Kraków in one day: a route from Wawel to the Main Market Square that works round the closures

💡 The Short Version: Start at Wawel at 09:00 with the Cathedral (PLN 26) and one Castle route (PLN 57), walk to the Main Market Square for lunch, then the Rynek Underground (PLN 45), the Cloth Hall gallery (PLN 35) and St Mary’s Basilica and tower (PLN 20 each), and finish in Kazimierz at dusk. The sights come to PLN 203 (£39.50). Book the Wawel route online; buy the rest on the day. On a Monday the Cloth Hall gallery is shut; on a Sunday St Mary’s opens at 14:00 and the Cathedral at 12:30. Or book a tour: GetYourGuide’s Old Town and Wawel Castle walking tour in Englishad (from £20.40, 4.8 stars from 838 reviews, 2.5 hours) gives the orientation with a guide, and the Old Town walking tourad (from £13.57, 4.8 stars from 1,050 reviews) covers the square (GetYourGuide).

The route

Wawel Cathedral and one Castle route

Cathedral PLN 26 (£5), Castle second floor PLN 57 (£11) · open 09:00 · Cathedral Monday to Saturday 09:00 to 17:00, Sunday from 12:30

Start at the Cathedral, which opens at 09:00 (April to October). The ticket also covers the Sigismund Bell and the Royal Tombs, and the Cathedral’s own office sells it, not the Castle’s; allow about 40 minutes. Then take one Castle route, as a timed online ticket: the second floor (State Rooms and the Ottoman Turkish Tents) takes about 50 minutes, the first floor (Royal Private Apartments and the Porcelain Cabinet) about 60, and the Crown Treasury (PLN 47) about 40, with the coronation sword Szczerbiec. Both floors together are PLN 95 and take about 110 minutes. Backpacks and large bags go to the checkroom in the Arcaded Courtyard. The Dragon’s Den (PLN 15) closes on 31 October. See Wawel Castle tickets.

Wawel Hill from the bank of the Vistula. Photo: Tomasz Chorwat, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Rynek Underground

PLN 45 (£8.75) · 10:00 to 19:00 on most weekdays · last entrance 75 minutes before closing

The remains of the medieval square, found under the Main Market Square between 2005 and 2010. Allow about 75 minutes. It is closed on the second Monday of the month (12 October, 9 November, 14 December 2026) and on Tuesdays it is free and open only 10:00 to 15:00, from the desk. See Rynek Underground tickets.

The Main Market Square and the Cloth Hall. Photo: Jorge Láscar, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Cloth Hall gallery

PLN 35 (£6.80) · Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00 · last admission 30 minutes before closing

The Gallery of 19th-Century Polish Art above the trading hall, which needs no ticket. It holds Matejko’s Wernyhora, Michałowski’s Somosierra and Chełmoński’s Four-in-Hand. It is closed on Mondays and free on Tuesdays. See the Main Market Square.

St Mary’s Basilica and the tower

Basilica PLN 20 (£3.90), tower PLN 20 · visitors 11:30 to 18:00 · tower Tuesday to Saturday 11:00 to 17:30

Tickets are sold only at the visitor office on Plac Mariacki 7, and the office closes 15 minutes before the end of visiting hours. The Veit Stoss altar opens at 11:50 and stays open until 18:00. The tower tickets are same-day only, no children under 7, and the tower closes in bad weather. The bugle call is played every hour. See St Mary’s Basilica tickets.

Kazimierz at dusk

Free · Szeroka Street is outdoors · the synagogues close by 16:00 in winter

Walk to ul. Szeroka. The community’s Remuh and Tempel synagogues are open 10:00 to 18:00 in summer and 10:00 to 16:00 in winter, and closed on Saturdays and Jewish holidays, so at dusk you see the street. The Old Synagogue (PLN 22) is open to 17:00 Tuesday to Sunday. See Kazimierz and the Jewish Quarter.

The street wall of the Remuh Synagogue on ul. Szeroka. Photo: Zygmunt Put, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Changing the route for your day

• Monday: the Cloth Hall gallery is shut, so go up the Town Hall Tower instead (free on Mondays, 11:00 to 16:00). Wawel opens selected exhibitions free from 10:00 to 16:00, with passes at the windows until they run out, and the Cathedral is open.
• Tuesday: the Underground is free from 10:00 to 15:00 at the desk, so go there first at 10:00 and move Wawel to the afternoon. National Museum branches, including the Cloth Hall gallery, are free.
• Sunday: the Cathedral opens at 12:30 and St Mary’s at 14:00, with its altar at 14:10. Start with the Underground at 10:00 and the Cloth Hall gallery, take the Cathedral from 12:30 and a Castle route after it, and keep the basilica for the late afternoon.
• Wednesday: Wawel’s Castle, Treasury and Armoury hold quiet hours from 15:00 to 17:00 on 7 and 28 October, 4 and 25 November, 2 and 30 December 2026, with no group tours.
• After 31 October: the Dragon’s Den and viewing tower are shut for the season.

What to leave out

• The Czartoryski Museum (PLN 65, timed ticket, closed Mondays) takes a morning on its own. Add it only if the Leonardo is why you came: see the Czartoryski Museum guide.
• Schindler’s Factory is a half-day in Podgórze with a named ticket booked up to 90 days ahead: Schindler’s Factory tickets.
• The Kraków Card (PLN 170 for 24 hours) excludes Wawel and St Mary’s. The sights on this route that it covers, the Underground and the Cloth Hall gallery, cost PLN 80 together. See the Kraków Card.
• A shorter option: GetYourGuide’s electric golf cart tourad (4.6 stars from 4,482 reviews, 1.5 hours) runs from the Old Town to the Jewish Quarter and the ghetto.

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. With more time, 3 days in Kraków adds Kazimierz and Podgórze, and day trips from Kraków compares the Wieliczka Salt Mine, Zakopane and the rest. For every booking and how far ahead, see what to book before you go to Kraków. For lunch, where to eat in Kraków; for the evening, Chopin concerts in Kraków; and for the dates, the best time to visit Kraków. For a ride instead of a walk, Kraków golf cart tours compares the carts, and for a meal with a guide, Kraków food tours; Vistula river cruises leave from the pier under the Wawel.