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Beautiful Hidden Gems in Kraków, Poland
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Apr 29, 2025
For more information about the amazing city and culture it has to offer, visit https://kbf.krakow.pl/en/ or follow here: https://www.instagram.com/kbf.krakow/ Map with all the places is here: https://bit.ly/krakowmap Checkout our new merch: https://www.honestguide.store/ Like what we do? We create 2 EXTRA videos every week on http://patreon.com/honestguide Thank you for supporting our creative journey Honest Guide https://instagram.com/realhonestguide Janek https://instagram.com/janekrubes/ Honza https://instagram.com/honzamikulka/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HonestPragueGuide/ The music we use for our videos https://bit.ly/HonestMusic 0:00 Welcome to Kraków 0:21 Metrum Restrobistro 0:41 Money
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0:00
Hello and welcome to Krakow, Poland
0:19
I think we're starting our guide strong with this hidden gem. It's a coffee rooftop restaurant terrace on the sixth floor of a music academy
0:28
There's no sign for it on the door, so we were lucky to find it
0:31
A perfect view. The weather's not really on our side, but if you come here on a sunny day, I think it will be perfect
0:37
And you can even get some food and some drinks at the bar. Krakow is a beautiful historical city full of culture and cool places that we're about to show you
0:46
We walked everywhere, and everywhere we went, we could just tap with our cards so you don't need to worry about exchanging currency
0:52
because in Poland, they use Polskie Zloty. Speaking of that, Krakow is very reasonably priced in terms of the European standards
1:00
But let's stop talking about this stuff and let's go discover some cool spots
1:08
If you want to get a good donut in Krakow for breakfast, you gotta look for Dobrá Packárnia
1:13
which means good donut place. There's multiple of them around the city
1:17
One is also on the Royal Way and we couldn't resist and got one with chocolate and nuts for seven zloty
1:25
So I'm gonna be the judge if it's good or delicious. Beyond good
1:38
I have sugar everywhere and I'm really happy. we are on the outskirts of the old town of Krakow which you can tell by this little fortress
1:51
barbican that served to protect the city and there's a legend which that board says that there
1:56
was a citizen of Krakow and he was protecting the city and when he ran out of ammo he actually used
2:03
a button from his shirt to shoot who the person that was attacking the city and you can see I'm
2:10
also missing a button. I guess that's how he did it. Gotcha
2:23
I think the rule or the tip how to find a nice coffee in an old town in Europe is simply that
2:28
you look inside a building if the door is opened and if you see a light at the end of the tunnel
2:32
most likely there is a little courtyard inside and usually there is a nice coffee place. So that's
2:38
exactly what we did and found this Café Jarovka, which is very lovely. And if I would live here
2:43
this would be my place to go to. If you happen to be on the main square in Krakow on the full hour, you will hear a melody being
2:57
played by a trumpetist from the church tower. It was used back in the days to signal that they
3:02
should either open the gates in the morning of the old city or close them. But when you hear the
3:07
melody now it doesn't finish it suddenly cuts off and the reason for that is to commemorate a moment
3:12
when this guy was playing a trumpet but somebody was attacking the city and they shot him in the
3:18
neck with the arrow so he couldn't finish the melody it's a legend i kind of like it but i also
3:24
found a different story that i like much more and that says that he was playing part of the melody
3:29
saying close the gates and then at the gates they would finish the melody to say we got your message
3:37
and we close the gates. I like the second story much better, but I leave you to decide which one's
3:42
better. There's one street food here in Krakow that I was looking forward to try and that is
3:51
Obvarzanek which I heard is a mixture of bagel and a pretzel two things that I absolutely love It is here on every corner sold from these tiny little stands for 2 zloty so I will sample it
4:07
It tastes exactly what you would think from a mixture of a bagel and a pretzel, which is really good
4:17
So this is the tower of the old city hall. You cannot see the city hall because it's been destroyed, but there's a model where you can see what it looked like
4:25
And you can actually climb the tower for free on Mondays, which is what we just did
4:29
But if your expectation is that there's a balcony that you can walk to, unfortunately there's not
4:33
So you can only look out through the window. But the biggest experience, I believe, is the staircase up to the top
