Krakow 2-Day Itinerary: Old Town & Kazimierz Explorer

Start Day 1 at the Main Market Square. Arrive early at 8:00 AM to photograph Europe's largest medieval town square in the morning light. Grab an obwarzanek from a blue street cart, listen for the Hejnał trumpet call, and soak in the atmosphere before the tour groups arrive.

Cross the square to St. Mary's Basilica. Purchase your ticket at the office on Plac Mariacki and enter to see the breathtaking blue-and-gold star-painted ceiling and the world's largest medieval wooden altarpiece by Veit Stoss. The interior is one of the most stunning church interiors in all of Europe.

Step inside the Cloth Hall to browse the ground-floor market stalls selling amber jewelry, hand-painted wooden boxes, and traditional Polish handicrafts. Pick up souvenirs and optionally visit the Gallery of 19th-Century Polish Art upstairs. Before leaving the square, consider the excellent Rynek Underground Museum beneath.

Walk north along ulica Floriańska to the medieval Floriańska Gate, the only surviving gate from Krakow's original city walls. Continue through the narrow neck passage to the Barbican, a magnificent circular Gothic fortress from 1498. Explore the defensive structure with its 3-metre-thick walls and 130 firing loopholes. Walk through the adjacent Planty park that traces the line of the old city walls.

Walk south along the Royal Road to Wawel Hill. Spend the afternoon exploring the Wawel Royal Castle — visit the State Rooms to see the magnificent Flemish tapestries, tour the Crown Treasury and Armoury, and enter the Cathedral where Polish kings were crowned and buried. Admire the gilded Sigismund Chapel. Descend through the Dragon's Den to the fire-breathing dragon statue on the riverbank.