In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Day 1, the Old Town: the Rynek Underground, St Mary’s Basilica (altar from 11:50, tower on the day), the Cloth Hall gallery and the Czartoryski Museum (timed ticket, closed Mondays). Day 2: Wawel (every route is a timed ticket, and the Cathedral is a separate 26 PLN ticket) and Kazimierz (synagogues closed Saturdays). Day 3, Podgórze: Schindler’s Factory (named ticket, 90 days ahead, photo ID, closed the first Tuesday of the month), the Eagle Pharmacy and Pomorska Street on the same ticket, and MOCAK. Or book a tour: GetYourGuide’s Old Town walking tourad (from £13.57, 4.8 stars from 1,050 reviews, 2.5 hours) covers the orientation, and the Wawel Castle and Cathedral guided tourad (from £45.90, 4.7 stars from 2,877 reviews) adds a guide at Wawel (GetYourGuide).
Before you go: what to book
| Booking | Book | Price (PLN) | Hours and closing days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schindler’s Factory | Named tickets online 90 days ahead; photo ID on the day | 60 (£11.65) | Tuesday to Sunday 09:00 to 20:00; Monday 10:00 to 15:00, free, no booking; closed the first Tuesday of the month |
| Wawel Castle | Timed tickets online a month ahead | 95 for both floors; 57 for one floor; 47 for the Treasury | Tuesday to Sunday 09:00 to 17:00; Monday selected exhibitions free |
| Wawel Cathedral | Cathedral ticket office only | 26 (£5) | Monday to Saturday 09:00 to 17:00, Sunday from 12:30 (April to October) |
| Czartoryski Museum | Timed ticket, online or at the desk | 65 (£12.65) | Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00; closed Mondays |
| Rynek Underground | Online or the box office | 45 (£8.75) | Tuesday 10:00 to 15:00; closed second Mondays |
| St Mary’s Basilica | Visitor office, Plac Mariacki 7, on the day | 20 (£3.90); tower 20 | Opens 11:30 (14:00 on Sundays); altar at 11:50 |
| Cloth Hall gallery | Online or at the desk | 35 (£6.80) | Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00 |
| Old Synagogue | Online or at the desk | 22 (£4.30) | Tuesday to Sunday 09:00 to 17:00; Monday 10:00 to 15:00 |
| Galicia Jewish Museum | Online or at the door | 35 (£6.80) | Every day 10:00 to 18:00 |
The Kraków Card does not pay back for this plan. The card-covered sights, the Underground, the Cloth Hall gallery, the Old Synagogue and the Galicia Jewish Museum, are PLN 137 at face value (the Eagle Pharmacy and Pomorska Street come free with the Schindler’s ticket). Add a 72-hour transport ticket (PLN 55) and the total is PLN 192 (£37.50), against PLN 295 (£57.50) for the 72-hour card. Wawel, the Cathedral, Schindler’s Factory, the Czartoryski Museum and St Mary’s (PLN 286 together) are paid in full either way.
Fitting the plan to your dates
- Monday: the Cloth Hall gallery and the Czartoryski Museum are shut, and so are the Eagle Pharmacy, Pomorska Street and MOCAK. Schindler’s Factory (10:00 to 15:00), the Old Synagogue (10:00 to 15:00) and the Town Hall Tower (11:00 to 16:00) are open and free. Wawel opens selected exhibitions free from 10:00 to 16:00, with passes at the windows until they run out.
- Tuesday: National Museum exhibitions are free, but the Czartoryski’s free tickets are limited and collected at the desk on the day; the 65 PLN timed ticket can be booked online. The Rynek Underground is free from 10:00 to 15:00 at the desk. The Eagle Pharmacy and Pomorska Street are shut.
- The first Tuesday of the month: Schindler’s Factory is closed (6 October, 3 November, 1 December 2026).
- Wednesday: the Eagle Pharmacy and Pomorska Street are free. Wawel holds quiet hours on Wednesdays from 15:00 to 17:00 in the Castle, Treasury and Armoury (7 and 28 October, 4 and 25 November, 2 and 30 December 2026), with no group tours.
