist attraction. There\u2019s a whole body of Krak\u00f3w travel literature; this is a short review of some personal highlights. I had about four days there, took two out-of-town excursions, and managed to see the places that were top on my list, though not everything there was to see. My entire focus was on the old town. I hardly ventured into modern Krak\u00f3w.<\/p>

In the vicinity.<\/strong> Krak\u00f3w is where you embark for tours of Auschwitz. I did that, and for a lot of reasons don\u2019t think this is the time to write about it. But whatever history you know, or pictures you\u2019ve seen, being there will affect the lives of thoughtful visitors. So go, as hideous as it was.<\/p>

I also took an excursion to the Wieliczka Salt Mine, a shorter trip, the oldest operating salt mine in the world. It\u2019s an interesting place but be aware that you spend a lot of time underground in an atmosphere suffused with sodium chloride. Your lips taste salty when you exit. I didn\u2019t lick my hands or wrists to see how they tasted, but I did lick a wall in the mine when our guide challenged us to test it. The walls and even floor \u201ctiles\u201d are carved from the dark-colored salt; there are chapels, some enormous, with bas relief religious scenes and chandeliers also carved from salt. There are elaborate salt sculptures by mine workers throughout, and of course you can buy anything salt as a souvenir. The guides are dressed in understated but snazzy salt mine uniforms and in his, our tall guide looked like a 19th century cavalry officer instead of tour leader. The magic of uniforms.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Back in Krak\u00f3w<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Krak\u00f3w\u2019s monumental buildings are originals. The Nazis planned to make Krak\u00f3w an eastern capital and installed their man in the castle. Thus the physical city was spared. Along with the architectural monuments, there\u2019s the main market square that\u2019s the largest medieval town square in Europe.<\/p>

It\u2019s hard to see just how big it is because of the expansive Renaissance Cloth Hall right in the center, but walk across and around it to get the feel. When I visited during August, there was a performance of some kind \u2013 folk dancers, musicians, singers \u2013 every day, even on the rainy day I arrived. The devoted stood around the stage holding umbrellas. The kiosks that appeared daily around the Cloth Hall sold everything Polish that a tourist could want, including lunch, and there was more on offer inside Cloth Hall.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Watching a performance on the Market Square<\/h6>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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There are some beautiful things there but I didn\u2019t buy much. Won\u2019t fit in the suitcase. But color, energy, performers, buskers, lots of tourists and more pigeons \u2013 those things I could take away in my memory and photos. Pleasant as it was in the old market, I enjoyed staying a little way apart, not far away, but not in the tourist center. It felt the relaxation every time I walked to my hotel along the busy Karmelicka with its caf\u00e9-au-lait colored buildings. It was like not being a tourist any more.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Around the Castle<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The fine castle on Wawel Hill may be Renaissance, but it has Gothic underpinnings and as a seat of Polish royal power, goes back a millennium. The castle premises was restored after much damage and alteration by the Austrian military when Krak\u00f3w within the Austrian Empire. But it was undamaged in World War II.<\/p>

You can walk around the large courtyard for free, but you need tickets to get inside any part of the castle or cathedral. Buy castle tickets ahead (there\u2019s an additional reservation fee) or be sure to queue up early to get a time you want if you\u2019re there during tourist season. I stood on line for a while and bought tickets for the next day. Cathedral and castle visits are sold at separate locations, and I only mention this because I was confused at first and saw others who were, too. \u00a0<\/p>

