For tourists and locals looking for authentic Middle Eastern cuisine in the center of Amsterdam, Hummus Bistro is the place to be. From hummus and falafel to shakshuka and eggplant, this restaurant has something for everyone- vegetarians and meat eaters alike. At Hummus Bistro, you will enjoy the traditional flavors of these Middle Eastern dishes as well as a delightful presentation, all while enjoying the simple, yet relaxing dining atmosphere.
Archives: Directory listings
Directory listings
Traditional Polish Food Tour
Don’t commit the tourist crime of traveling to a new place without trying the local food. Thanks to the Traditional Polish Food Tour, finding all the must-have meals and traditional treats is easy. Don’t waste your time walking around aimlessly looking for authentic food and risk getting caught in a tourist trap. Save yourself the time of researching all the best Polish cuisine and join a Traditional Polish Food Tour instead. These carefully cultivated tours may focus on food but add a beautiful blend of history, culture, and traditions into their recipes.
Enjoy the many flavors of Poland as you make friends with other travelers and hear anecdotes and stories from one of the knowledgeable guides. The tours are kept small to keep the experience personal and intimate – chatting is welcome, as are any questions on Polish food, history, culture, or geography. The Krakow tour explores historically significant Kazimierz and its lively array of Poland’s favorite foods and treats. Along the tour you will not only hear about the food but eat it, too! You’ll sample around 15 different Polish foods, as well as craft beer and vodka.
Start the tour on an empty stomach and try and leave room for the end – the dessert is served last! The Traditional Polish Food Tour runs twice a day (either a lunch or dinner option) and takes about 3.5 hours total. There’s a minimum of 1 participant per tour and a maximum of 12. Over the course of the tour you’ll visit 5 or 6 establishments and take in not just the food but the atmosphere and culture. A foodie map, cookbook, and great recommendations are given out by your guide so you can take what you learn about Polish food culture beyond your visit to Poland.
Schindler’s Factory Tour
Although visitors to this incredible museum can explore on their own, the Schindler’s Factory Tour provides an enriched experience that shouldn’t be written off. Join this 1.5-hour walking tour and step back in time 70 years, where the streets of World War II Kraków – or as it was known then, Krakau – are brought to life. Experience life in the ghettos, the secrets of resistance housing, the horror of imprisonment and the exhilaration of the Soviet army’s liberation of the city with this unique and up-close perspective on what life was like in wartime Kraków.
The Schindler’s Factory Tour is designed to tug at the heartstrings of its visitors and will take you on an unforgettable journey through the 1,968 days of Kraków’s WWII occupation. Hear the stories of those who survived and those who did not on this wonderfully curated historical tour of Poland’s troublesome past. This tour is available several times a day every day of the week except Mondays.
The museum is closed during certain holidays and for some months of the year for renovations. For the most up-to-date tour times and to make a reservation, check the website. Last minute additions to the tour are allowed if there is space, but places are only guaranteed when booked in advance. The Schindler’s Factory Museum is a highlight for many visitors to Kraków and this chilling tour comes highly recommended.
Kraków Walking Tour – Old Town and Jewish quarter
Explore Kraków in depth and on foot with this fantastically educational walking tour. In just 4 hours, guests explore the main highlights of the city – as well as a few hidden secrets – as they traverse the Old Town and Jewish Quarter. Kraków Walking Tour delves into the rich history of the city, and has a knowledgeable team of guides to enrich and exciten the journey. Learn odd facts, heroic tales, and heartwarming stories as you explore Poland’s former capital city.
Starting in Old Town on Floriańska Street, you’ll stroll along the picturesque Royal Route and end up in Kazimierz, the Jewish Quarter. Stops along the way include the observation deck on Wawell Hill and much of the Podgórze district, including Ghetto Heroes Square and Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory. In Kazimierz, you’ll explore the boutique and cafe-laden streets, while learning about its rich Jewish history that spans centuries.
Sites in the Jewish Quarter include the New Jewish Cemetery, the Isaac Synagogue, and the Old Synagogue – a nearly 500-year-old institution and one of the oldest representations of Jewish architecture in Poland. A free city map is included in the tour and guests are invited to follow along the map to get a better understanding of Krakow’s physical layout. Tours start daily at 10 AM from the Main Market Square and conclude at Oskar Schindler’s Factory at 1 pm. There is a 30-minute stop for coffee, and the tour moves at a comfortable pace for all ages to join.