- Saturday: the Remuh and Tempel synagogues are closed. The Old Synagogue and the Galicia Jewish Museum are open.
- Sunday: St Mary’s opens at 14:00 and its altar at 14:10; Wawel Cathedral opens at 12:30.
- Second Mondays: the Rynek Underground is closed on 12 October, 9 November and 14 December 2026, and on 16 to 18 November.
- 31 October: the Dragon’s Den and the viewing tower at Wawel close for the season.
- Public holidays: most branches shut on 1 and 11 November and 24 and 25 December.
Day 1: the Main Market Square and the Old Town
The Rynek Underground
PLN 45 (£8.75) · 10:00 to 19:00 Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, to 20:00 Friday to Sunday, to 15:00 Tuesday · closed second Mondays
The remains of the medieval square, found by archaeologists between 2005 and 2010, under the Main Market Square. Allow about 75 minutes, and enter at the opening time. The last entrance is 75 minutes before closing. See Rynek Underground tickets.
The Main Market Square, above the Underground. Photo: Jorge Láscar, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
St Mary’s Basilica and its tower
PLN 20 (£3.90), tower PLN 20 · visitors from 11:30, altar at 11:50 · tickets at Plac Mariacki 7 only
Buy the basilica ticket at the visitor office on Plac Mariacki 7: the tickets are not sold in advance or anywhere else. The Veit Stoss altar is opened at 11:50 (14:10 on Sundays). The tower is open Tuesday to Saturday 11:00 to 17:30 and from 13:00 on Sundays, same-day tickets only, with no children under 7, and it closes in bad weather. The bugle call is played from the tower every hour and stops mid-note (mariacki.com). See St Mary’s Basilica tickets.
St Mary’s Basilica beyond the Cloth Hall roofline. Photo: Scotch Mist, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Cloth Hall gallery
PLN 35 (£6.80) · Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00 · closed Mondays, free Tuesdays
The Gallery of 19th-Century Polish Art on the first floor of the Cloth Hall, with Matejko’s Wernyhora and Chełmoński’s Four-in-Hand. The trading hall on the ground floor needs no ticket. See the Main Market Square.
The Czartoryski Museum
PLN 65 (£12.65) · Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00 · timed ticket
Leonardo da Vinci’s Lady with an Ermine is here, the only work by the artist in a Polish collection. The ticket is for a date and a time, last admission is an hour before closing, and one ticket also lists seven other National Museum exhibitions. See the Czartoryski Museum guide.
Day 2: Wawel and Kazimierz
Wawel Castle and the Cathedral
Castle both floors PLN 95 (£18.50), audio guide included · Cathedral PLN 26 (£5) · Tuesday to Sunday 09:00 to 17:00
Every route is its own timed ticket, valid on the day only: both floors take about 110 minutes, one floor 50 to 60. The Cathedral, the Sigismund Bell and the Royal Tombs are PLN 26 from the Cathedral’s own office, which the Castle does not sell. The Dragon’s Den (PLN 15) and the viewing tower (PLN 19) close on 31 October. Backpacks and large bags go to the checkroom in the Arcaded Courtyard. GetYourGuide sells no Wawel entry-only ticket; its Wawel Castle and Cathedral guided tourad is from £45.90 (4.7 stars from 2,877 reviews, 1.5 to 2 hours). See Wawel Castle tickets.
Wawel Hill above the Vistula. Photo: Galileo01, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
Kazimierz
Old Synagogue PLN 22 (£4.30) · Galicia Jewish Museum PLN 35 (£6.80) · synagogues closed Saturdays
The Old Synagogue on ul. Szeroka (from 1407) is a Museum of Kraków branch, open on Saturdays. The community’s Remuh and Tempel synagogues take a donation and are open 10:00 to 18:00 in summer and 10:00 to 16:00 in winter, and closed on Saturdays and Jewish holidays. The Galicia Jewish Museum at ul. Dajwór 18 is open daily 10:00 to 18:00; trams 3, 9, 19, 24 and 50 stop at Miodowa. GetYourGuide’s Jewish Quarter and former ghetto tourad is from £13.57 (4.8 stars from 1,911 reviews, 2.5 hours). See Kazimierz and the Jewish Quarter.
