10 Things to Do in Krakow in Winter

Traveling to Croatia always offers the chance to discover all the attractions its streets have to offer, even in winter. Although the cold temperatures make it hard to feel comfortable outdoors and the shorter daylight hours mean you have to plan each day carefully, Kraków takes on a special beauty at this time of year and offers visitors experiences they’ll never forget.

If there’s one winter activity in Krakow you can’t miss, it’s visiting the Christmas Market at Rynek Główny (Main Market Square). The square impresses with its beauty and monuments (it’s no wonder it’s one of the places you’ll visit if you book a tour of the Old Town) and takes on a unique atmosphere when the Christmas market is set up there.

The main highlights of the market, which runs from late November through early January, are as follows:

• Its numerous stalls where artisans sell all kinds of products, from Christmas decorations (such as the popular tree ornaments) to wooden crafts.
• Its truly spectacular food stalls, which fill up almost every hour. I recommend you forget about the cold and dare to have lunch or dinner there one day.
• The stalls selling the country’s traditional hot drinks, including both wine and beer.
• The Market Square itself, which becomes more than ever the meeting place for the citizens of Kraków.
• Groups of children singing Christmas carols around the stalls and near some of Kraków’s finest churches.

If you’re in Kraków on December 31st, you can’t miss out on celebrating the New Year’s Eve. There’s practically a party in every pub and bar in the city, but the most traditional spot is the Market Square.

Free concerts featuring some of the country’s most famous singers are held here. When the bells of St. Mary’s Basilica ring in the New Year, a spectacular fireworks display begins. Afterward, the party continues all night long.

The beauty and uniqueness of the city’s traditional nativity scenes have led UNESCO to designate them as Intangible Cultural Heritage. A fun activity while touring Kraków’s Old Town is to search for the locations where they are displayed.

On the first Thursday of December, they are displayed in the Market Square and then placed around the city, often next to monuments. For example, the one located in front of the Catholic Church of St. Joseph, next to the Jewish ghetto. If you’re visiting the area, be sure to stop by the square where the church is to see it. Some are also taken to the Ethnographic Museum.

These nativity scenes, called szopka, will catch your eye because they are very different from the Spanish ones: instead of depicting a manger, those in Kraków are small buildings that reproduce certain elements of the city’s architecture.

About 90 kilometers from Krakow lies one of the sites with the most horrific history in Europe: the Auschwitz concentration camp. If you book a tour to Auschwitz from Krakow in winter, you’ll see how the prisoners’ already dire living conditions were made even worse by the cold and snow.

In addition to seeing the devastation that winter caused in the concentration camp, if you visit Auschwitz on January 27, you can witness the events held to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, in which some Auschwitz survivors participate, a wreath is laid, and a prayer is said in memory of the victims.

If you’d like more information, I recommend reading the following posts:

• How to get to Auschwitz from Krakow on your own if you’d like to, though I recommend booking a guided tour to fully immerse yourself in all the details.
• What the visiting hours are. You should know that in winter, the camp closes much earlier.
• What are the different tours from Krakow that you can take.

One of the traditions most cherished by Kraków residents during the winter is going out to skate at one of the ice rinks set up around the city. If you enjoy this activity or simply want to have some fun, don’t hesitate to rent some skates and join in with kids and adults alike.

During the winter, you’ll find ice rinks located at:

• Shopping centers, such as Galeria Krakowska, next to the train and bus stations—which you’ll recognize if you’ve arrived from the airport via public transportation or visited the salt mines on your own.
• In the Jewish Quarter, specifically at Galeria Kazimierz.
• At Park Ice, located on Błonia Meadow, where the rink is open from December through March.

The price to skate is very affordable, though you’ll need to rent equipment to enjoy the activity, and at some locations, you’ll find areas where you can have a glass of wine or mulled wine and grab a bite to eat

Just a couple of hours from Krakow, at the foot of the Tatra Mountains and within the national park of the same name that Poland shares with Slovakia, lies Zakopane, a small town nicknamed “Poland’s winter capital.”

This excursion to Zakopane and the Tatra Mountains is perfect for winter sports enthusiasts, especially skiers, and for those who want to see a smaller town surrounded by towering mountains. In winter, a massive maze made of solid ice is also set up.