The castle architecture is interesting, Gothic remains and Italian Renaissance buildings fitted out with steep slate roofs to shed snow and ice. A transmontane hybrid.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Around the castle\n<\/h6>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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The castle\u2019s State Rooms tour was self-guided, after which for a modest extra fee you can see Leonardo da Vinci\u2019s Lady with an Ermine<\/em>. It is phenomenal. Do not skip it! After looking at the picture as long as I could, almost straining my eyes like I could absorb more that way, I went on to my timed, guided tour of the Royal Apartments. That tour was scripted and carefully timed to avoid loitering. Then you\u2019re propelled out, so ask questions when they occur to you, and quickly. But do take the tour. I also took the Architecture and Gardens Tour and found it very interesting, partly because of the engaging woman who led it. \u00a0She knew everything about the castle\u2019s history and structure but oddly claimed to know nothing about gardens, at least what\u2019s planted in them. Still, she knew when and how the gardens were laid out, where the historic plants were and she took us through some gardens and areas of the castle that are otherwise closed to visitors.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Churches<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Krak\u00f3w is a religious center and is full of churches. Of course, there\u2019s the history-laden Wawel Cathedral that you see at the castle. If you\u2019re interested in very big bells, climb the cathedral\u2019s bell tower to see the huge Sigismund Bell, cast in 1520 and nine feet across. I wanted to see most of Krak\u00f3w\u2019s other churches, too. Each has unique attributes \u2013 architecture, artworks, history. St. Mary\u2019s Basilica is the big draw, with its beautiful altarpiece \u2013 the largest Gothic altarpiece in the world \u2013 its stained glass, hejna\u0142 (more later) and location on the market square. It\u2019s worth the ticket price. I loved the tiny Church of St. Andrew\u2019s 11th century exterior, but it got a Baroque re-do inside. Disappointing. Another church I favored was St. Francis with its Art Nouveau glass. And sometimes the things you find are not what you\u2019re looking for. One afternoon I was sitting almost alone in big, Baroque St. Anne\u2019s church (\u015aw. Anny) and a group of young people came in, migrated toward the front and sat together. Then they tuned quietly and sang a cappella \u2013 so beautiful, so perfect, gently filling the big space. I didn\u2019t recognize the music and only understood the words \u201cSanta Maria,\u201d but it was sublime. And then they walked out, not as a group, quietly. Look into all the churches. You\u2019re sure to find something you like in each. And maybe you\u2019ll hear something beautiful.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Saint Pope John Paul II is everywhere<\/h6>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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There are nuns from every order under the sun if you like to make a record. I started a list of habit styles and colors. I hadn\u2019t seen most. Saint Pope John Paul II is a presence everywhere here in the city where he spent much of his career. There are paintings, chapels and sculptures. There\u2019s even a life-size statue of Pope John Paul II carved from salt in the Wieliczka Salt Mine not far away.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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St. Mary\u2019s Basilica Tower Climb<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Lots of tourists climb the higher of St. Mary\u2019s Basilica\u2019s towers. Ascents are timed every half hour from 9:10 AM (in summer) and tickets are limited for each climb \u2013 it\u2019s a small space up top. Of the 280 or so steps up, only the first few are a claustrophobic stone spiral. The views are impressive but even more interesting is that every hour, a bugler sounds a call (the hejna\u0142) from the tower. I was at the top for the hejna\u0142. Shortly before the hour, a dapper trumpeter (his instrument wasn\u2019t a bugle) emerged from his little office and talked with us. I didn\u2019t understand anything he said (my Polish is limited to the utilitarian) but he had a nice face, and was affable talking to the others. At the time signal on his radio, he rang the basilica bell, then commenced playing the call from each of the four windows, four compass points. It\u2019s a local tradition and if you time your ascent right, you can be there to watch. \u00a0Give the bugler a tip, too.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Sounding the hejna\u0142<\/h6>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Jagiellonian University.<\/strong>\u00a0John Paul II started at the Jagiellonian University right about the time the Nazis closed it. Looking farther back, Copernicus was a star student (that\u2019s an intentional pun). I wanted to see inside so paid for the English tour. Our guide was quirky. I wasn\u2019t sure whether he was a comedian, performance artist or just living in his own world. But he did communicate information and got us in and out in what must have been the prescribed 30 minutes, in time to hear the famous courtyard clock. I saw what I wanted to \u2013 the rooms, instruments Copernicus would have seen or used, and a very small globe in a secure case that\u2019s the first known globe to show the Americas, which are sitting in Asia, where they thought they were.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Kazimierz<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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This quarter of Krak\u00f3w dates back to the 1300s and was once a separate town where both Jewish and Christian populations lived. The area has a plethora of churches and synagogues, as well as lots of restaurants and clubs. I met people who were staying in (and enjoying) the Jewish section of Kazimierz, where I went on a sunny afternoon. Oskar Schindler\u2019s factory \u2013 famous from Schindler\u2019s List \u2013 is across the Vistula in Podg\u00f3rze. The museum is said to be excellent but this is another top sight I confess I didn\u2019t get to. Something for next time. Four days weren\u2019t quite enough given my out-of-town trips, although I would not have given up either of those.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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In Kazimierz<\/h6>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Sleeping and eating in Krak\u00f3w.<\/strong><\/p>

