Visas

Before planning your trip, please check whether you need a visa to enter Poland and, if you do, what kind of visa it is – one that you can get at the Kraków Airport or one that you need to apply for in advance. If it’s the latter scenario, please apply for your visa as soon as possible. Information on visa types can be found on the website of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Getting to Kraków

The three most important transportation hubs are:

•    The Kraków Airport (IATA code: KRK), also known as the Balice International Airport or John Paul II International Airport (in Polish: Port Lotniczy im. Jana Pawła II or simply Lotnisko w Balicach), which is situated ca. 15 km from the Conference Venue that is located in the Old Town (City Centre) and can be reached by the SKA1 Train, Airport Taxi, Uber/Bolt or City Bus (see below for more details on how to get from the airport to the Kraków Old Town). The Kraków Airport has good and frequent connections with larger European airway hubs, such as Frankfurt (Germany), Amsterdam (the Netherlands), or London (UK).
•    The Main Train Station (in Polish: Dworzec Główny Kraków or simply Kraków Główny) is located in the immediate vicinity of the Main Coach Station and both are located close to the Old Town (ca. 1.2 km = within walking distance).
•    The Main Coach Station (in Polish: Małopolski Dworzec Autobusowy or simply Dworzec Autobusowy) is located in the immediate vicinity of the Main Train Station and both are located close to the Old Town (ca. 1.3 km = within walking distance).

Getting from the Airport to the City

TRAIN

•    This is the easiest, fastest and the second cheapest way to get to the Main Train Station in Kraków.
•    We suggest it if your accommodation is within walking distance of the Main Train Station.
•    There is only one train line (SKA1) going from the airport to the city, so there is no risk of getting on a wrong train.
•    Sometimes the train terminates at the Main Train Station in Kraków and in such cases the destination is “Kraków Główny”, but some services terminate further, at the Wieliczka Salt Mine. In such instances, the destination is “Wieliczka Rynek-Kopalnia” or simply “Wieliczka” and you need to make sure to get off the train at the right station (the Main Train Station is the seventh stop, with the initial Airport stop being the first stop).
•    A one-way ticket costs 20 PLN and can be bought on the train from a ticket machine (you can pay with a debit/credit card or a smartphone with the paypass/NFC function on) or from the conductor who passes through the train and punches the tickets during the journey.
•    The ride takes ca. 15 min and the route looks like this:

UBER or BOLT

•    Easy to book (you need to install the appropriate application on your smartphone) and will take you directly to your accommodation.
•    It takes ca. 20–40 min to get to the city, depending on traffic, which depends on the day of the week and time of day).
•    Prices vary depending on the demand, car quality, and traffic, but usually they are within the range of 50–130 PLN.
•    Given that payments are processed via smartphone apps, you will pay with your own currency (smartphone apps will do the currency exchange automatically for you).

TAXI

•    The Kraków Airport offers official taxi service.
•   It takes ca. 20–40 min to get to the City (depends on traffic, which depends on the day of the weak and time of the day).
•    You can take the taxi in front of the Airport or book it online in advance.
•    It should cost you ca. 90–100 PLN, depending on where your accommodation is (in this Airport Taxi Service world, the Kraków Old Town lies in “Zone 4”).

CITY BUS (MPK)

•    Although public transportation in Kraków (buses, trams and river trams – all operating under the city-owned MPK company) are generally reliable, run frequently and there is a dense connection grid, getting from the Airport to Kraków by city bus is not the best choice.
•    Even though it is the cheapest, it is also definitely the slowest way to get to the Main Train Station in Kraków. Thus, we do not recommend it, unless there really is no other option available.
•    The tickets can be bought from ticket machines at the airport and in the buses.
•    You must get a 60-minute ticket and punch the ticket as soon as you board the bus.

Accommodation

Kraków is a popular tourist destination, thus there are multiple accommodation options available from dorms (ca. 70 PLN per night), through a range of regular hotels and apartments (300–500 PLN per night), to luxury hotels and apartments (up to a 2000 PLN per night). However, this also means that the city is busy in the summer and not too many rooms are available if you book late. Therefore, we strongly suggest booking accommodation as soon as possible, especially since many booking websites offer a no pre-charge or a free cancellation service.

