In this guide
💡 The Short Version: The free option is Walkative’s Old Town and Wawel Hill tour: 2½ hours, pay what you wish, most guests giving EUR 15 to 50, booking obligatory, meeting between St Florian’s Gate and the Barbican. For a fixed price, the Old Town Walking Tourad is £13.57 (4.8 stars from 1,050 reviews, 2½ hours, from St Mary’s Basilica to the Wawel), and Walkative’s own paid option is EUR 20. The evening ghost walks are £15.53 to £17.27. A bike tour of the Old Town, Kazimierz and the former ghetto is from £23.07. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices and move with the date.
The tours, compared
| Tour | Length | GetYourGuide from | Operator’s own price | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Town and Wawel Hill, Walkative | 2½ hours | Not on GetYourGuide | Pay what you wish; most give EUR 15 to 50 | A free tour from the Barbican to Wawel Hill |
| Old Town Walking Tour, Kraków Explorersad | 2½ hours | £13.57 | Not listed | From St Mary’s Basilica to the Wawel |
| Old Town and Wawel Castle, Walkative Toursad | 2½ hours | £20.40 | EUR 20 (about £17) | The Royal Route in English |
| Old Town, Wawel Castle and Marketad | 2½ hours | £4.85 to £9.69 | Not listed | From the Grunwald Monument via the Stary Kleparz market to the Wawel |
| Creepy Krakowad | 2 hours | £17.27 (usually £19.19) | Not listed | A ghost walk after sunset |
| Evening Walking Tour with Spooky Storiesad | 2 hours | £15.53 (usually £17.25) | Not listed | The same ground, by another operator |
| Bike Tour of the Old Town, Jewish Quarter and Ghettoad | 3½ hours | £23.07 (usually £27.14) | Not listed | 25 stops by bike |
| Segway Tour, Old Town and Kazimierzad | 2 or 4 hours | £38.77 | Not listed | A Segway with a guide |
Free walking tours
Walkative: Old Town and Wawel Hill
Pay what you wish · 2½ hours · 4.9 stars from 1,888 reviews on Walkative’s page
The tour traces the medieval walls and Barbican, the Main Market Square and Cloth Hall, St Mary’s Basilica, Collegium Maius and then Wawel Hill’s Cathedral and castle courtyard. It meets between St Florian’s Gate and the Barbican, with a yellow umbrella, and ends on Wawel Hill. Guests pay at the end, by cash or digitally, and Walkative says most give between EUR 15 and EUR 50 a person. The tour is in English, Polish, Spanish and German, depending on the calendar, and is suitable for people with reduced mobility and strollers. Booking is obligatory, and groups of eight or more cannot join: they book the paid option at EUR 20 a person, or a private tour. Pets are allowed but not on Wawel Hill. It runs in all weather, and is cancelled only for extreme weather, a guide’s illness or fewer than six registered guests (freewalkingtour.com).
The Barbican on Basztowa Street, with St Florian’s Gate behind it on the right. Photo: Jeremiah Z. Cockroach, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Walkative’s other free tours
Walkative’s page lists further pay-what-you-wish tours, among them Jewish Kraków: Kazimierz and the WWII Ghetto (2½ hours, 4.9 stars from 918 reviews, meeting at the Old Synagogue, Szeroka 24) and Ghosts & Crimes: Macabre Kraków (1 hour 20 minutes, 4.9 stars from 79 reviews). The others cover Nowa Huta, KL Płaszów and Kraków at war. The Jewish Kraków tour runs if five guests have registered. For the quarter itself, see Kazimierz and the Jewish Quarter and the former ghetto and Podgórze.
Paid Old Town walks
Old Town Walking Tour
From £13.57 · 4.8 stars from 1,050 reviews · 2½ hours
Krakow: The Old Town Walking Tourad, by Kraków Explorers, meets in front of St Mary’s Basilica, where the guide holds an orange umbrella, and ends at the Wawel. It passes through the Main Market Square, and the listing promises the trumpeter who plays from the basilica tower every hour. It is in English and wheelchair accessible.
Old Town and Wawel Castle Walking Tour in English
From £20.40 · 4.8 stars from 838 reviews · 2½ hours
Kraków: Old Town & Wawel Castle Walking Tour in Englishad is run by Walkative Tours and follows the Royal Route past the Wawel, St Mary’s Basilica and the Main Market Square. Walkative’s own paid option is EUR 20 (about £17), against £20.40 here.
Old Town, Wawel Castle and Market Walking Tour
From £4.85 (usually £9.69) · 4.8 stars from 172 reviews · 2½ hours
Krakow: Old Town, Wawel Castle and Market Walking Tourad, by Discover Cracow, starts at the Grunwald Monument, visits the Stary Kleparz food market, passes the Czartoryski Museum and ends at the Wawel. Itinerary stops include the Obwarzanek Living Museum, St Mary’s Basilica and Kanonicza. It is in English.