Sleeping.<\/strong> There are many hotel, guest house and apartment options in Krak\u00f3w. I stayed at Cracowdays Hotel just under a 15-minute walk from the old town. It wasn\u2019t far, but I was in a normal neighborhood, and I could stop at Rossmann (the \u201cdrug store\u201d that sells everything) and the grocery store on the way \u201chome.\u201d Cracowdays is an 8-room hotel or guest house in an old building that\u2019s been updated and is run by a terrific and genial staff. With our comfortable vestibule and shared kitchen on my hall of four rooms, I felt like I\u2019d moved into an apartment. As with most places I visit, I got to know the local grocery stores well, but also ate at several restaurants.<\/p>

Eating.<\/strong> There are many places to eat, even if you don\u2019t leave the main market square. I had lovely breakfasts in Cracowdays\u2019s pretty communal kitchen upstairs from my room. Lunches were heavy on kiosk sandwiches. The hotel gave us a list of recommended restaurants where a 10% discount was also available for guests. So for four of my dinners, I went to a restaurant on the list. Zielona Kuchnia twice (handily across the street from the hotel), and one time each for Mama Mia on Karmelicka and Wesele on the main market square. All were good. At Mama Mia, I had roasted chicken on a bed of arugula, so it\u2019s not all pasta, name notwithstanding. Zielona Kuchnia has an innovative menu. One night I had pan-seared salmon coated with black and white sesame seeds and served with avocado puree. I didn\u2019t record the second night\u2019s meal but remember it was good. And on the outside terrace at Wesele, where I had pierogis, I sat near a man with lots of tats and more metal studs than I\u2019ve ever seen in a person\u2019s face. His cell phone cover advertised a tattoo and piercing salon.<\/p>

Pigeons.<\/strong> There are way, way too many pigeons in Krak\u00f3w. They need some peregrine falcons. Or something.<\/p>

