easyJet Holidays is well known for its extensive range of destinations – over 100 in Europe and a choice of over 5,000 hotels – and known for well-put-together, high-quality and good-value family holidays. That range of destinations, and easyJet’s good relationships with hotel groups and independents, is now increasingly evident in the most desirable of trips: the weekend away packages which can also be booked through the easyJet Holidays website. For the traveller, leveraging that range of destinations is a great way of moving beyond the usual favourites and using those precious weekends to visit somewhere a little more unusual and interesting.
With this in mind, we walked into Gatwick airport for a (very civilized) 14.25 departure which got us to the gate at Krakow airport a bit ahead of the 17.50 scheduled arrival. As hoped for, everything was smooth at the airport with the treat of an airport lounge booked as part of the trip providing respite from the crowds, as well as a decent lunch and the first gin and tonic of the trip. Service on board is exactly what you expect from easyJet with everything just very smooth. easyJet currently operates the London Gatwick to Krakow route six times per week, with up to 10 flights per week from May 2024. easyJet’s first flights on this route date back to October 2007.
It was then a short taxi transfer to our hotel, the newly re-opened Hotel Saski Curio, part of the Hilton group. Set right in the centre of Krakow’s old town, adjacent to Main Square, Hotel Saski was always one of the most famous hotels in Krakow, but a multi-year restoration has propelled it to new heights such that it is arguably now the best hotel in town. Hotel Saski has welcomed guests to Krakow for more than 200 years and houses a grand concert hall, where Chopin is thought to have performed, along with composers Franz Liszt and Johannes Brahms. The hotel was at the centre of Krakow’s emergence as Poland’s cultural capital, and the re-decoration has reflected this in clever musical references throughout, such as floor lamps which resemble upturned trombone horns down to the room numbers, which are displayed on tiles whose five strings are from a guitar.
Alongside the grandeur and history, Hotel Saski affords all of the indulgence required from a weekend away in a five-star hotel: a beautiful subterranean swimming pool, a high-end spa, great restaurant and bar, which made me a perfect dry martini. The breakfast was top rate, and I say this as a man who has views on and experience of a lot of hotel breakfasts. Rooms were excellent, with large soft beds to enfold you and well-thought-out, large bathrooms. Best of all in my view was that the hotel allowed for a range of areas, whether the outdoor courtyard by the ballroom or the various grand corridors leading to the street entrances, where you could sit, read a book and watch the world go by while feeling part of something special.
The hotel is also perfectly situated to explore Krakow as it is bang in the centre of the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Krakow dates back to the seventh century and is one of Europe’s most beautiful cities as well as being a famous cultural and architectural centre.
Of the many things to see, top of the list is Wawel Royal Castle which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, one of the world’s first sites granted the status. It is completely spectacular, a brooding gothic masterpiece holding court over the river below it. The complex consists of numerous buildings of great historical and national importance, including the Wawel Cathedral where Polish monarchs were crowned and buried. Some of Wawel’s oldest stone buildings can be traced back to 970 AD, in addition to the earliest examples of Romanesque and Gothic architecture in Poland and you could spend an entire day, and certainly an afternoon exploring its treasures. But you cannot, because there is much more to see in the City.
We headed back to the market square in which the Christmas market, reputed to be the largest in Europe, was in full swing. The square itself is fascinating architecturally, and at its centre, the elongated medieval Sukiennice Cloth Hall is a reminder of Kraków’s historical place as a hub of trade and commerce in Eastern Europe. Today, the hall houses the stalls of local tradesmen selling handicrafts and cloth products that echo the oriental imports that were once toted under its roof. The other unmissable building in the square is St. Mary’s Basilica. It’s gothic spires have watched over the square for seven centuries and have become a veritable symbol of Kraków itself and a focal point in the stories that make up the city’s mythic and historical past, with a gothic red-brick exterior to the yellow-specked starry murals of the inside ceiling art; the magnificent, meticulously carved altar piece to the curiously mismatched towers of the church’s façade. And this was just the start of a fascinating tour of the architecture of the city, the diversity and interest of which rivals the best elsewhere in Europe.
Having sated on culture, it was time to indulge in the more prosaic side of Polish culture, and after a fascinating vodka tasting organized through Taske Vodka (tastevodka.pl), we collapsed into the welcoming arms of Sukiennice restaurant under the cloth hall. Pierogis, stuffed cabbage, schnitzels – it was all there, and in quantities to fell a horse. Lucky the hotel was so close by as we could barely walk afterwards, albeit it seemed rude not to take in the odd bar en route, particularly with beers on offer for as little as a pound or two. Like the drinks, nothing in the city is expensive from those used to London prices, so self-restraint is an essential attribute to bring along.
The second day brought a morning’s pilgrimage to less fortunate events in Krakow’s history – the Jewish ghetto with its ancient synagogues and heartbreaking stories of events under the Nazis that still shock after all the years. Nearby Schindler’s Factory has been fully preserved and allows a little hope among the despair. A visit to Auschwitz, not far from the City, is planned for our return. Mankind can only bear so much reality, but this cannot be forgotten.
In the afternoon to another, less painful part of Krakow’s history, the Wieliczka Saltmines which comprise of 20 chambers connected by around 3km of tunnels which lie 135m underground. It’s one of the most popular attractions in the area and is an easy half day trip from Krakow. You descend 350 steps into the mine, which dates back to the thirteenth century and includes such improbable highlights as an underground cathedral. Unmissable.
That evening dinner at the rather excellent Garden restaurant (gardenrestauracja.pl) which shoots you straight back into the twentieth-first century with an extensive and theatrical tasting menu that would not look out of place in Mayfair.
Another very restful night at the excellent Hotel Saski and it was time to head back to London. Overall this was such a good trip, which gave everything you could want from a weekend away: a genuinely great hotel, excellent food, copious drinks (at silly prices), wonderful architecture, a unique experience in the salt mines and, lastingly, a sense of the glory and grandeur that we sometimes only afford to more famous cities in the West of Europe. If for any reason you have not visited Krakow then you simply must go.
David was a guest of easyJet holidays and the Hotel Saski. easyJet Holidays offers:
