I considered renting a car to get us around Poland. Overall I had a pretty good experience driving through Bulgaria and Romania last fall. So why not run it back in Poland? But a few factors tilted me toward taking the train between destinations. First, Polish trains are generally pretty reliable. Maybe not quite up to the Swiss standard, but much closer to what you would experience in Spain or Italy than Romania. Second, the distances between cities was pretty solid. 3+ hours from Krakow to Wrocław. 3.5 hours from Poznan to Gdansk. That's a lot of driving on 'vacation'. Third, city parking. As this was mostly vacation, I thought removing parking stress from the equation was a good idea. And finally, they are good value. Two second class tickets from Krakow to Wrocław cost 90zł. That's like $25 USD. And actually one other factor was to have the first-hand experience so I could make suggestions and recommendations for my clients. So the path was clear. We would be taking trains across Poland. (Though I did afford myself one day of driving around, which I'll post about later.)
I like to be prepared when trying new things. Turned to YouTube looking for resources and found this fantastic video below from Zuzanna. She's a Krakow-based guide and I found her info about navigating trains and trams super helfpul.
Per her suggestion, I used the Koleo site to get my tickets and the app to keep them handy while traveling. By the end of our trip in Gdansk I was a Koleo ninja, buying last minute tickets for local rides between Gdynia and Sopot and then Sopot to Oliwa.
But first we had to get ourselves from Krakow to Wrocław. The start was a little shaky. Our Bolt driver dropped us off on what I think was the top floor of a parking structure that very much did not seem like the entrance to Krakow's main train station. We popped into an elevator and a helpful local who spoke english (Bolt driver did not) assured us we were heading in the right direction.
It's been a minute, as they say, since my time occassionally navigating Union Station and the like during my Chicago days. But once we got downstairs into the station the general vibe was familiar with a mix of quick food options and retail, including a pharmacy where we picked up a nifty dispenser of 'lacto control' that came in handy.
We found our way to the right platform and track. Utlimately got to our seats. Comfy, facing the right direction. Had my pistachio donut from the station, later joined by the coffee from the food car. Success.
One observation / heads-up regarding these trains versus what I've experienced in Spain, for example, is that the amount of storage for big bags at the end of each car was limited. Like, could hold literally 2 or 3 bags. Unless you're the first one on the car you may not have access to store your bag there. Which means you need to be prepared to hoist it into the overhead, where it will fit (kinda). But if you're not able to military press your 23kg bag you could be stuck. Unless you can sweet talk -- in Polish -- a strong, healthy local for assistance.
Roughly 3 hours later we arrived on schedule at Wrocław Głowny. Definitely a step down in terms of scale, so easier to navigate. We saw a number of quick and pleasant food options, too. Not sure you're ever looking to spend a lot of extra time at the train station. But of the ones we saw during our trip, Wrocław takes the top spot for 'hangout-ability'.
Also snapped a couple of shots of the general vicinity while waiting for our Bolt.
Overall our first Polish train adventure was smooth. Would recommend.
By the fourth night of our trip a trend had set in. We were having great luck with non-Polish cuisine choices. Specifically Asian options were treating us right. Bonjour Pho solidified the trend. I had read something about this little area in the 'second layer' of the center, just on the west side of Planty Park at about 9 o'clock if you look at the map of Krakow like a clock face. The zone between Rajska on the north, Krupnicza on the south, Podwale on the east, and Dolnych Młynow on the west is home to a number of cool cafes and restaurants to try. Very accessible from any part of the center. 15 minute walk from our Airbnb in the southern tip of Stare Miasto. Well worth checking out if you want to experience something beyond the dining options in the epicenter.
Good vibes, good menu. Great food. I think Judy has the pics of our meals so I'll need to update this. She said the Massaman Curry was the best she's ever had. And my tofu pad thai was quite nice.
Just before closing time and right as we were taking care of the check we noticed the chefs gathered for their end of shift meal. They had some authentic and native talent serving up the dishes that night.