Kraków Bike Day Tour
Get off the beaten path and onto a bike with a Kraków Bike Day Tour. Certified tour guides will show you the popular sights and hidden secrets of Kraków, while giving you an informative and interesting background on the fascinating history of this ancient city. Traveling by bike allows you to see more than when walking – in fact, you can get 2 days of sightseeing into just a few hours, with the added bonus of meeting other travelers and a bit of fun exercise.
The Kraków Bike Day Tour hits most of the major tourist destinations including Old Town and the Jewish Quarter. In half a day visitors can see the Main Market Square, the Czartoryski Museum, the Old City walls and main gate, St. Mary’s Church, the Jewish Cemetery, the Kraków Ghetto of World War II and Oscar Schindler’s Factory. Along the way, you’ll visit some secret spots in the city, and learn about Polish football hooligans, life in the ghetto, what Polish foods are a must-try, and many more facts about Polish history and life. The Kraków Bike Day Tour runs twice a day (at 10:00 and 15:00) from May 1st until September 30th, and once daily the rest of the year, though the times change with the season, so its best to check their website for the most up-to-date information.
The tours run in rain or shine unless there are conditions that deem the roads unsafe for riding. While reservations are not mandatory, they are preferred, especially for groups larger than 10. There’s no need to worry about bike safety and difficulty riding: most of the tour covers pedestrianized zones and visitors as old as 80 have joined the tour. Your guide will include many breaks and stopping points to explain the surroundings, so the tours last about 4 hours with considerably less time spent biking. Join a Kraków Bike Day Tour for a unique and informative way of exploring this hidden gem of a city.
Anita
Anita Stanislawska is a licensed Kraków City Guide and Kraków enthusiast, passionate about sharing her wonderful and magical city with tourists. With Anita, you can explore Poland’s former capital with a broader look of its historical relationship with the rest of Europe. Learn about past kings, popes, cultures, religions, and how they have all shaped the Kraków of present times on one of Anita’s specially curated tours.
Anita organizes private guided tours for individuals, small groups, and large groups, such as schools. Aside from traditional tours around historical sites and monuments, you can enlist in a Recreation and Day Spa in Kraków, a day of City Games, or a meeting with World War II survivors – experiences that can enrich your trip and make it all the more memorable. Typical tours include private guided trips within Kraków with a special focus on the Jewish district, Kazimierz, as well as memory tours to Auschwitz and Birkenau, historic tours of the Salt Mine, and nature-based tours to incredible sites like Zakopane, Tatra Mountains, Dunajec River, and the Pieniny Mountains.
If you’re interested in learning about another religion that has important ties in Poland’s history, Anita offers Catholic tours, among other options. Tours can be given in English, Russian, German, Italian and an array of other languages, either by the tour guide or with use of a translator. Regardless of your tour needs and desires, Anita is here to help you experience Kraków and Poland and all its historical and cultural treasures.
Marta
Marta Chmielowska has been assembling and leading tours around Kraków for over a decade. She’s a fully certified, licensed Kraków City Guide who, along with her partner Czeslaw Chmielowska (a licensed driver), can organize an array of tours and services for your trip to Poland. Whether you need airport and rail assistance, museum tickets, or itinerary suggestions, Marta is here to help.
Marta provides tours all across southern Poland, including Kraków, Auschwitz, the Wieliczka Salt Mine, Zakopane, and Czestochawa, but is happy to organize tours for other parts of the country, like Warsaw and Lublin. All tours are given in English and are customizable to your needs and desires, but don’t take Marta’s years of experience for knowledge, she has some wonderfully pre-planned tour itineraries to offer.
Marta has a master’s degree in History from the Pedagogic Academy of Kraków, she mastered her English speaking skills while living in the USA for four years, and started guiding tours to share her passion for her country with Poland’s tourists. Working with her husband, Czeslaw, they offer comfortable, minibus-based tours for up to 8 people, all across Poland. Czeslaw is a highly experienced driver and local to the highlands of Zakopane and boasts a vast knowledge of his region and the famous Tatra mountains. Together, this duo makes an incredible team and can provide you with an unforgettable visit to Kraków and the surrounding areas of Poland.
Christopher
There’s nothing like a personalized, private tour to enrich your experience of Poland. Christopher is a licensed, English-speaking tour guide, ready to take you on a journey around the beautiful city of Krakow. Christopher is a history-fanatic and has an amazing collection of interesting stories and anecdotes to share with his guests. He’s been a licensed taxi driver since 2014, and is happy to provide airport transfers if needed. Christopher has a degree in Economics (Tourism and Hotel Industry) from Krakow University, 20 years of experience as a hotel concierge, and another 12 years as a tour guide.
