10 Things to Do in Krakow in Winter

A trip to Kraków always offers the chance to discover all the attractions its streets have to offer, even in winter. Although the cold temperatures make it hard to feel comfortable outdoors and the shorter days mean you have to plan each day carefully, Kraków takes on a special beauty at this time of year and offers its visitors experiences they will never forget.

If there’s one winter activity in Kraków you simply mustn’t miss, it’s a visit to the Christmas Market in Rynek Główny (Market Square). The square is stunning for its beauty and monuments (it’s no surprise it’s one of the places you’ll visit if you book a tour of the Old Town) and takes on a unique atmosphere when the Christmas market is set up there.

The main attractions of the market, which runs from late November to early January, are as follows:

• Its numerous huts where artisans sell all sorts of products, from Christmas decorations (such as the popular baubles for trees) to wooden crafts.
• Its food stalls, which are truly spectacular and fill up almost every hour. I recommend you forget the cold and treat yourself to lunch or dinner there one day.
• The stalls selling the country’s traditional hot drinks, including both wine and beer.
• The Market Square itself, which becomes more than ever the meeting point for the people of Kraków.
• Groups of children singing carols, around the stalls and near some of Kraków’s finest churches.

If you’re in Kraków on 31 December, you simply must see in the New Year. There’s practically a party in every pub and bar in the city, but the most traditional spot is the Market Square.

Free concerts are organised here, featuring some of the country’s most famous singers. When the bells of St Mary’s Basilica ring in the New Year, a spectacular fireworks display begins. Afterwards, the party continues all night long.

The beauty and uniqueness of the city’s traditional nativity scenes have led UNESCO to designate them as Intangible Cultural Heritage. A fun activity whilst touring Kraków’s Old Town is to search for the spots where they are displayed.

On the first Thursday in December, they are displayed in the Market Square and then placed around the city, often next to monuments. For example, the one in front of St Joseph’s Catholic Church, next to the Jewish ghetto. If you’re visiting the area, do pop over to the square where the church is to have a look. Some are also taken to the Ethnographic Museum.

These nativity scenes, known as szopka, will catch your eye because they are very different from the Spanish ones: instead of depicting a manger, those in Kraków are small buildings that reproduce certain elements of the city’s architecture.

Around 90 kilometres from Kraków lies one of the places with the most horrific history in Europe: the Auschwitz concentration camp. If you book a trip to Auschwitz from Kraków in winter, you’ll be able to see how the prisoners’ already dire living conditions were made even worse by the cold and snow.

As well as seeing the devastation that winter wreaked on the concentration camp, if you visit Auschwitz on 27 January, you can witness the events held to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, in which some of the Auschwitz survivors take part, a wreath is laid and a prayer is said in memory of the victims.

If you’d like more information, I recommend reading the following posts:

• How to get to Auschwitz from Kraków on your own if you fancy doing so, although I recommend booking a guided tour to soak up all the details.
• What the visiting hours are. You should be aware that in winter the camp closes its gates much earlier.
• What different tours are available from Kraków.

One of the traditions most cherished by the people of Kraków during the winter is going out to skate on one of the ice rinks set up around the city. If you enjoy this activity or simply want to have some fun, don’t hesitate to hire some skates and join in with young and old alike.

During the winter, you’ll find ice rinks located at:

• Shopping centres, such as Galeria Krakowska, next to the train and bus stations which you’ll be familiar with if you’ve travelled from the airport by public transport or visited the salt mines on your own.
• In the Jewish quarter, specifically at Galeria Kazimierz.
• At Park Ice, situated on Błonia Meadow, where the rink remains open between December and March.

The price for skating is very reasonable, although you’ll need to hire equipment to enjoy the activity, and at some locations, you’ll find areas where you can have a glass of wine or a hot beer and grab a bite to eat

Just a couple of hours from Kraków, at the foot of the Tatra Mountains and within the national park of the same name that Poland shares with Slovakia, lies Zakopane, a small town nicknamed ‘Poland’s winter capital’.

This trip to Zakopane and the Tatra Mountains is perfect for lovers of winter sports, especially skiing, and for those who want to see a smaller town surrounded by mighty mountains. In winter, a huge maze made of solid ice is also set up.

