Landing at Krakow John Paul II International Airport in Krakow gives you an easy home base, with nearby cities and getaways close by. Krakow was Poland's royal capital for centuries and came through World War II largely intact, so its medieval core feels remarkably whole. Today it is a student city with a deep sense of history, a lively cafe scene, and a cellar culture where many bars sit in vaulted basements under the Old Town.

Highlights in and around Krakow: - Stand in the Main Market Square, one of the largest medieval squares in Europe - Listen for the hejnal, the bugle call played every hour from St. Mary's Basilica - Tour Wawel Castle and Cathedral on the hill above the Vistula River - Explore Kazimierz, the old Jewish quarter, with its synagogues, galleries, and nightlife - Visit Oskar Schindler's Enamel Factory, now a museum of the city under occupation - Browse the amber and wood stalls of the Cloth Hall - Grab a zapiekanka, the open-faced baguette, from the round market hall at Plac Nowy - Walk the riverside boulevards below Wawel at sunset

Krakow is also the starting point for several of southern Poland's most important day trips. The Wieliczka Salt Mine, with chapels carved entirely from salt, is about 30 minutes away. The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum is roughly 90 minutes west, a sobering visit worth planning carefully. Zakopane and the Tatra Mountains are about two hours south, with hiking, wooden villas, and smoked oscypek cheese sold at roadside stalls. Snack on an obwarzanek, the braided bread ring sold from little street carts, and stay for the Christmas market on the square if you come in December.