Truthful Trips

So… let’s talk about my home country. The place for a cheap night out and pierogi. 

It’s true, you can get drunk and spend a fraction of what you’d normally would in most of Europe, but I’m here to show you all the other amazing things you could be doing. 

Don’t worry, I will touch on bars and pub crawls, if you’re interested in that.

But before we get into the details, this blog has various links embedded so you can quickly access the things I talk about. Some of those links may be affiliate meaning I earn some commission through them however this is a disclaimer that this does not influence my opinion. I will still share my honest thoughts and feelings.

Despite being Polish, I haven’t explored my country that much because I moved to the UK at an early age. But I’ve been to Krakow a few times, and now Zakopane too, so I wanted to share the things I’ve done whilst there, and additional things you could do.

If you’re looking at going to Krakow, or any Polish city, prices are usually a lot higher around Christmas and Summer – most airlines bump up the prices as they probably know many Polish people want to go see their family then. So looking at periods between then is ideal.

I have gone in January, March and October and flights have been from £50 to £100 return. Definitely keep an eye out on Ryanair sales if you’re not restricted by a date. You can also look at EasyJet and Wizz Air.

How to get from the airport to centre?

If you’ve booked accommodation through booking.com, you’ll have the option to book a taxi which we’ve used twice. It’s convenient and easy as it will automatically link your stay so drop off and pick up will be your accommodation. However, if you book accommodation somewhere else, you can still use the taxi option in booking.com – you will just need to add the locations yourself. You can also look at Uber to compare prices.

Alternatively, there is a flixbus that will go to the city centre’s bus station. The flixbus also goes to Zakopane which is what we have used to get there as well. You can find them outside of the arrival terminal where the bus stops are (there will be a label for flixbus). The coaches are comfortable and hassle free. You can book this here.

Where to stay?

For all the stays I’ve booked through booking.com. All the places are linked – just click and it will take you to the right page – make sure to change to your dates for accurate prices and availability!

In Krakow, we’ve stayed at ‘Dietla 99 Apartments‘ which is quite close to the centre, especially the castle side, and was around £60 for 1 night for 3 people (as we were combing this with Zakopane). We also stayed at ‘Apartment Masarska‘ when travelling in a group of 6 – this was really good value for money as for 3 nights it cost £180 for all of us – so £30 each!! It was a bit further out but still very walk-able, and the apartment itself was lovely.

For Zakopane, we stayed at ‘Willa u Bohuna‘ – this was a bit out of the centre, but it was close to our desired ski resort (friendly for beginners and cheap) and had a lovely balcony with a view.

One thing to be aware, is that it is on a hill so can get quite slippy if you’re walking. If you’re driving, they do have parking available.

What did we do and what can you do?

Explore the Old Town – you will find beautiful architecture and a lot of pretty churches

Castle – you can walk around the castle grounds for free

From the Castle, you will see the river, which you can also walk along. You will also find a dragon structure which breathes fire every 5 minutes.

On the other side of the river, you will see a Ferris Wheel, which you can pay around £5 to go on. There is some restaurants in that area too if you’re interested.

You can also do a river cruise with GetYourGuide – link here.

We also did a pub crawl t- you can book here – which was a really cheap and fun experience. It was £15-20 each but the first hour is free drinks (you can’t get anything fancy, but your standard vodka, rum, gin etc). Many people got drunk just from the first hour!

There is also a cool Cosmic Games Pub (around £4 per person for entry but the drinks are pretty cheap too). You can drink and play different games like air shuffleboard and beer pong.

You can also book these tours for Auschwitz and Salt Mines, which is highly recommended, although Auschwitz can be hard emotionally.

You can also book a shooting range activity (£60 per person for 1 hour shooting + transport). I picked this one specifically as GetYourGuide do sales, and recently I have seen it for £30!

If you don’t have many days but would like to see Zakopane, you can book this day trip, which will take you to the centre, mountain view point and thermal baths! One of my friends did this, and loved it.

If you’re in Zakopane for a few days, or want a cheap ski trip, this is what we did:

Snowboarding – paid around £150 per person for 3 days of rental and passes. Accommodation was around £70 per night – this is all in the high season!

Exploring the centre

Gubałówka cabel car for mountain views (£7 per person for a return)

You can also do the thermal baths – although you’d have to drive or get a local bus – I usually use google maps to see what buses to use.

Here’s a bit more inspiration for accommodation we we’re considering:

• Krakow – Hotel Pod Wawelem
• Krakow – ibis budget Krakow Stare Miasto
• Krakow general accommodation inspiration
• Zakopane – Rzemieślnik Zakopane
• Zakopane – Magnat Inn & Sauna & Relax
• Zakopane general accommodation inspiration

Make sure to change the dates for accurate pricing and availability for your trip!

If you like Poland, I would also recommend other Polish Cities to look at, such as Wroclaw, Warsaw, Gdansk.

Feel free to leave any comments 🙂

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