How to get to Zakopane from Kraków

There are basically two options for getting to Zakopane:

• If you’re planning to spend a night in this mountain village, the most practical option is to take public transport. Many buses depart from Kraków bus station for this destination, starting around 6.30 am. You can also travel by train, although services are less frequent.
• On the other hand, if you only want to go on a day trip, organised tours to Zakopane are the best option. With these, you won’t have to worry about transport timetables, and the guide will take you straight to the most interesting spots. You can also book a tour to Zakopane that includes tickets to the thermal pool.

Although celebrated throughout Poland, ** Zapusty or Tłusty Czwartek** (which could be translated as ‘Fat Thursday’) is particularly popular in Kraków. This festival, which takes place on the last Thursday before Lent**, basically consists of eating as much as you can.

One of the most popular dishes on this day of gluttony is the pączek, a kind of filled doughnut. If you’re in Kraków, you might be surprised to see long queues outside the bakeries, which is down to this celebration. According to legend, if you don’t eat at least one on that day, you’ll have a whole year of bad luck.

This sweet treat, which should definitely feature on the best food tours, is truly delicious, and the most traditional ones are filled with jam. These days, however, you’ll find some with other kinds of fillings.

As soon as the temperatures start to drop, the city’s bars begin offering mulled wine and beer to their customers. These drinks, which you won’t be able to try in summer, are hugely popular among the locals in Kraków:

• If you see a sign saying grzane wino, that’s your cue that they have mulled wine.
• If the sign reads ‘grzane piwo’, it’s the beer that takes centre stage in the recipe.

The preparation is quite similar in both cases. You simply add ingredients such as sugar, orange peel, cloves and cinnamon to the drink and then heat it over a flame without letting it boil.

If you prefer something more traditional to warm you up, you must try Kraków’s hot chocolate. One of the best places to enjoy a good cup of hot chocolate is the Wawel café, inside the castle. If you’re on a guided tour of Wawel Castle, I recommend popping in for a quick stop to order one.

Another winter celebration linked to food is Śledzik, or Herring Night. If your stay coincides with the start of Lent (usually in early March) and the end of the winter holidays, you simply must take part in this festival.

According to Catholic tradition, the period of Lent is marked by abstinence from alcohol and certain foods. For this reason, in Kraków they have decided to enjoy all these foods on the very day before the fast begins.

Although the meals on this day are all hearty, there is one ingredient that cannot be missing and which gives the celebration its name: herring. If you want to follow the tradition to the letter, you should have a slice of herring accompanied by a glass of vodka in one of the city’s pubs.

It is curious that in a country where the Catholic Church retains such a strong influence, the ritual of bidding farewell to winter and welcoming spring is eminently pagan. In any case, if you are lucky enough to be in Kraków during the third week of March, you simply must take part in this tradition.

To bid farewell to winter, the people of Kraków carry a female figure, Marzanna, down to the river. She represents the goddess of winter and is destined to be thrown into the water after being burned.

The purpose of the ritual is simply to leave behind the hardships of the cold season and allow spring and good weather to return. The procession winds its way through the streets towards the river whilst the participants sing traditional songs. The colour and joy of welcoming spring make this festival one of the liveliest of the season.

Winter in Kraków is characterised by cold weather, both day and night. There are no significant differences between the months, as the maximum temperatures in December, January and February are the same, around 3°C, whilst the minimum temperatures range between -4°C and -6°C.

However, these months are not particularly rainy, which is a relief when visiting a city. That said, precipitation often falls as snow.

What you really need to bear in mind are the hours of daylight. Throughout the winter, it gets dark very early, to the point that by the end of December darkness begins to fall before 4 pm.

The winter weather in Kraków means you’ll need to pack a few essentials to stay comfortable and cope with any snowfall:

• Footwear: look for good boots with non-slip soles in case of snow. Bear in mind that the danger arises when patches of ice form on the ground. Don’t forget to pack thick woollen socks either.
• Underwear: the best option is to buy some thermal underwear to insulate yourself as much as possible from the cold. Don’t just wear T-shirts, but also leggings for your legs.
• Coat: if you can, opt for a good fleece. That said, it’s worth looking for a quality one, as it can make all the difference
• Trousers: personally, I managed fine in Kraków’s winter in a pair of jeans, but many people consider them unsuitable. It might be better to get a pair of winter hiking trousers to be on the safe side.
• Gloves, hat and scarf: don’t forget to buy these items to complete your kit.