Kraków -- The City

City views

If you would like to see Kraków from above, we suggest these options:

• Wieża Mariacka (St. Mary’s Basilica Tower/Bugle Tower) in Rynek Główny (the Main Square). The Towers is famous for the Hejnał Mariacki (St. Mary's Trumpet Call) which is played every full hour, in each of the four cardinal directions, by a trumpeter on the highest tower of the Saint Mary's Basilica. The noon call is traditionally broadcasted via Polish radio. The Tower is open Tuesday-Saturday, from 10:00 to 17:30, with entries 5 and 30 minutes after a full hour (a visit is max. 25 minutes). Please note that there are nearly 300 steps to get to the top.
• Balon Widokowy (The Balloon) at the Wisła (Vistula River) bank. If you don’t feel like climbing up a tower, this option is for you. Moreover, whereas the Bugle Tower is 80 m high, the Balloon will take you to up as high as 150 m. Thus, although it’s farther from the City Centre, the view is greater (you may even see the Tatra Mountains in the south if the visibility is good). The Balloon is filled with helium and it is attached to the ground by a rope, so it operates like a lift. The Balloon may take up to 30 persons per ride, and it is hard not to notice it in the Kraków sky wherever in the City you may be. Flights are subject to weather conditions.

Pubs

There are numerous pubs, bars and restaurants in Kraków. Many of them are concentrated in Stare Miasto (the Old Town) and in Kazimierz (Old Jewish Quarter). Whereas the Main Square is a bit more posh (and expensive), Kazimierz is more messy but more laid-back and student-friendly. Although the shortest route from Rynek Główny to Kazimierz is via Starowiślna Street, we suggest a longer, but also a more scenic route via the Wisła (Vistula River) Boulevards (if you get tired on the way, you may consider having a drink on one of several barges moored at the river bank).

A short walk in the city will offer a wide choice of pubs in all sorts of styles, but here’s just a handful of places we particularly like:

• Piwnica Pod Baranami (‘The Three Rams Cellar’) in Rynek Główny (Main Square) has both a beer garden in the Square and a quaint cellar where you can take a nice break from the crowds and summer heat./li>
• Mleczarnia (‘Creamery’) in Kazimierz at Meiselsa 20 with its lively beer garden under chestnut trees across the street. The pub used to be a Jewish creamery before WW2.
• Eszeweria (‘Echeveria’) in Kazimierz at Józefa 9 has a wonderful green beer garden in a yard enclosed between old buildings. The famous disadvantage is a single toilet inside...
• Alchemia (‘Alchemy’) in Kazimierz at Estery 5 is one of the oldest pubs in Kazimierz and refers to the mysterious medieval history of this district.
• Absynth (‘Absinth’) in Kazimierz at Miodowa 28 serves interesting drinks, including a range of legendary Absinth spirits served in a traditional way (using an Absinth spoon, sugar cubes and flame).

While you are at Kazimierz, you should try one of Kraków’s most popular street food, zapiekanki (a foot-long piece of tasty bread with various toppings baked in an oven). There are many places that sell zapiekanki, but our favourite is “NaMaxa Minibar” in Okrąglak (old ritual Jewish slaughterhouse) in the centre of Plac Nowy. Chives on top are mandatory!

Boat cruises

It is good sometimes to take a different perspective on things. Boat cruises along the Vistula (Wisła) River offer such a different look at the Royal City. There are a number of companies offering short and long boat trips (some of them will take you to the medieval Benedictine Abbey in Tyniec built in the 11^th century). Here are ten best offers according to Tripadvisor.com.

City sightseeing

Walking around the city may be tiring, especially on a hot summer day. That is why there are many companies that offer city sightseeing with audio guides in small electric cars (so called Melex cars). It is hard to get through the Main Square not to be asked if you want a ride, so there should be no problem finding one if you would like to try it.

Museums and art galleries

Similarly to pubs and bars, we have a multitude of museums and art galleries in Kraków. A quick online search will provide you with a more comprehensive list, so below are a few we think are among the most interesting:

