Right. It may not be immediately apparent to the travel-weary family here for only a few days, but there is in fact plenty to do with the kids in Kraków, especially when the sun is out. We’re here to help you find exactly those things, and send your kids back to school bragging about what a great vacation they had in Kraków.
Helpful Hints
Of course the first step to having a great family vacation abroad is to accept that what you want to do, and what your kids want to do are hardly one and the same. That said, there’s no reason you can’t find some common ground in Kraków’s major attractions. Everyone has Wawel (p.82) on their list, and though all it takes is one too-hasty ticket purchase to over-do it, you can still have a great time with the kids exploring Kraków’s royal castle. Most of the ticketed exhibits will prove too lengthy and tedious for young attention spans, but you can still say you saw it by strolling around the numerous gardens and courtyards (for free, no less). Kids love the legend of the Wawel Dragon, and Dragon’s Den (p.85), touristy as it may be, is a perfect way to exit to the riverbank below where you can take photos of them climbing all over the fire-breathing dragon monument.
Sometimes the best thing to do when there are easily-tired kids involved and you want to see as much as possible is to simply sign on for a guided tour (p.72). Though you won’t learn much, a horse-drawn carriage ride (p.73) is irresistible to kids (and wives), and will send you home with some photos of your dashing fam sightseeing in style. By the same token, kids will love travelling up and down the river in one of the many charming cruise boats available for hire beneath Wawel (p.124).
Sometimes, however, all you really need as a parent is a playground. To that end we've marked all the playgrounds in the centre on the maps throughout our guide, but nothing beats the new wooden playground in Krakowski Park (G-4, p.??).
When it's time to eat, look for the Child-friendly symbol [ ] at the end of venue listings to see which establishments claim to have things like high chairs and play corners. Our top picks are the Bezogródek food truck park (p.??), Zabłocie 13 with its outdoor playground (p.??), and Pod Wawelem (p.??) - an enormous beer hall which offers plenty of tables, large portions of cheap Polish food your kids will eat, live music in the evenings, and a huge indoor rumpus room which will keep your kids happily occupied while you clink steins with your partner.
As for museums, Kraków is home to scores, many of which have been recently modernised to be more interactive and kid-friendly. Our little experts ranked the Natural History Museum (p.??), Engineering Museum (p.88) and Rynek Underground (p.78) as the most fun, after being reminded that the Zoo and Water Park aren’t actually museums.
In recent years, Kraków's most tourist-trafficked areas have become home to numerous tacky attractions (mirror mazes, butterfly museums, wax museums) that can best be described as tourist traps. You'll find our take on these places on our website, but we don't recommend them and we aren't listing them here.
For more ideas go to iyp.me/krakowkids or kidsinkrakow.pl.
