A Long Weekend Itinerary for Krakow, Poland

Our weekend itinerary for Krakow covered four days. It was our first time to visit this country, and our wish list was quite long. However, we realized that the weekend wasn’t long enough since things to do did not fit into the weekend itinerary for the Krakow trip.

Being an old capital of Poland and the first UNESCO site, Krakow has many attractive aspects. Apart from that, not far from Krakow is the famous Tatra Mountains, which has many holiday destinations. Though we only had a long weekend for the trip, we were determined to see as much as possible.

View of Tatra Mountains, Poland
Small square in Zakopane; weekend itinerary for Krakow

Travel preparation

Rent a car

As we planned to go to other places outside of Krakow, we rented a car for the trip. The rental cost was very cheap, 34 Euro for four days was what we paid. It was a big off-road car.

Book a chalet

GORSKA OSADA Chalets is in Poronin, not far from Zakopane. Our chalet is pretty new and has a hearty interior decoration. The cottage is not expensive, but the value is very high. The staff spoke perfect English and gave us all the instructions we needed to know. It has an open-fire oven with plenty of wood. Outside there is also a BBQ area and a kid’s playground. We had a good time there. 

Create a weekend itinerary for Krakow

We arrived at Krakow by plane on Thursday and left on Sunday. Here was our weekend itinerary for Krakow:

  • Thursday: walking around Zakopane and Poronin
  • Friday: Krakow day trip and Wieliczka Salt Mine tour
  • Saturday: hiking around the lake Morskie Oko
  • Sunday: leave Krakow by plane

Thursday: walking around Zakopane and Poronin

The first stop on our weekend itinerary for Krakow was Zakopane. This small Polish town is famous for its wooden architectural houses, a traditional style in the area. In the centre the Krupowki Street is a tourist site. We had our lunch in a local restaurant populated mainly by locals.

After lunch, we visited the traditional mountainous village of Poronin. As a holiday area, Zakopane has more things to do.

Friday: Krakow day trip and Wieliczka Salt Mine tour

Our Krakow walking tour consisted of two sections, the Wawel Royal Hill and the main market square. Between the two parts are several picturesque streets. The entire old town looked fresh renovated. All buildings had bright-coloured facade. After the sightseeing, we had a typical Polish lunch on the ground floor of the Cloth Hall.

In the afternoon, we joined the Wieliczka Salt Mine tour. It is one of the world’s oldest working salt mines. We saw things such as carvings, statues, and mining equipment all made of salt. The tour took us three hours and is definitely worth the money.

Wawel Royal Hill in Krakow old town; weekend itinerary for Krakow
Building around the main square in Kraokow old town; weekend itinerary for Krakow

Saturday: hiking around the lake Morskie Oko

Morskie Oko is a glacier lake near the border between Poland and Slovakia. In the Tatra mountains, the blue-green alpine lake is at the bottom of the valley on the Polish side. I got to know this place in an article from the Wall Street Journal.

From the lakeside, we went further to the upper lake. From the top, we could see most of the lake Morskie Oko. The beautiful nature protection area is in a national park. The lake Morskie Oko is lee-known among the international tourist. Most visitors on that day were local people. Our late lunch on that day was in the lakeside restaurant.

Sunday: leave Krakow by plane

We planned to take the early flight back to Germany. However, due to the bad weather in Frankfurt, the flight was delayed for several hours. Since we could cancel our flight tickets, we tried to seek an alternative way to get back to Frankfurt as quickly as possible.

We tried to search for alternative ways, either by train or by bus, but there are no quick connections between the two cities. Finally, after a whole day waiting at the AirPort, we still took the original Lufthansa Flight and arrived in Frankfurt in the late evening.

View of Morskie Oko from the Top
Morskie Oko in Tatras Mountain, Poland; Weekend Itinerary for Krakow

Travel tip for a weekend Itinerary for Krakow

Alternative weekend itinerary for Krakow

Our trip was quite stressful. When you plan an itinerary for Krakow, plan at least two days for Krakow if possible. Museums on Wawel Castle Hill are worth to visit. Other things like visiting the viewing platform of St Mary’s tower etc. If you plan to stay in Krakow for the entire weekend, then you could make some of the best day trips from Krakow, such as the Tyniec village.

Join a tour to explore some remote places

If you are a nature lover, you could join a tour to do some completely different things, such as:

How to get around Krakow

It is not necessary to hire a car when exploring the UNESCO old town Krakow. You can use a Krakow City Card to explore the city freely.

Where to stay in Krakow

Krakow has many hotels in the centre. The prices range from budget to luxury level. Here are two good choices:

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