• Muzeum Książąt Czartoryskich (Princes Czartoryski Museum) at Św. Jana 19. The most valuable collection in Poland, and one of the most valuable ones in Europe. In 26 exhibition halls, you can see the ‘Lady with an Ermine’ by Leonardo da Vinci or the ‘Landscape with the Good Samaritan’ by Rembrandt van Rijn, as well as many other masterpieces of not only painting, but also sculpture, crafts, military, applied arts.
• Muzeum Farmacji (Museum of Pharmacy) at Floriańska 25. Collections are on display throughout all premises of a 14^th century building, taking up all Gothic cellars, then spread out through the rooms on all three floors, and ending up right at the attic. Those comprise a variety of pharmacy furnishing in different styles (Baroque, Empire, Biedermeier), pharmaceutical vessels from different eras, including a vast collection of majolica from various European manufactures, old medicinal ingredients of vegetable, mineral and animal origin, old pharmacy utensils (mortars, presses, filters, pill-making machines, dragee-making drums, herb slicers and grinders), old prints (e.g. Greek-Latin edition of the complete works of Hippocrates, medieval and early modern pharmacy textbooks, official and unofficial listings of medications, herbal books, handwritten manuals). A small but charming museum. Part of the Jagiellonian University.
• Galeria Sztuki Polskiej XIX Wieku (Gallery of 19^th-Century Polish Art) in Sukiennice (The Colth Hall) Rynek Główny (Main Square). The Sukiennice (Cloth Hall) is a large market hall erected in the 13th century in the middle of the Market Square, extended in the 14^th century in the Gothic style and remodelled in the mid-16^th century after Renaissance fashion. The Gallery of 19^th-Century Polish Art is a continuation of the Gallery of the Art of Old Poland from the 12^th to the 18^th Century, situated in Pałac Biskupa Erazma Ciołka (the Bishop Erazm Ciołek Palace) at Kanonicza 17. The display exhibited in the Sukiennice is chronologically followed by works presented in the Gallery of 20^th-Century Polish Art in Gmach Główny Muzeum Narodowego w Krakowie (the Main Building of the National Museum in Kraków) at 3 Maja 1 Avenue.
• Zamek Królewski na Wawelu (Wawel Royal Castle). There are quite a few permanent exhibitions showing the lives of Polish kings and national treasures (Poland was a kingdom until 1795): Crown Treasury & Armoury, State Rooms, Royal Private Apartments, The Lost Wawel, Wawel Recovered, Royal Gardens, Courtyards & the Church of Saint Gereon, and Dragon's Den, as well as some temporary exhibitions. We suggest booking guided tours to get the most out of your visit.
• Fabryka Emalia Oskara Schindlera (Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory) at Lipowa 4 in the Podgórze (Foothills) District. The museum takes you on an emotional journey to the anxious pre-WW2 Kraków, throughout the horrors of the war and the post-WW2 Soviet occupation of Poland to the current times. The journey ends with hope. The Factory was made famous by the widely acclaimed Oscar-winning (7 awards) “Schindler’s List” by Steven Spielberg, who shot the movie in Kraków in spring 1993. We suggest booking a guided tour.
• Muzeum Sztuki Współczesnej w Krakowie (MOCAK) (Museum of Contemporary Art. In Kraków) at Lipowa 4 in the Podgórze (Foothills) District. MOCAK’s concentrates on presenting the art of the last two decades in the context of the post-war avant-garde and conceptual art as well as clarifying the rationale of creating art by highlighting its cognitive and ethical value and its relationship with everyday reality.

Polish essentials

A few (obvious and less obvious) facts and tips about Poland that may make your stay here easier and more enjoyable:

• Universal emergency phone number is 112 (free of charge).
• Time zone in August is the Central European Summer Time (CEST)
• Street traffic is right-sided, so always look left first when crossing the street! At pedestrian/zebra crossings, pedestrians have priority over cars but not over trams. Nevertheless, please always look both ways before crossing the street. Crossing the street when the red light is on is illegal.
• The currency is Polski Złoty (zł. or PLN). There are many bureaux de change (“kantor wymiany walut” or simply “kantor” in Polish) in the Old Town, but we advise to avoid those in the most touristy places (e.g. Floriańska Street or the Airport), as they tend to have unfavourable exchange rates and spreads, and they also often charge commission fees. However, there are places with good exchange rates, narrow spreads and no commission fees very close to the City Centre and they are worth a few minute walk from the Main Square (e.g. Kantor Merkury or Kantor Va Banque, both at Wielopole Street). Paypass payments with credit/debit cards and smartphones are very popular (in fact, they’ve been superseding cash payments).
• Debit/credit cards in other currencies are accepted in most places. In those cases, you can select if you want to pay in Polish Złoty or in your own currency. It is always advisable to select Polish Złoty because in that case it is applied the standard exchange rate. If you select your own currency, your bank may apply an inflated rate or fees.
• We use the Metric System, i.e. grams/kilograms (g/kg) for mass, metres/kilometres (m/km) for distance, and centigrade (°C) for temperature.
• Electric current is 230 (220–240) Volts and 50 MHz; electric sockets/power plugs are of the Type E (but Types C and F also work).
• Tap water is drinkable.
• Supermarkets and most shops are closed on Sunday and public holidays.
• Drinking alcohol in the streets (i.e. outside beer gardens) is prohibited.
• There are several useful websites and mobile phone applications that may help you to get around the city using public transportation (MPK in Polish). You may want to try https://jakdojade.pl/krakow website or their mobile phone application, or mobileMPK mobile phone application. This website shows the current position of buses and trams in a cute playful way: https://www.mapakrakow.pl. Tickets can be bought from ticket machines at bus/tram stops and also on buses/trams themselves. Please be aware that some ticket machines only accept payments by card. You may also rent city bicycles and electric scooters to swiftly get around the city (we don’t recommend renting a car, as traffic can be bad and finding a parking spot may also be annoying).