How to get to Zakopane from Krakow

There are basically two options for getting to Zakopane:

• If you’re planning to spend a night in this mountain town, the most practical option is to take public transportation. Many buses depart from the Kraków bus station for this destination, starting around 6:30 a.m. You can also take the train, though it runs less frequently.
• On the other hand, if you only want to take a day trip, guided tours to Zakopane are the best option. With these, you won’t have to worry about public transportation schedules, and the guide will take you directly to the most interesting spots. You can also book a tour to Zakopane that includes admission to the thermal pool.

Although celebrated throughout Poland, ** Zapusty or Tłusty Czwartek** (which could be translated as “Fat Thursday”) is particularly popular in Kraków. This festival, which takes place on the last Thursday before Lent**, basically consists of eating as much as you can.

One of the most popular dishes on this day of gluttony is the pączek, a kind of filled doughnut. If you’re in Kraków, you might be surprised to see long lines outside the bakeries—a sight caused by this celebration. According to legend, if someone doesn’t eat at least one on that day, they’ll have a whole year of bad luck.

The pastry, which should definitely be on the best food tours, is truly delicious, and the most traditional ones are filled with jam. These days, however, you’ll find some with other types of fillings.

As soon as temperatures start to drop, the city’s bars begin offering mulled wine and beer to their customers. These drinks, which you won’t be able to try in the summer, are tremendously popular among Kraków’s residents:

• If you see a sign that says grzane wino, that’s a sign they have mulled wine.
• If the sign says grzane piwo, beer is the star of the recipe.

The preparation is quite similar in both cases. You simply add ingredients like sugar, orange peel, cloves, and cinnamon to the drink and then heat it over a flame without letting it boil.

If you prefer something more common to warm up, you should try Kraków’s hot chocolate. One of the best places to enjoy a good cup of hot chocolate is the Wawel café, inside the castle. If you’re taking a guided tour of Wawel Castle, I recommend stopping by for a cup.

Another winter celebration related to food is Śledzik, or Herring Night. If your stay coincides with the start of Lent (usually in early March) and the end of winter break, you can’t miss out on this festival.

According to Catholic tradition, the Lenten period is marked by abstinence from alcohol and certain foods. For this reason, in Kraków, people have decided to enjoy all these foods the very day before the fast begins.

Although the meals on this day are all hearty, there is one ingredient that cannot be missing and that gives the celebration its name: herring. If you want to follow the tradition to the letter, you should have a slice of herring accompanied by a glass of vodka at one of the city’s pubs.

It is curious that in a country where the Catholic Church retains significant influence, the ritual of bidding farewell to winter and welcoming spring is eminently pagan. In any case, if you are fortunate enough to be in Kraków during the third week of March, you must take part in this tradition.

To bid farewell to winter, the people of Kraków carry a female figure, Marzanna, to the river. She represents the goddess of winter, and her fate is to be thrown into the water after being burned.

The purpose of the ritual is simply to leave behind the hardships of the cold season and allow spring and good weather to return. The procession winds through the streets on its way to the river while participants sing traditional songs. The vibrant colors and joy of welcoming spring make this festival one of the liveliest of the season.

Winter in Kraków is characterized by cold weather, both day and night. There are no significant differences between the months, as the highs in December, January, and February are the same— around 3°C—while the lows range from -4°C to -6°C.

However, these months aren’t particularly rainy, which is a relief when visiting a city. That said, precipitation often falls as snow.

What you really need to keep in mind are the daylight hours. Throughout the winter, it gets dark very early—so much so that by late December, darkness begins to fall before 4:00 p.m.

The winter weather in Krakow requires you to bring some essential items to stay comfortable and cope with possible snowfall:

• Footwear: Look for good boots with non-slip soles in case of snow. Keep in mind that the danger arises when ice forms on the ground. Don’t forget to pack thick wool socks, either.
• Underwear: The best option is to buy some thermal clothing to insulate yourself as much as possible from the cold. Don’t just wear T-shirts; also bring leggings for your legs.
• Coat: If you can, opt for a good fleece. That said, it’s worth looking for a quality one, as it can make all the difference
• Pants: Personally, I got by in Krakow’s winter with a pair of jeans, but many people consider them unsuitable. It might be better to get a pair of winter hiking pants just to be safe.
• Gloves, hat, and scarf: don’t forget to buy these items to complete your outfit.