Kraków itinerary for first-timers

Rynek Główny is the heart of Kraków: a vast medieval square with the long Cloth Hall in its centre, the lone Town Hall Tower to one side and the two unequal spires of St Mary's Basilica on the corner. Every hour a trumpeter plays the hejnał from the taller tower, breaking off mid-melody. Around the square, cafés and flower stalls fill the ground floors of tall townhouses.

• Cloth Hall (Sukiennice)
• Town Hall Tower
• St Mary's Basilica
• Adam Mickiewicz Monument

The square is calmest early in the morning, before the tour groups arrive; stand near the basilica at the top of the hour to hear the trumpet call.

Floriańska Street is the start of the Royal Route, a straight, busy street of cafés and shops that runs from the Main Square to the old city walls. At its end stand St Florian's Gate, a surviving gate of the medieval defences, and the Barbican, a round brick outwork that once guarded it. The Grunwald Monument rises just beyond, on Jan Matejko Square.

• Floriańska Street
• St Florian's Gate
• The Barbican
• Grunwald Monument

Walk it from the square towards the gate for the best view of the tower ahead of you; the Barbican is quieter in the early afternoon.

Where Kraków's medieval walls once stood, a green ring of lawns, tree-lined paths and benches now circles the Old Town. The Planty is the city's living room: students, families and office workers drift along its paths, and in autumn the avenues turn gold. Walking even a part of it is the quietest way to see the Old Town from the outside.

• Tree-lined paths around the Old Town
• Lawns and benches
• Glimpses of the Old Town's rooftops and spires

Follow the Planty for a stretch from the Barbican towards Wawel; you cross only a few streets and pass several of the Old Town's churches.

After sunset the Old Town glows. The Main Square is lit around the Cloth Hall and St Mary's, the lanes around it fill with terraces, and the quiet paths of the Planty are lit with lamps. A late walk is the best way to see the centre without the day's crowds.

• The lit Main Square
• Lanes and terraces of the Old Town
• Paths of the Planty at night

The Old Town stays lively late; for a quieter evening, walk the Planty and the streets just off the square.

A short way west of the Main Square, Szczepański Square is a quieter corner of the Old Town. Nearby stands the Collegium Maius, the oldest building of the Jagiellonian University, with a cloistered Gothic courtyard. The streets around lead past the church of St Anne and the Franciscan basilica and on towards Grodzka Street.

• Szczepański Square
• Church of St Anne
• Collegium Maius
• Franciscan basilica

The courtyard of the Collegium Maius is worth a look even if you do not go inside; the Franciscan basilica is just a few minutes on.

Grodzka Street runs south from the Main Square to the foot of Wawel Hill, a straight lane of old houses, churches and cafés. Along it you pass the church of Saints Peter and Paul and, a little further on, the small church of St Andrew. It is the classic approach to the castle.

• Church of Saints Peter and Paul
• Church of St Andrew
• Cafés along Grodzka Street

Take your time at the end of the street, where Wawel Hill rises directly ahead; the castle grounds are easier early in the day.

For centuries Wawel Hill was the seat of Poland's kings. The Royal Castle stands beside the cathedral where monarchs were crowned and buried, and the grounds look out over the Vistula. The hill is a place to wander slowly, with terraces, towers and views of the river and the roofs of the Old Town.

• Wawel Cathedral
• Wawel Royal Castle
• The Thieves' Tower
• Views of the Vistula

The castle grounds are open to walk through; tickets are only needed for the interiors, which have limited visitor numbers, so check ahead in summer.

Below Wawel Hill the Vistula is lined with broad riverside promenades. The Vistula Boulevards run for kilometres along the banks, with steps down to the water, cyclists and joggers. It is an easy, flat walk that wraps around the foot of the castle hill and shows it from the side most visitors miss.

• Riverside promenade
• Wawel Hill seen from the river
• Plac na Groblach

The boulevards are best in the late afternoon, when the light warms the castle walls above you.

Kazimierz began as a separate town founded by King Casimir the Great in 1335, and for centuries Christian and Jewish communities lived side by side here. Its streets keep the churches and synagogues of both, and after decades of neglect the quarter has become Kraków's bohemian district of cafés, galleries and bars in old townhouses. Its small streets and squares show the layers of the past more than any single monument.

• Churches and synagogues of Kazimierz
• Cobbled lanes and courtyards
• Cafés and galleries

Start in the morning, when the streets are quiet; many of the district's cafés open late and fill up in the evening.

Szeroka Street is the old heart of Jewish Kazimierz, a wide, elongated square with synagogues and café terraces. A few streets away, Plac Nowy is the quarter's lively market square, ringed by bars, and the place to try a zapiekanka, the long open-faced baguette Kraków is known for.

• Synagogues on Szeroka Street
• Café terraces
• Plac Nowy
• Zapiekanka stalls

Plac Nowy is busiest in the evening; for a quieter look at the square, come in the afternoon.

From Kazimierz the Father Bernatka footbridge crosses the Vistula to Podgórze, hung with the padlocks of lovers. On the other side lies the old district of Podgórze, with its quiet market square, the church of St Joseph and a sculpture garden on the hillside above. It is a calmer, more residential side of Kraków, and a place of remembrance from the Second World War.

• Bernatka footbridge
• Podgórze Market Square
• Church of St Joseph
• Golgotha sculpture garden

Podgórze's memorial sites, including the former Ghetto Heroes Square and the Schindler's Factory museum, are a short walk further on; allow extra time if you plan to visit them.