The neighbourhoods of Kraków
Kazimierz, Podgórze and Nowa Huta are visited for three different stories — a Jewish quarter, a wartime ghetto and a socialist city — not for a bed.
- Kazimierz
- Synagogues and cemeteries by day
- Podgórze
- The 1941–43 ghetto
- Nowa Huta
- About 20 minutes by tram from the Rynek
Three quarters outside the Old Town each carry a different story, and none is chosen the way a bed is. Kazimierz was a separate Jewish town before it became the quarter that goes out at night; Podgórze, across the river, held the wartime ghetto and stays quiet today; Nowa Huta is a socialist city built around a steelworks, far enough out that almost nobody sleeps there.
Kazimierz — a town within the town, before it became a quarter
Kazimierz was a separate town until 1800, only administratively joined to Kraków; for centuries it was the Jewish quarter, with seven synagogues still standing and cemeteries behind them. By day the streets are quiet, full of museums and bookshops; once it gets dark, the same streets — Szeroka, Józefa — fill with bars. Visiting the synagogues and cemeteries takes about two hours.
Podgórze — the quarter with the heaviest story
Podgórze was a separate town on the other side of the Vistula until 1915. During the war it held the ghetto: seventy empty bronze chairs stand on Ghetto Heroes Square, cast in the shape of the furniture residents were forced to abandon there as the ghetto was liquidated. Oskar Schindler's factory is now a museum of the occupation of Kraków; the famous film is only where the story starts. Beyond that circle, Podgórze today is a quarter of parks and cafés, without the crowds that rule the other side of the river.
Nowa Huta — a city built around a steelworks
Construction of Nowa Huta began in 1949, planned around a steelworks meant to turn Kraków into an industrial, working-class city. Plac Centralny, completed 1949–55 in the socialist-realist style, has carried the name of Ronald Reagan since 2004. A tram from the centre takes about twenty minutes.
Why nobody sleeps in Nowa Huta
The district was built for steelworkers, not visitors, and it has next to no hotels or flats to rent. A visit fits into half a day: tram to the square, a walk round the arcades, a meal at the Stylowa restaurant, which keeps the look of its first residents' time, then back.
Who each quarter suits
Anyone after a night out picks Kazimierz. Quiet and a coffee in the park points to Podgórze instead. Nowa Huta stays a short trip — an hour or two off the usual route.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
Is Kazimierz the same topic as the where-to-stay page?
Only partly — this page covers what the quarter looks like and what it shows by day; how much a night costs and who it suits for sleeping is on the accommodation page.
Ready for Kraków?
Where to next
Kraków in 3 days
→The Main Square, Wawel and Kazimierz in three days — with tickets by exhibition that are valid only that day.
Zakopane · 85 km
→The only real mountains Poland has, and the town that lives off them
How well does Kraków suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
Front row for the next trip
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