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Poland

Kraków

A cathedral carved out of salt, and bars that never seem to close.

Kraków is medieval, atmospheric and cheap, with a Jewish quarter, Kazimierz, that has quietly become one of the best places in Europe to drink in a candlelit ruin until dawn.

Underground it gets stranger: royal crypts under the castle, and a salt mine carved into full cathedrals a hundred metres down.

Go when Late October into November, when All Saints’ turns the cemeteries into fields of candles.

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Haunt

What to See

Ossuaries, oddity museums, cemeteries and the properly strange.

  1. Wieliczka Salt Mine

    30 min south undergroundday trip

    A 700-year-old salt mine where miners carved whole chapels out of rock salt, chandeliers and altars and saints, a hundred metres down. Cold, vast, and hard to believe. Very ticketed, very busy, still unmissable.

    Best shot The chandelier-lit Chapel of St Kinga, every surface carved from salt. Long exposures pay off.

    • Touristy

  2. Rakowicki Cemetery

    Kraków cemeteryfree

    A grand 19th-century necropolis of stone angels and family tombs. Come at dusk near All Saints’, when it fills with thousands of candles.

    Best shot Thousands of grave candles at dusk near All Saints’, one of the quietest, best sights in Poland.

    • Quiet
    • Solo-friendly

  3. Wawel Cathedral Royal Crypts

    Wawel Hill crypt

    Down under the castle cathedral, the tombs of Polish kings, queens and poets. Baroque and echoing, and on the main tourist circuit, so go at opening.

    • Touristy

  4. Remuh Cemetery

    Kazimierz cemeteryhistoric

    A 16th-century Jewish cemetery whose smashed gravestones were rebuilt into a wall after the war. Small and heavy.

    • Quiet

  5. Kazimierz

    Jewish Quarter streetsfree

    The old Jewish quarter, a tangle of crumbling synagogues, courtyards and candlelit bars that stay open until dawn. Wander it slowly; the atmosphere is the whole point.

    Best shot Empty cobbled lanes, candlelit windows and peeling doors. The whole quarter shoots like a film set at night.

    • Solo-friendly

Rest

Where to Stay

B&Bs, haunted old hotels, Victorian piles. No hostels, ever.

  1. Hotel Copernicus

    $$$$
    Old Town historic

    A 14th-century townhouse with frescoed ceilings and a vaulted cellar pool, on the oldest street in town.

    • Quiet
    • Adults only

  2. Karmel Hotel

    $$
    Kazimierz boutiquevalue

    A small, characterful base in the Jewish quarter, steps from the candlelit bars. Cheap.

    • Solo-friendly

Feast

Where to Eat & Drink

Candlelit cellars, dark bars, rooms with history in the walls.

  1. Alchemia

    $
    Kazimierz barcandlelit

    The heart of gothic Kazimierz. A warren of candlelit rooms, junk-shop antiques and dripping wax, open late with music in the cellar. Order a wódka and disappear. Loud and lively once the band starts.

    • Solo-friendly
    • Party scene

  2. Singer Café

    $
    Kazimierz caféatmospheric

    Tables made from old Singer sewing machines, lit only by candles. Bohemian and dim, good for a slow night.

    • Solo-friendly
    • Quiet

  3. Miód i Wino

    $$
    Old Town meadtraditional

    Honey and Wine. A cellar doing old Polish food and jugs of mead by candle and firelight. Right by the main square, so it draws a crowd.

    • Touristy
Next destination Tallinn → A medieval Dance of Death and taverns lit by nothing but candles.