4:40
In the middle of the main square is this hall, which is a cloth hall, cloth market, or it used to be
4:51
Nowadays, it's mostly just tourist souvenirs. But if you follow the simple rule and look up at the ceiling and on the walls
4:58
you will see coat of arms of all the Polish cities, which is kind of a nice exhibition
5:03
And if you fancy more of exhibition or a museum, you can go to the upper floor
5:07
where there's a museum, some paintings on display on permanent exhibition. We're at a place called Barmlechie, which is a tray, table tray style cafeteria
5:29
where they serve local Polish food and it's a mixture of locals, students, tourists and workers
5:36
And we of course got the Polish pierogi, which I'm very much looking forward to and some salad
5:41
Food's definitely not colorful, so may not look good on camera But let's not judge it by the looks, but let's judge it by the taste and price-wise it was very cheap
5:53
I love this kind of food, so I think it's great I love how as we're walking through the city of Krakow, there's like so many restaurants
6:09
with Michelin stars, but we just picked this one. I like that. One of many popular stops here in Krakow is this Babel dragon behind me that breathes fire
6:21
I mean, fire-breathing dragon? Does your city have that? Also a side note, there's a lot of pigeons in Krakow and I wonder how many times they get roasted up there
6:29
It has to happen. After we walked a bit through the old town and eventually we walked up to the castle and around there
6:45
we crossed the river to this place. We're on the riverside and this weird-looking building behind me is Hala Forum
6:51
It used to be a hotel. Not anymore. It was abandoned for many years
6:55
And now they turned it into a place where a lot of people meet. There's food hall, there's beers, there's coffee, there's sweets, there's multiple choices of food
7:04
And we were here last night and it was absolutely perfect. Not only you can chill here and have a perfect view of the castle
7:11
but if you're into some bizarre stuff, you can also take a ride on the Krakow Eye
7:15
or fly in this hot air balloon that is hanging here on this string
7:20
neither of these things interest me so I'm just gonna grab something here and sit down
7:24
by the way when I said that this was a hotel and you're thinking like I wish it was a hotel so I
7:45
could stay on the river with the view, well you still can because they made this
7:49
here and it a hotel you can stay in on the river and look over the castle and I believe they call it Votel because it water hotel
8:07
This behind me looks like a regular hill but it is actually man-made and it is named Krakus
8:12
Mound after the founder of Krakow, the King Krakus. It is surrounded by mystery. They do know it was
8:19
man-made they actually dig the hole in in the 30s to found artifacts from the 8th century
8:25
All I know is that once you climb up there's a great view of the city so you should do it as well
8:39
I guess I don't need to point out that Krakow is a city full of history and especially history
8:44
during the Second World War is important to mention here. We've just been to the
8:49
remainings of the ghetto wall because there was a Jewish ghetto here during
8:53
the Second World War but there was also this factory that is still here and it's
8:57
Oskar Schindler's factory. If you haven't heard the name which I doubt I suggest
9:02
you look him up. He's a man who saved hundreds of lives during the Second
9:06
World War by employing them in his factory. It is now turned into a museum
9:11
So if you happen to be here, you can visit or if you just want to learn more from behind your computer and you have not seen the film Schindler's List, which I doubt again, but still you should definitely watch it
9:24
We will go to the building next door because the building next door is Mozak, which is the Museum of Contemporary Art of Krakow
9:32
So let's discover that. I understand that if you're younger age you may say like contemporary art Yannick
9:47
I'm not gonna go see that I'm like more of a gamer I'd like to play some Need for Speed on my computer
9:52
Need for Speed? Yeah they have that here too And this kit is a life-size crossword puzzle
10:05
Bring me a big pen This was the modern part of art in Krakow, but we can go deeper into history
10:21
We're inside the Czartoryski museum, and they have a nice coffee place here, a nice bridge in the interior
10:26
and the interior itself is very nice, and also there's free entrance on Tuesdays
10:30
None of these things will probably lure you in, but if I tell you that they have Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine
10:37
I'm pretty sure you will step in to take a look at it. This is our kind of place
10:48
We're at Jídlo, Dajnam, Ustáši. Honza got pirogy. I got something called Krakowska..