The Old Synagogue on ul. Szeroka. Photo: Jeremiah Z. Cockroach, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Day 3: Podgórze
Schindler’s Factory
PLN 60 (£11.65), named ticket · Tuesday to Sunday 09:00 to 20:00 · closed the first Tuesday of the month
The permanent exhibition “Kraków under Nazi Occupation 1939 to 1945”, at ul. Lipowa 4. Online tickets go on sale 90 days ahead, are named, and are checked against photo ID; online sales stop 6 hours before the visit, and the ticket office sells tickets for the next slot only. The English guided tour is PLN 90 (£17.50) at 10:00, 12:00 and 16:00, Tuesday to Sunday. GetYourGuide’s guided tourad is £17.44 (4.2 stars from 4,866 reviews), the operator’s own price. See Schindler’s Factory tickets.
The former enamel factory at ul. Lipowa 4, now the museum. Photo: Spudgun67, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
The Eagle Pharmacy and Pomorska Street
PLN 22 (£4.30) each · Wednesday to Sunday · free on Wednesdays
A Schindler’s Factory ticket admits you to both within 7 days of the date on it. The Eagle Pharmacy, at plac Bohaterów Getta 18, is open 09:00 to 17:00, and Pomorska Street, at ul. Pomorska 2, 10:00 to 17:00, with the last admission 30 minutes before closing. See the Kraków ghetto and Podgórze.
MOCAK
PLN 30 (£5.85) · Tuesday to Sunday 11:00 to 19:00 · Thursday free for the collection
The Museum of Contemporary Art, at ul. Lipowa 4, beside the factory. The ticket office closes at 18:30, and every Wednesday from 16:00 to 19:00 is “Hush Time”, with no tours (en.mocak.pl). See museums in Kraków.
With more time, or less
- A fourth day: the Wieliczka Salt Mine is a 23-minute train and about 3 hours at the mine; Auschwitz-Birkenau is a day and needs a named pass. Day trips from Kraków compares them.
- The Kościuszko Mound: PLN 34 (£6.60), open daily 09:00 to 18:00, free on 15 October 2026, in the Kraków Card.
- On a wet day: museums in Kraków lists the prices and the free days, and free museum days says which day each is free.
- With one day: Kraków in one day picks the sights.
- In the evening: Chopin concerts in Kraków and the Vistula river cruises.
For the airport, see Kraków airport to the city centre; for the tickets, Kraków public transport; for where to sleep, where to stay in Kraków and hotels near the Main Market Square; and for every booking and how far ahead, what to book before you go to Kraków. For tables worth booking, where to eat in Kraków; for a guided tasting, Kraków food tours, and for a guided walk, Kraków walking tours. For the dates, see the best time to visit Kraków, and in December the Kraków Christmas market. For a ride through the districts, Kraków golf cart tours compares the electric carts.
Common questions
Is 3 days enough for Kraków?
Enough for the core: the Main Market Square, Wawel and Kazimierz, and Podgórze with Schindler's Factory. A fourth day buys a half-day at the Wieliczka Salt Mine or a full day at Auschwitz-Birkenau, which needs a named pass booked ahead.
What should I book for 3 days in Kraków?
Schindler's Factory, which sells named tickets 90 days ahead and checks photo ID, and Wawel's routes, which go on sale a month ahead as timed tickets. The Czartoryski Museum sells timed tickets online. St Mary's Basilica and its tower sell tickets only at the visitor office on the day.
Is the Kraków Card worth it for 3 days?
Not for this plan. The 72-hour card is PLN 295 and excludes Wawel, Schindler's Factory, the Czartoryski Museum and St Mary's. The sights it covers in this plan come to PLN 137, so the card costs PLN 103 more than buying them with a 72-hour transport ticket.
Which sights are closed on a Monday in Kraków?
The Cloth Hall gallery, the Czartoryski Museum and the other National Museum branches, the Eagle Pharmacy, Pomorska Street, the Podgórze Museum and MOCAK. Schindler's Factory (10:00 to 15:00), the Old Synagogue and the Town Hall Tower open short hours, free.
