Where to stay

A central focus in the movie Schindler's List, the former Jewish Ghetto of Podgórze is home to Oskar Schindler's old enamel factory, now the Museum of Contemporary Art and a branch of the Historical Museum. Choose a hotel in this historic area to see a permanent exhibition documenting the Nazi occupation of the city. Stay in a spa hotel to visit the 13th-century Wieliczka salt mines and admire hand-chiseled salt sculptures housed in underground chambers. Created in 1949 with colossal steel mills and tobacco factories as a showpiece for Stalinism, Nowa Huta is one of only two pre-planned socialist realism cities ever built. Stay in a hotel in the area for insights into Poland under Communist rule.

Consider a stay in a luxury apartment to experience buzzing Florianska Street, one of the city's most famous thoroughfares, lined with shops, restaurants, and bars. Renowned for its Polish art nouveau architecture, Kleparz offers markets and independent boutiques, with lodgings in converted townhouses and design hotels. Good shopping venues and places to drink are located at the northern end of the medieval old town, near Wawel Castle. Accommodations on the Royal Road offer cultural attractions to add to a shopping trip.

With more bars per square meter than anywhere else in Europe, the Old Town is a good place to bar hop and enjoy Slavic beers chased down with vodka shots. For an authentic Krakow experience, visit one of the iconic milk bars, where snacks such as makowiec, a delicious poppy seed roll, are accompanied by mulled wine. Other cool neighborhoods to stay for nightlife include Krowodrza, where lively clubs and bars await. For a more bohemian vibe, consider a hotel in the Jewish district of Kazimierz, or "Kazi" as it's known to the locals. Stop in quirky bars after a stroll along the Vistula river and a trip to the Old Synagogue.