10:56
Whatever. It's a bun filled with meat, with sauce. I got okurek, which is a pickle
11:02
And we are more than happy. A little slice of heaven in this hidden gem
11:11
If there's one museum that you have to visit in Krakow, it's this museum of arcade games
11:23
Yes, it's a museum because they do have games from 1978. That old
11:29
Space Invaders, really cool. But they have games that are much cooler than that
11:33
You can drive a truck, you can be in a Star Wars fight, you can destroy the Death Star
11:37
you can ride on a skateboard and you can literally fight your friend
11:41
We just played a Japanese game with Honza that was actually banned in the United States
11:46
as people were literally fighting and we both absolutely loved the game So come here all the games are for free because you pay for the entry and then you can play as much as you want And you can see how excited I am about it Really cool spot
12:10
We're in the district of Krakow that's called Kazimierz and it's a very cool hype district with some cool bars, pubs, cafes
12:18
There's always people sitting outside, so I'm very sure you will find a place that will suit you because it is filled with cool places
12:27
We are inside an old synagogue, which you can tell by the Hebrew writing here and also by the space
12:33
But you can also see that it's not a synagogue anymore. It's a bar that is absolutely amazing looking
12:39
They serve Czech beer from a tank, so we can only recommend you to visit and the space is really something
12:45
Also Honza pointed out the cool clock above the entrance. We are on Placnovy and if there's one food I was looking forward to try here in Krakow it's
12:59
Zapiekanka. And this building here in the middle of the square is full of little holes in the walls
13:06
which only serves Zapiekanky. Each one is different and we were here yesterday with
13:12
girls that were taking us around. They said we have to go to this one it's the best one but the
13:16
other girl said I think they're all exactly the same. Well there's like 12 different choices so
13:22
when you're here with more friends you can each try different one. They go around range from 10
13:28
to 20 zloty so the price is very reasonable and they're quite big so our recommendation is to cut
13:33
it in half. We shared one with Honza and we were very full and very very happy
13:42
We are inside the Krakow Philharmonie. Excuse my dress, I'm still a YouTuber
13:49
And we happen to be here just in time for the Krakow Film Music Festival
13:54
These are the guys who actually invited us to Krakow. And I would like to invite you as well for this festival
13:59
You're probably not going to make it in time for tonight's concert, but you can make it next year
14:03
We will put a link to this event in the description of our video
14:07
And I think we're about to start, so I'm going to sit down and listen to some music. We have made this video together with the city of Krakow
14:24
They invited us, more specifically their cultural district. So I hope we gave you enough tips to lure you in or at least to get you interested
14:32
As I always say, we are not locals from Krakow. We're locals from Prague
14:37
So the tips were based on our friends, on tips from you and also the locals that live here
14:42
If you want a full list of the tips that we gathered, you can go below in the description
14:47
We'll put a link to a map. And if you are a local living in this beautiful city and you want to add something to our list
14:53
please do so by writing it in the comments below. So if you are a traveler and you want to see more tips from locals, they will be below in the comments
15:01
On a personal note, I do love discovering new cities. This was a first visit for me in Krakow and I absolutely loved it
15:07
and I cannot wait to come back and to enjoy the tips that we shared with you today
15:11
and that it was my pleasure to discover them on our own. So I hope to see you somewhere around the world in Europe, in Krakow, in Prague
15:18
or next week on our channel where the Honest Guides, which is Honza and Janek
15:22
See you next week. And in the end, I'm going to teach you a Polish saying or a sentence
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and that's how to say if you don't understand something. If a Pole doesn't understand something, if it's foreign to him
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he will say, it's like a Czech film for me, Český film
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So if they simply don't understand, it's like Český film for me
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And since I'm Czech, I find that very funny. It's not more a language barrier, it's just confusing
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That's Český film
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