In Pictures: The Best Of Krakow Christmas Market & City Center

Just when you thought that you have seen the best of Poland, you stumble upon yet another remarkable destination, oozing with ancient charm; manifesting its architectural prowess. What’s interesting here is that these places are quite alike other beautiful spots that you’d have visited so far! However, you would be easily able to make out that the current one betters the previous ones you have already seen and adored.

Krakow is the Polish city that left us completely enchanted! It was the first Polish city I was at and while hopping around the city’s Old Town and Christmas Market I constantly kept assessing it against the streets of Paris that I walked less than 24 hours back. I would be honest here that I found streets of Krakow way more appealing that bylanes of Paris. OK, I’d rather count the clean porches of French buildings as an exception. The sheer charm of Krakow left me mesmerized.

Krakow in Poland has done well to be recognized as one of the top cities in eastern Europe that has the well-preserved medieval core and Jewish quarters. Adorable parks and remnants of the city’s medieval walls still adorn the Old Town. Rynek Glówny, also popular as the market square, is a tourist hotspot because of its close proximity to Bus and Train Station!

Apparently, the bus and train station falls in the different levels of the same building, and you will be left admiring the wonderful architecture and functionality of the place that has been designed so efficiently. The only thing that I resented was the fact that there weren’t too many English signboards & English speaking people around.

Anyway, we were lucky to utilize our day trip visiting a few notable churches, a Renaissance-era trading outpost, and St. Mary’s Basilica – the 14th-century Gothic church while walking up to the Market Square. And the pictures on the blog have actually done justice to the beauty of the place.

Traveling to Krakow from France

Speaking of my journey to Krakow, it was nothing less extraordinary than the place itself. I traveled to Krakow from France via Berlin on a Flixbus and the journey took me a little more than 24 hours. I like road trips, that’s why I chose the most effective bus service in Europe (Flixbus & Polski bus), over an airplane. The travel cost is almost same, with bus journey being slightly cheaper. 100 euros from Paris to Krakow. Krakow, in Southern Poland towards the border of Czech Republic, is a 3 h 37 min (295.1 km) drive from Warsaw.

Commuting is not a trouble in this part of Europe. A lot of buses trains and flights ply from major European cities to Warsaw. A lot of people have also recommended hitchhiking in Poland, but it’s something that I didn’t try so I’d rather not talk about it.

Taking you straight through the Kaleidoscopic journey of 14 wonderful hours Krakow!

It surely includes a lot of popular places to visit in Krakow City Center & Old Town

That’s how Poland greeted me with the burst of colors in the sky somewhere in Katowice

And walking this quiet street at night was nothing less than a dreamy affair

This beautiful car parked in the corner of the street grabbed my attention soon after we left our stay

Starting the short walk to the Old Town Square we were greeted by these morning birdies</h3>

A bright morning & this wonderful statue of Polish warriors at Plac Jana Matejki made sure we started the day sumptuously!

One of the photogenic castles that have stood the test of time

Planty Park – one of the largest city parks in Krakow

Two musicians who kept singing & enchanting us with mesmerizing music. It was a folklore!

On our way to the city center. The faint light made things bright & beautiful

The oldest Cathedral in Krakow, and the most stunning of course. Did someone notice the color of the sky?

The pretty Christmas Tree in the center of the Old Town market

This is indeed a huge barrel of hot wine…

…with a smiling guy sitting in it!

Bread served with Lard, fried onion, mushrooms, sausages, and lots of love!

Standing at the center of the Christmas Market & marveling at the 360-degree views around be like!

My eyes are on these fresh baked Oscypek being prepared for the breakfast

Market view with random chocolates and toys on display

I borrowed the traditional Polish cap from this guy in conventional attire walking the Christmas Market

The door that holds the miniature carvings of saints from centuries back!

And the most wonderful 14 hours in Krakow turned out to be the most remarkable one from the entire trip! It was from here that we headed to spend the most remarkable 5 days in Zakopane Mountains.

Further Read: Morskie Oko Lake Trek: A Thrilling Walk Into The Ice Age In The Polish Mountains