Kraków Old Town, Kazimierz & Salt Mine

Planty is a continuous belt of parkland that encircles Kraków's Old Town where the medieval city walls once stood. Stretching around the entire historic core, it functions as the city's green threshold — a calm, tree-lined transition between the modern city and the UNESCO-listed centre within. Arriving here from the airport, the park immediately signals that you have reached somewhere worth slowing down for. Gravel paths wind past lawns and benches, and the park is open around the clock every day of the year, making it equally useful as a morning orientation walk or an evening wind-down. At just 30 minutes suggested here, the aim is not to linger but to get your bearings: note the spires of St. Mary's Basilica rising ahead, and let the park's layout give you an intuitive sense of Old Town's scale before you step inside it. The phone contact for city park information is +48 12 201 02 40.

St. Mary's Basilica stands on the north-east corner of Rynek Główny and is one of the most recognisable Gothic brick churches in Central Europe. Its two asymmetrical towers dominate the main square's skyline, and the interior houses a monumental carved wooden altarpiece that draws visitors from across the world. For this route, the Basilica marks the first deep encounter with Kraków's medieval identity — a vivid contrast to the park you have just walked through. Tourist visiting hours run from 11:30 AM Monday through Saturday and from 2:00 PM on Sundays, so plan your arrival accordingly; the building is an active place of worship outside those windows. Budget around 45 minutes inside. The website mariacki.com and phone +48 12 422 05 21 can confirm current entry conditions before your visit.

MNK Sukiennice — the National Museum branch housed inside the Renaissance Cloth Hall at the very centre of Rynek Główny — offers a curated collection of 19th-century Polish painting and sculpture. The building itself is an architectural landmark that has dominated the main square for centuries; the museum occupies its upper floor while the ground level remains a market arcade. For this route, the Sukiennice provides the ideal cultural anchor for Day 1: an hour inside gives context to Polish history and artistic identity before you step back out onto the square itself. Note that the museum is closed every Monday, so this stop only works Tuesday through Sunday. The address is Rynek Główny 3 and the museum can be reached at +48 12 433 54 00 or via mnk.pl.