Evening and ghost walks
Two listings share the same ground: after dark, round St Mary’s Basilica, the Cloth Hall, the Town Hall Tower and St John Street, with legends and scary anecdotes. Creepy Krakow: 2-Hour City Walking Tourad is by Krakowbooking, from £17.27 (usually £19.19; 4.7 stars from 1,191 reviews), in English, Italian, Polish and Spanish, and is not for children under 15. Evening Walking Tour with Spooky Storiesad is by Poland Tours, from £15.53 (usually £17.25; 4.7 stars from 662 reviews). Legends and Tales of Old Townad, by Mysterium Tours, is from £17.00 (4.8 stars from 397 reviews, 110 minutes) and passes the churches of St Barbara, St John and St Casimir.
Bike, e-bike and Segway tours
Krakow: Bike Tour of Old Town, Jewish Quarter and the Ghettoad, by krakowbiketour, is from £23.07 (usually £27.14; 4.9 stars from 1,395 reviews, 3½ hours): 25 stops, starting at the company’s Old Town shop, in English and Dutch, with a 10-minute safety briefing first. Its e-bike version, 3-Hour Small Group Tour on E-Bikead, is from £38.77 (usually £48.46; 4.9 stars from 177 reviews). Highlights of Krakow Bike Tour - Small Groupad, by Cruising Krakow, is from £27.14 (4.9 stars from 464 reviews, 4 hours), with three starting points, among them Mickiewicz’s monument on Sławkowska and the company’s shop, through the Old Town, Kazimierz and Podgórze. Krakow Highlights: 2-Hour or 4-Hour Guided Bike Journeyad is from £23.26 (4.5 stars from 85 reviews). The Segway tourad, by Segway Tours & Rental Kraków, is a 2-hour Old Town tour, a 2-hour Kazimierz tour or both in 4 hours with a 15-minute break, from £38.77 (4.7 stars from 803 reviews).
What the Old Town walks cover
The walks run on the Royal Route, from the walls to the Wawel:
- St Florian’s Gate and the Barbican. The 14th-century gate and the round fortress beside it, the start of Walkative’s tour.
- The Main Market Square. The Cloth Hall, the Town Hall Tower and St Mary’s Basilica: the Main Market Square guide says what each is, and St Mary’s Basilica tickets covers the interior.
- Collegium Maius and the Czartoryski Museum. The university’s oldest building and the home of the Lady with an Ermine: Czartoryski Museum tickets.
- Kanonicza and Wawel Hill. Every Wawel route is its own timed ticket, and the Cathedral is a separate ticket: Wawel Castle tickets.
Grodzka Street, looking north towards the Main Market Square. Photo: Igor123121, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
Which tour
- Free: Walkative’s Old Town and Wawel Hill tour; book ahead, and tip.
- A fixed price, cheapest: the Old Town Walking Tour, £13.57.
- From the Barbican to the Wawel with a market stop: Discover Cracow’s tour, £4.85 to £9.69.
- After dark: the two ghost walks, £15.53 to £17.27.
- A lot of ground without walking: the bike tour, 3½ hours, or an electric golf cart tour.
- The Jewish quarter and the ghetto: Walkative’s free Jewish Kraków tour, or the Kazimierz guide.
For a tour with food, Kraków food tours compared lists the walks with tastings. The river is the other way to see the city: Vistula river cruises compares the boats. To fit a tour into a trip, 3 days in Kraków and Kraków in one day are built round the bookings, and what to book before you go to Kraków lists the sights that need tickets. Hotels near the Main Market Square lists the beds where most of the walks start, and where to stay in Kraków compares the areas. Best time to visit Kraków gives the weather by month, and the Kraków Card guide says what the card covers.
Common questions
Are the free walking tours in Kraków really free?
They have no fixed price: Walkative's pay-what-you-wish tours ask you to pay at the end what the tour was worth, and its page says most guests give between EUR 15 and EUR 50 per person. Booking is obligatory, and groups of eight or more cannot join; they book the paid option at EUR 20 per person.
Where does the Kraków Old Town free tour start and finish?
The Walkative Old Town and Wawel Hill tour meets between St Florian's Gate and the Barbican, with the guide under a yellow umbrella, and ends on Wawel Hill. It runs 2½ hours and passes the Main Market Square, St Mary's Basilica and Collegium Maius.
How much is a paid Kraków Old Town walking tour?
From £13.57 for the Old Town Walking Tour, 2½ hours from St Mary's Basilica to the Wawel, and £20.40 for the Old Town and Wawel Castle tour in English. These are GetYourGuide's lowest 'from' prices for one adult.
Do Kraków walking tours run in the rain?
Walkative's tours run in all weather and cancel only for extreme weather, a guide's illness or too few registered guests: fewer than six on the Old Town tour and fewer than five on the Jewish Kraków tour.
Is a bike tour of Kraków worth it?
For covering the Old Town, Kazimierz and the former ghetto in one outing: the Bike Tour of the Old Town, Jewish Quarter and Ghetto is from £23.07 for 3½ hours, with 1,395 reviews and 4.9 stars. A 4-hour small-group tour is £27.14, and an e-bike tour £38.77.