100% recommend if you're craving some great Asian food in a cool spot next time you're in Krakow.
Knowing we would be spending some time walking around Kazimierz and Podgorze I had flagged some spots to try in those parts of the city as well. This came in very handy after our walking tour, which ran from 10:30 - 1 or so. We had failed to really get a meaningul breakfast before the tour. We tried. Did a bit of a walkabout pre-tour near the Rynek. But didn't find any sit down places open and didn't love any of the quick take away options we saw. Couldn't do a donut that morning. So we subsisted on some light snacks. But by 1pm we were starving.
Our tour ended in Ghetto Heroes Square, aka Plac Bohaterow. BIM TO BAP was a short 6-minute walk away. Not sure we could have made it if it were a 7-minute walk.
Their layout is clean and sharp. Their model is simple. Maybe 5-6 options (tofu, salmon, chicken, bulgogi) and 3 sauces (gochujang, miso, and something else). Young girl running the counter was friendly and on top of it. Overall a pretty good experience. I loved my tofu with gochujang. Judy felt the bulgogi was too dry, not enough of its own juice in there. Think it was $9-$10 per for the small. Just enough to hit the spot.
While our breakfast experience at Fable Cafe was just okay, we loved dinner at Tandoori Flame. Our first date nearly 25 years ago was dinner at an Indian place in Chicago. This was an anniversary trip, so we needed to work in at least one meal at an Indian restaurant. Found Tandoori Flame during my scan of Google Maps.
Quiet on a Sunday night.
Fun decor.
Good looking food. Okocim porter available to wash it down.
Before the trip I had been combing through listings in Google Maps hunting for breakfast, lunch, and dinner options. Always hard to do just based on reviews and photos, but what else can you go on? Fable Cafe had a great location in Stare Miasto, about a 2 minute walk from our Airbnb. Google rating of 4.6 on 450+ reviews. It made the list.
We walked up and it looked good. Clean, cozy. Service was friendly enough. Food looked good when it hit the table.
But honestly, our take away was it was just okay. Pleasant, but not delicious.
We enjoy food hunting, or food window shopping, more than anything else when we travel. So when I'm researching the destinations we will be visting I make sure to pin places like Stary Kleparz and Hala Targowa as 'must check out' sights.
Stary Kleparz is wonderful.
It's on the north side of the city center, just 3 minutes walking from the Krakow Barbican. If we lived in Krakow or were doing an extended slow travel type stay in Krakow I'm certain Judy would be here multiple times per week. It has a lot of the basic groceries you'd need, plus some elevated gourmet level products, traditional and artisanal products (jams, honey, sweets, breads). There are multiple stalls riding the Dubai Chocolate craze. And a number of quick, convenient take away options from a variety of backgrounds (Portuguese, Italian, Tunisian?).
And if you're looking to rest up after your visit or fuel up before your visit, Kawa i Wino looked like a solid option. Had we more time we would have checked it out.
But I wanted to keep it moving and cover some ground, so we headed over toward Hala Targowa. We weren't so hurried that we couldn't check out the first of approximately one million paczki shops we would come across over the next 12 days.
Always game to check out markets, but I had also read about some sausage cart that supposedly posts up near there. Unfortunately our visit didn't coincide with their schedule, so no sausage for us. But it was still good to see what more of a 'standard' market looked and felt like in a less touristy pocket of the city center. Reminded us of the markets we have here in Mexico City, where each colonia has their own that serves as a hub and heartbeat of the area (like ours, here).
That 'feels like home' vibe was emphasized when we heard some spanish and saw a little Mexican place on the side. Note the "Jarritos" umbrella.
We took advantage of having some common language speakers available to find out where the closest public bathroom was. Not super easy to find around Poland. We learned it's not common for grocery stores to have a public restroom. And smaller restaurants / take away shops do not have them either. So you need to keep your eyes peeled for useful opportunities. The good news is most accept credit card payment with a tap and for 3-5zł you can take a pit stop.
