Why we chose Krakow
The fourth leg of the We2ours1 Tour saw us finally entering the Schengen region. As highlighted in our Leg 3 blog on Ukraine, Nisha’s and Nadiya’s Schengen visas were valid starting a week later than we had originally anticipated. Since we were in Lviv (Western Ukraine) on the day that their visas became valid, it made sense for us to cross into the Schengen region in Poland with Krakow being the nearest major city to the Ukraine border.
The journey from Lviv to Krakow
Flights (with or without baby) are always stressful having to reach an hour early, go through security, immigration etc. and after our last experience at an Ukrainian airport, we wanted to avoid flying at all costs. We decided to take a train across the border. Now, there was a little bit of a complication with this approach due to the different rail gauges (Ukraine operates on the old Soviet gauge), it is physically impossible to take a train from Ukraine to Poland. Thankfully, last year a special stretch was opened that allowed Ukrainian trains to get to a Polish border town from where trains ran every 30 minutes to Krakow (before this, the border crossing was supposedly a mess and could take many hours at times).
Once again, we opted to pay a slight premium for first class which meant we had more space and it was easier to move around/feed Nadiya. The first train from Lviv to the Polish border was a “fast” train that had airplane style seating. Ukrainian officials came on board the train to complete the exit formalities for passengers on board. Once we crossed the Polish border, it was the turn of the Polish officials to come on board and let us into the Schengen area. Overall – simple, efficient and stress-free process (we had done a similar crossing from Slovenia to Croatia out of the Schengen region I. 2017 so we knew what to expect). Once in Poland, there was drama again as we tried to catch our connecting train to Krakow. We had to climb up and down 2 separate sets of stairs and as luck would have it, the first class coach was the 11th (of 11!) coach on the platform. A mad dash followed with Nadiya and the bags and just as Ajay had managed to drag the last bag on board, the train doors closed and it started moving! The train journey itself was comfortable and gave us plenty of time/space to play with Nadiya, feed and even do 2 diaper changes!
Topolowa Residences – our home in Krakow
For our 4 night stay in Krakow, we checked into the Topolowa Residences aparthotel situated about a 10 minute walk from Krakow’s Old Town. The property was fantastic and we cannot recommend it highly enough. The unit was huge (separate living, dining and bedrooms) and had everything we needed to make our stay comfortable (including a bathtub for Nadiya – first time this happened!). The only drawback was that there was no in-house kitchen, but with Uber Eats and plenty of options nearby that did not prove to be much of a challenge. They did serve breakfast each morning though which was not the largest of spreads but still of very high standard. They also offered laundry by the load (instead of on a per piece basis) which made it quite affordable and we made full use of it.
Since we had 4 days in Krakow, we decided to take the 1st evening easy and retire to bed early. Thanks to the separate living room area, this was the first time on our trip we were able to catch up on some Netflix without it being on mute! (Ajay was able to hook up his Chromecast to the TV). Some local food courtesy of UberEats and we were set.
Exploring Krakow’s Old Town
Day 2 saw us walking down to Krakow’s Old Town, which has been compared (perhaps rightly) to a Disney fairytale set with a massive castle at one end of the old town to complete the picture. A giant cathedral sits at the center of the old town which is adorned with cobblestone streets, picture perfect historic buildings….and tourists! Even though we were there in early October, the town was swarming with tourists at the various restaurants, bars and cafes that surrounded the main square (fun fact – Krakow reportedly has the highest density of bars/pubs for any city in the world!). It was the first time on the We2ours1 Tour that we actually encountered tourists in a sizeable number. And with the tourists came all the associated acts – the street musicians, the ‘traditional’ chariot rides and tourist trap restaurants (thankfully we did not spot any con artists – which is such a problem when travelling in Western Europe). Our highlight of the day was some exceptional hot chocolate at the E Wedel café (Nisha believes it second probably only to the Hot Chocolate we had at the Four Seasons in Moscow). Thanks to Malvika for this excellent recommendation.
Krakow’s Jewish Quarter
Day 3 took us to the Jewish quarter. Poland has a long and complicated history with the Jews. The infamous Auschwitz concentration camp is a popular day trip from Krakow (we opted against this as it meant 8 hours on the road with Nadiya where we were not in any control of schedule/timing – too stressful!). Krakow is also home to Oskar Schindler’s factory (‘Schindler’s List’). In any case, the Jewish quarter is a much less organized (and therefore in our view much more interesting) than the Old Town. Every street felt different and it gave us a good sense of how the locals lived (as you would expect there were lots of synagogues and delis in the area). Lunch was at a fantastic establishment (Hamsa Hummus) that specialized in Middle Eastern cuisine with hummus being their specialty (their slogan ‘Make hummus not war’ was quite endearing). Along the way we also had the most delicious Polish donuts (pacziki) – easily the most memorable food item of this leg. A long walk back along the river to our room meant that we were quite exhausted and decided to take the next day easy.
Supply run at Krakow Galleria
Day 4 was reserved for stocking up on supplies. We finally found some of the Pampers Premium diapers that were Nadiya’s size (she’s now a size 3!). Nisha realized that her maternity jeans were falling off her waist so she decided to buy a pair of jeans. Ajay was left holding the bags (he somehow thinks this is going to be just the start :)) A leisurely lunch at a nearby bistro was followed by some additional downtime. The evening saw us go back to the Old Town. If Day 2 was crowded, this was another level. It was a Saturday evening and the number of people had at least tripled! But it did contribute to make the place very lively and happy! We retired to bed early to prepare for our first flight in 12 days the following morning.
Final impressions
Overall, we have mixed feelings about Krakow. The hotel was probably one of the best on our trip so far. The architecture was amazing. The people were helpful without being overly friendly. The local food seemed like an extension of food in Ukraine (meat, potatoes and dumplings). However, it did have a lot of the trappings of a typical tourist town – the kind we’ve been trying to avoid over the last year or 2. Prague has always been our benchmark for what a tourist town represents and while Krakow did bring back similar emotions to what we experienced in Prague, Krakow did solve for one crucial element – it was a ‘living’ city and not just one that seemed to exist just for the tourists (like Prague or Venice seemed to be when we visited). So our take is if you want to visit Krakow, go beyond just the Old Town. There’s probably just enough there for you to make your visit worthwhile.
We2ours1 Tour Overall Stats
Total # of Countries: 5 (Poland, Ukraine, Sri Lanka, UAE, Oman)
Total air miles: 5,900 (3 flights)
Total distance driven: 2065KM (driving in Sri Lanka, UAE and Oman)
Total train distance: 794KM (3 trains)
Total nights: 26
Nadiya’s age at end of this leg: 13 weeks, 1 day
Around the world with a baby 