Christopher can also help you find great accommodation and places to eat based on any personal needs, dietary preferences, or just specific desires! With Christopher as your tour guide, you can enjoy a customizable tour plan and door-to-door service. He also offers genealogy services and ancestral tours of Poland, for a truly personal experience. Some of the private tours that Christopher has planned include the Tour of Old Town and the Krakow Jewish District Tour, both of which are about 3 hours long – or you can do a combined tour for 6 hours. He also offers Daily Krakow Old Town Shared Tour and the Daily Krakow Jewish District Shared Tour which are shared with groups of up to 10 people.
Christopher offers unique private tour experiences like the Salt Mine Wieliczka Private Tour where you can visit a UNESCO World Cultural site just 14 km outside of Krakow or a tour of Auschwitz Birkenau (7 hours). Nature lovers can enjoy more adventurous tours like Rafting on Dunajec River, the Ojcow National Park Tour, or a tour of Zakopane at the foothills of the Tatra Mountains. No matter what part of Krakow or Poland you want to explore, Christopher has a tour for you. He’s happy to work with groups as small as 2 and as large as 40, and his TripAdvisor reviews seem to speak for themselves. You can expect fast service, great communication, and a wonderful visit to Krakow with Christopher, a local tour guide ready to tailor to touring needs.
Imperial Hotel
Located in the heart and soul of Kraków on the corner of Market Square, this hotel proudly lies on a prime slice of realty. However, Hotel Imperial has more to offer guests than its location. This four-story hotel holds 33 fully-furnished rooms, that are available in a variety of sizes and standards. You can opt for single, twin, or double rooms with classic or premium furnishings, or take your holiday up a notch with a deluxe room boasting stunning views of Market Square and exquisite finishing touches.
Hotel room amenities include free Wi-Fi, tea and coffee facilities, centrally controlled air-conditioning, and many other comforts. Each morning, you can enjoy a wonderful cup of coffee and a buffet breakfast as you look out over the Market Square from the reception or breakfast room. For lunch or dinner, enjoy delicious traditional and international cuisine at the Imperial Hotel Restaurant. The proximity to Market Square and it’s centralized location in Old Town, means many of Kraków’s famous historic sites are within walking distance.
The hotel itself is also laden with a rich history. The building was built in the first half the 14th century by St John Capistrano’s instruction. He was an active member of the Catholic Church and often hosted his sermons next to the building, which were said to impact many in the community. There is a commemorative statue of Saint Capistrano on the first floor of the hotel. The Imperial Hotel was also one of the first to host members of the Turkish royal party in 1494, who brought camels and horses to the city of Kraków for the first time.
Another famous resident of the hotel was Master Twardowski, who was considered a famous sorcerer in the 16th century, and many myths and legends surround his presence in the city. The modern day Imperial Hotel, however, appears sorcerer-free and lusciously decorated. It hosts a friendly and knowledgeable team of staff who are truly willing to make your stay as pleasant and personalized as they can, fulfilling the hotel’s goal of providing Kraków’s guests with a place that feels like home.
Hotel Wentzl
Enrich your visit to Kraków with a stay in this historic venue right in the heart of Old Town. The magical Hotel Wentzl was originally constructed at the turn of the 16th century and miraculously survived the great fire of 1550, where most of the surrounding buildings were spared. The hotel was named after the Wentzl family who married into the ownership of the building in the early 19th century and brought a lot of tradition and charisma to the institution. If you’re looking for an authentic stay in the heart of Old Town, Hotel Wentzl cannot be beat.
This 4.5-star institution has beautiful rooms overlooking the Main Market Square and is the only hotel at such proximity to the town center. Choose between 11 divinely decorated double rooms or double lux rooms, that can accommodate for up to 4 people. Rooms are spread over 3 floors and there is an elevator for convenience. The hotel offers some wonderful services such as airport pick-up and drop-off, car rental services, and concierge service. Additional facilities include free Wi-Fi access, complimentary bike rental (for strolls around town), and in-room massages at an additional fee, among many other offers.
When it comes to dining, the hotel boasts two restaurants and a cafe with a focus on Wentzl classics and traditional Polish food, as well as European cuisine. Enjoy breakfast in the Wentzl restaurant from 7-10.30 AM and return after a day of touring for a delicious warm meal in the cellar restaurant, Da Pietro. There’s truly no better location in this vibrant and lively city than the market square that hosts Hotel Wentzl. Every day you can easily wander out of the hotel and enjoy a new part of the city. Stay for a few days and get to know the lovely staff and market vendors, enhancing your stay in beautiful Kraków all the more.
