Before I travel anywhere I look up these "____ in a day" blogs, as a means of highlighting the best, must-see attractions to place at the top of these itineraries, and I'd like to throw my hat into the travel blogging ring with my own take on these!

I'm hopefully going to do one of these kinds of blogs for all the cities (and other places, maybe theme parks etc) that I've been to and remember enough about to write something decent. It only makes sense to start with Krakow, while it's fresh in my head from last week :-)

FIRST THINGS FIRST - YOU CANNOT DO THIS CITY IN A DAY. 
This is purely down to the fact that if you are in Krakow, or anywhere in the vicinity, I would urge you to take a day out to visit Auschwitz - whether you have done it before or not, it is extremely important. I'm going to write a whole other blog about how thought provoking and moving the whole experience was. It's just too significant to miss out, and because of how far it is from the city (about an hour and a half at best), you can't just squeeze it in to an afternoon, and you shouldn't try to either.

However, if time truly is of the essence and you are really keen on one single day in Krakow, then here is my take on everything you should squeeze into a day:



Main Square (Rynek)
To make the most out of your day, start as early as you can. Maybe around 9am.
Head into the square and grab breakfast, it can be from anywhere - if it's warm enough you could sit outside at one of the many restaurants that line the square, or you could sample Krakow's copious amounts of bakeries and grab a fresh juice from down a side street.
Spend some time walking around and familiarizing yourself with the heart of the city, there's plenty to see. Wander in and out of the little churches and shops, or just spend time admiring the architecture. It's a BEAUTIFUL city.

It's here that you can hear the Hejnał (Kraków's Bugle Call), which is played from every side of the left tower of St Mary's Basilica every hour on the hour. This was honestly one of my favourite parts of the whole trip, something so simple and traditional that is a staple part of the culture of the city - and if you look up and spot the trumpet players, give them a wave. We got a little kick out of them waving back!
(I wish we knew the history of this beforehand, you can read up on it here: https://www.inyourpocket.com/krakow/The-Hejnal_3755f)

St Mary's Basilica
At 11.30am, the main church will open up to the public. Grab tickets in the shop just across from it, and head in. The church is breathtaking, lined with beautiful hand painted detailings from floor to the stars on the towering ceilings, long stained glass windows, and one of the largest alterpieces in Europe. It drips in gold, and while due to restoration works we couldn't see the bottom part of the alterpiece, you wouldn't even notice. There is so much to see, and so much detail and storytelling put into the art work that you could spend hours walking around and admiring it all.



Wawel (Krakow's Royal Castle)
Wawel castle is situated on a hill just south of the Old Town and boasts beautiful views, a cobble stone court yard and a number of architectural styles. The castle is also steeped in history, the first cathedral on site was built in 1000AD and was used by Polish royals until the 17th century. During WW2, the castle was used as the headquarters for the Nazi Governor General, Hans Frank.
If you are only in Krakow for a day, you won't have enough time to do all the exhibits, and as they are almost all ticketed, this might save you some money! We only did the main cathedral, which was free to enter.
I wish we could have done a few more exhibits, like armory, but we were pushed for time and money too - and hey, it gives me something to do the next time I'm in Krakow!



Schindler's Factory
This museum is especially important if you can't get to Auschwitz while around Krakow. Not only does this museum tell the story of Oskar Schindler, and how he used his factory to protect as many Jews as he was capable of during the Nazi invasion, it also details how Krakow as a city was affected by the invasion, about the lives of the Polish people during this time, about Jewish ghettos and stories about the concentration camps. We spent 2 and a half hours in the museum and it didn't feel like that at all. So deeply interesting and an important part of history to learn about whenever you get the chance. I can't recommend the museum highly enough.



Kazimierz - Jewish Quarter 
We ended up going to the Jewish quarter for both a bit of lunch and dinner one day - and we had some of the best food and drinks that I'd ever tasted. I'll go into it a bit more in a later blog, but there are so many great cafes and restaurants around this part of the city. Alongside huge amounts of culture, nightlife and 500 years of history. Even just walking around this district, ducking into vintage shops and admiring the many murals, can take hours in itself - let alone the amount of wonderful cafes to pop into.
For lunch we popped into Cheder, which is a gorgeous cafe some adorned with books on Jewish history in a number of languages. They serve mostly middle Eastern/Israeli style food, and the most delicious cocktail that I think I've ever had. (order the Oriental Cha Cha or Rebecca's Touch - both beautiful and so unique, not overly sweet either.) 
For dinner we headed back to the Jewish Quarter and went to Kolanko No.6 - which had been recommended to me from 3 different sources before arriving in the city, and it completely lived up to my expectations. The restaurant is so much bigger than it looks from the outside, and even has a little garden in the centre. It's open all day, and if their breakfasts are as good as their dinners, I'd wholeheartedly recommend it (and cocktails too, I don't think I actually had a bad cocktail the whole time I was in Krakow).


Back to the Main Square


There is so much more to do than what I've included in this list, but from experience I think this is the best way to see the highlights of Krakow, and I know that doing all this in a day is also do-able! We spent a full 3 and a half days in Krakow and it felt like the perfect amount of time, we were able to pack so much in while still feeling relaxed - even if the service at the train station completely messed up our timing.
I hope this helps anyone at all, whether you've booked your trip or just contemplating it! :-)