Krakow between the Lady with an Ermine and the salt mines

We're still here! Continuing our exploration of Eastern Europe, after Prague in 2007 and Budapest in 2025, we visited Krakow in 2026, leaving us with a wealth of valuable impressions.

Krakow is indeed a splendid city of over 700,000 inhabitants, plus 200,000 students; its historic center was spared from war and communism, and its historic buildings have been restored and maintained over time.

The group trip was organized by the tour operator Movimondo and the Strabordo Association; we've featured both in numerous posts over the past few years, always expressing our great satisfaction. We'd particularly like to highlight the invaluable support and coordination provided by the excellent Tania and Mauro.

The visit consisted of three intense days of walking through the streets and squares of the historic center, which extends to the foot of Wawel Hill, home to the Cathedral and Castle. Except for the climb up Wawel Hill, the entire walk was flat, so we can safely say that Krakow is recommended for people with mobility disabilities, also due to the quality of the sidewalks and streets.

We also had the opportunity to take a lovely mini cruise on the Vistula River and visit the splendid Wieliczka Salt Mine, perhaps the city's most famous attraction, which we reached by minibus.

Let's take a look at our route, starting from Matejko Square with the memorial to the Battle of Grunwald and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier:

The Barbican, the last vestige of the city walls destroyed in the 19th century and replaced by a green area, Planty, which surrounds the entire medieval city:

The statue dedicated to the painter Jan Matejko:

St. Florian's Gate:

13th century bastions:

Thorvaldsen's Mercury:

The group in St. Florian Street:

Rynek Glowny (Main Market Square) with the Cloth Hall:

Holy Mary's Church:

Town Hall Tower:

The sculpture Eros Bendato by the Polish artist Igor Mitoraj, whose works can also be found in Italy, in Pompeii and in the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento:

And now let's move on to the Princes Czartoryski Museum (*), the pride of the city of Krakow. It's essentially a private collection that, after various vicissitudes, including being raided by the Nazis, was returned to the family and donated to the Polish nation in 1991.

The collection's highlight is obviously Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine, but the museum is filled with works of all kinds, a joy to wander through:

And here is Leonardo's masterpiece, preserved in a dedicated room:

Let's go around the avenues of the University:

And this is the monument to Nicolaus Copernicus, the most illustrious student of this university:

And we arrived at the mini cruise on the Vistula, on this boat chartered exclusively for our group:

Here we finally are at the Wieliczka Salt Mine (*), which has been in operation since the 10th century and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. It is now a popular tourist attraction where visitors are fascinated by the salt sculptures and bas-reliefs, salt lakes, and mineral displays.

For people with reduced mobility, there are restrictions on the number of wheelchairs that can enter the mine at a time and on the size of the wheelchairs themselves. Indeed, the elevators used to descend to the 135-meter depth are partly the same ones used by the miners, so our wheelchairs may not fit; in this case, wheelchairs are available.

And this is the highlight of the visit, the Chapel of St. Kinga, rich in sculptures and bas-reliefs of religious themes, all made of salt, including the chandelier:

And now begins the climb to Wawel Hill, with its splendid viewpoints over the Vistula and the Cathedral and Castle:

Wawel Cathedral where Polish kings were crowned and buried even after the capital was moved from Krakow to Warsaw:

The sarcophagus of Queen Hedwig:

To conclude, here are three stained glass windows taken at night in a non-religious building:

So, what do you think? We were very satisfied with this short tour and would definitely recommend a visit to this beautiful city to anyone with mobility disabilities.

SEE YOU NEXT TIME!!!

(*) symbol indicating the presence of accessible restrooms