Poland
Poland surprised us more than anywhere else on this trip. We expected handsome old towns. We didn’t expect to feel so welcome in them.
Kraków is an easy city to walk. We filmed on a grey, rainy Sunday in July, chillier than we expected for summer, which is why so many people in the film are in jackets. The Royal Route was full of visitors from all over the world, and it still felt calm and elegant: clean streets, flowers outside the shops, horse-drawn carriages on the Main Square, and some piece of history on almost every corner. At times it had the energy of a big American city, with a taste that was all Poland.
The next day we drove south to Zakopane, in the mountains near the Slovak border, and it was the nicer surprise of the two. The clouds never lifted, and it didn’t matter. Everything was green, the town was clean and well kept, and the funicular up Gubałówka was easy to use in English. Families were everywhere, people were glad to help, and we heard more languages than we ever expected in a Polish mountain town.
What stays with us from Poland is that mix: people from everywhere, sharing places that were beautiful, orderly and looked after.
What we ate in Kraków
If you try one thing in Kraków, make it pierogi. We liked them so much we had them a couple more times before we left Poland.
- Pierogi36 zł a plateThe mixed plate at Pierogarnia Góralska on Plac Dominikański, just off the Royal Route. Potato, vegetable, and spinach with cheese.
Kompot8 zł a glassThe sweet fruit drink you’ll find on every Polish menu. We had two with the pierogi.
Lody13 zł a conePolish ice cream, from a counter on Grodzka, the street that runs from the Main Square down to Wawel.
ObwarzanekKraków’s twisted ring of bread, sold from little carts all over the Old Town. Easy to eat while you walk.
Walk guides in Poland
The film, every stop with its timestamp, what it costs and where to stay.
