Krakow’s had loads of history happen to it. A bit too much. Invasions, wars, genocide then a bout of communism. Ouch.

But despite all that, Krakow’s survived. You get ornate churches and edgy warehouses, cobbled streets and stag-lads sinking 50p beers.

But just how far will £20 (100 zloty) get you in Poland’s second city?

Things to Do

Rynek Glowny (The Main Square) is the place for getting classic Krakow sights in your eyeballs, mostly for free.

St Mary’s Basilica (giant gothic church) only costs £2 to get in. And you’ll feel like Dorothy walking into the technicolour dream of Oz.

Make sure you’re outside when the clock strikes. Every hour on the hour, a trumpet pokes out of the tower window and plays a tune.

The Town Hall Tower has gone through fires, demolitions and the strong wind of 1703 that gave it a slight lean (no joke).

The Cloth Hall is ‘the world’s oldest shopping mall’ - it peaked back in the 15th century. It’s free to go in, and you can get your mum a magnet.

Life in Kazimierz (the Jewish Quarter) was destroyed in WWII, but the area's been on the up since the 1990s (thanks, Spielberg!). It’s now Krakow’s version of Hackney.

Plac Nowy (the New Square) is the centre - a market where everyone meets to eat, drink and shoot the shit.

The Schindler Factory Museum is an immersive look at Krakow under the Nazis - it’s waaayyyyy better than its Comic Sans website suggests (free on Mondays or £4 otherwise)

Next door is MOCAK - home of weird new art - which is free on a Tuesday (£3 on other days).

Head out a little further to climb Kopiec Kraka. It’s the tomb of King Krakus, a cobbler who killed a dragon by feeding it a sheep full of sulphur. Lad.

You’ll get awesome views over Krakow, for zero zloty.

Carry on the dragon-fun at Wawel Castle - Poland’s Buckingham Palace 🐲 🐲 🐲
As well as royal history, it’s also a banging art museum with a dragon’s den in the cellar. Free on Mondays or 50p.

Things to Eat

Lunch is a street food snack crawl with five stops that costs £4… for everything?!?

A Krakow bagel, potato pancakes, an arm long sandwich, hot donuts AND pig jelly with a shot of tabasco vodka.

Stop it Poland - we can't even get Jamie Oliver’s Boots Meal Deal for that price.

For dinner, grab some Polish dumplings from Przystanek Pierogarni (there's different stalls around the city). £1.50 gets you nine meat dumplings and a stewed onion (bonus alert).

Things to Drink

There’s a lot of fishbowls and sticky dancefloors in Krakow, but good bars do exist. Plus, they’re all as cheap as you’d expect - £1.50 for a vodka is standard.

Piekny Pies Klub (The Beautiful Dog) is a Krakow institute that’s moved location three times but is still going strong. Old jazz musicians prop up the bar, while art students try to finger each other on the dancefloor.

Singer is a cellar bar with singer sewing machines, impromptu piano jams and dancing on tables till 6am.

For a communist-alcohol-Disneyland, try Spolem. Its got cocktails called ‘the Pipeline of Friendship’, a communist car DJ booth and Soviet 60s bangers on the playlist.

Sum Up

Krakow's pretty mental. It’s got a real spread of pre-war gorgeousness and 20th century grim, that you can get around for basically free. Plus, the food and drink is Eastern Europe prices (cheap AF).

It's one of the weirder (in the best way) places you'll get to on a tight budget. Also... dragons.