Trip date:<\/strong> August \u2013 September 2016.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Krak\u00f3w, Poland City and local notes: Line on Travel\u2019s vignettes of larger cities, well-known attractions, and short trips. With a millennium of Polish royal history and its historic buildings, Krak\u00f3w is Poland\u2019s biggest tourist attraction. There\u2019s a whole body of Krak\u00f3w travel literature; this is a short review of some personal highlights. I had about four days there, took two out-of-town excursions, and managed to see the places that were top on my list, though not everything there was to see. My entire focus was on the old town. I hardly ventured into modern Krak\u00f3w. In the vicinity. Krak\u00f3w is where you embark for tours of Auschwitz. I did that, and for a lot of reasons don\u2019t think this is the time to write about it. But whatever history you know, or pictures you\u2019ve seen, being there will affect the lives of thoughtful visitors. So go, as hideous as it was. I also took an excursion to the Wieliczka Salt Mine, a shorter trip, the oldest operating salt mine in the world. It\u2019s an interesting place but be aware that you spend a lot of time underground in an atmosphere suffused with sodium chloride. Your lips taste salty when you exit. I didn\u2019t lick my hands or wrists to see how they tasted, but I did lick a wall in the mine when our guide challenged us to test it. The walls and even floor \u201ctiles\u201d are carved from the dark-colored salt; there are chapels, some enormous, with bas relief religious scenes and chandeliers also carved from salt. There are elaborate salt sculptures by mine workers throughout, and of course you can buy anything salt as a souvenir. The guides are dressed in understated but snazzy salt mine uniforms and in his, our tall guide looked like a 19th century cavalry officer instead of tour leader. The magic of uniforms. Back in Krak\u00f3w Krak\u00f3w\u2019s monumental buildings are originals. The Nazis planned to make Krak\u00f3w an eastern capital and installed their man in the castle. Thus the physical city was spared. Along with the architectural monuments, there\u2019s the main market square that\u2019s the largest medieval town square in Europe. It\u2019s hard to see just how big it is because of the expansive Renaissance Cloth Hall right in the center, but walk across and around it to get the feel. When I visited during August, there was a performance of some kind \u2013 folk dancers, musicians, singers \u2013 every day, even on the rainy day I arrived. The devoted stood around the stage holding umbrellas. The kiosks that appeared daily around the Cloth Hall sold everything Polish that a tourist could want, including lunch, and there was more on offer inside Cloth Hall. Watching a performance on the Market Square There are some beautiful things there but I didn\u2019t buy much. Won\u2019t fit in the suitcase. But color, energy, performers, buskers, lots of tourists and more pigeons \u2013 those things I could take away in my memory and photos. Pleasant as it was in the old market, I enjoyed staying a little way apart, not far away, but not in the tourist center. It felt the relaxation every time I walked to my hotel along the busy Karmelicka with its caf\u00e9-au-lait colored buildings. It was like not being a tourist any more. Around the Castle The fine castle on Wawel Hill may be Renaissance, but it has Gothic underpinnings and as a seat of Polish royal power, goes back a millennium. The castle premises was restored after much damage and alteration by the Austrian military when Krak\u00f3w within the Austrian Empire. But it was undamaged in World War II. You can walk around the large courtyard for free, but you need tickets to get inside any part of the castle or cathedral. Buy castle tickets ahead (there\u2019s an additional reservation fee) or be sure to queue up early to get a time you want if you\u2019re there during tourist season. I stood on line for a while and bought tickets for the next day. Cathedral and castle visits are sold at separate locations, and I only mention this because I was confused at first and saw others who were, too. \u00a0 The castle architecture is interesting, Gothic remains and Italian Renaissance buildings fitted out with steep slate roofs to shed snow and ice. A transmontane hybrid. Around the castle The castle\u2019s State Rooms tour was self-guided, after which for a modest extra fee you can see Leonardo da Vinci\u2019s Lady with an Ermine. It is phenomenal. Do not skip it! After looking at the picture as long as I could, almost straining my eyes like I could absorb more that way, I went on to my timed, guided tour of the Royal Apartments. That tour was scripted and carefully timed to avoid loitering. Then you\u2019re propelled out, so ask questions when they occur to you, and quickly. But do take the tour. I also took the Architecture and Gardens Tour and found it very interesting, partly because of the engaging woman who led it. \u00a0She knew everything about the castle\u2019s history and structure but oddly claimed to know nothing about gardens, at least what\u2019s planted in them. Still, she knew when and how the gardens were laid out, where the historic plants were and she took us through some gardens and areas of the castle that are otherwise closed to visitors. Churches Krak\u00f3w is a religious center and is full of churches. Of course, there\u2019s the history-laden Wawel Cathedral that you see at the castle. If you\u2019re interested in very big bells, climb the cathedral\u2019s bell tower to see the huge Sigismund Bell, cast in 1520 and nine feet across. I wanted to see most of Krak\u00f3w\u2019s other churches, too. Each has unique attributes \u2013 architecture, artworks, history. St. Mary\u2019s Basilica is the big draw, with its beautiful altarpiece \u2013 the largest Gothic altarpiece in the world \u2013 its stained glass, hejna\u0142 (more later) and location on the market square. It\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1409,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,20],"tags":[21,22,23],"class_list":["post-1408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-city-notes","category-europe","tag-cracowdays-hotel","tag-wawel-hill-krakow","tag-wieliczka-salt-mine"],"yoast_head":"\nKrak\u00f3w Travel Guide: Top Attractions & Things to Do in Krak\u00f3w<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore top Krak\u00f3w attractions, from historic landmarks to local experiences. 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