Our Recommendations » Museums

Old Town

Whether it's Egyptian mummies, Samurai warriors or the indigenous (yet no less exotic!) winged horsemen, all can be tracked down at one or another of Cracow\'s museums. There are also some fine collections of paintings about town, especially at the National Museum, but you can also find a few gems in the upstairs gallery of the Cloth Hall.

Generally, museums are open every day apart from Mondays, and the great majority offer free access on Sundays. One slight pain though is that throughout the week most shut up shop promptly at 3 pm, so it\'s worth planning ahead to avoid disappointments.

The Old Town is positively choc-a-bloc with museums, ranging from the venerable Czartoryski Museum, Poland\'s oldest foundation of this kind, to the quaint Pharmacy museum on ulica Florianska.

Over the river from Wawel Hill, you will find the rather special Manggha Japanese Centre, which was built under the aegis of the film director, Andrzej Wajda. Here you can immerse yourself in oriental style, rounding things off with a cup of green tea and a tremendous view of the castle. Another short walk from the Old Town, yet still within the City Centre, takes you to the main branch of the National Museum. It\'s just around the corner from the Jagiellonian University Library, which houses many ancient relics.

Kazimierz, the former Jewish district, is also host to some important collections, particularly the Jewish History museum in the Old Synagogue. There is also a moving museum of the ghetto just over the bridge in Podgorze.

If you\'re feeling adventurous don\'t miss the lovely museum of Young Poland at Rydlowka, it's a little further afield, but for Poles this is a mythic place if ever there was one....