I agree with other reviewers that Krakow is a great city, a perfect destination for a weekend trip or even for a few days more - plenty of remarkable sights, friendly people, a lively night life, and a hotspot for WHS enthusiasts. We spent seven days in Krakow in August 2014. We had a great time visiting friends who live in the outskirts and exploring the highlights of the city and in the surrounding.

Krakow was the capital of Poland until the 16th century, and the locals still consider it the secret capital and the cultural and academic centre of the country. For five hundred years, the Wawel Castle was the royal residence and the Cathedral was the burial site of the Polish kings. The Wawel is still the symbol of Polish national identity and very popular with tourists, so it was no surprise that there was already a queue at the visitor centre when we arrived a quarter to nine in the morning (the ticket booth opens at nine). We had to wait half an hour to get our tickets for entry at 10.45 to the State Rooms (self-guided with audioguide). So we had plenty of time to visit the Cathedral first. The interior of the cathedral is a sequence of tombs, chapels and memorials, interesting and of historical significance, but it is not stunning. But I loved the exterior, a mixture of various shapes and colours, the different architectural styles are clearly visible. The same with the castle: I'm not very enthusiastic to visit the interior of castles and palaces, it is always more or less the same sequence of rooms, and the Wawel has not changed my mind, although the collection of tapestries is quite impressive. But I liked very much the beautiful arcaded courtyard. We also bought tickets to Leonardo Da Vinci's "Lady with an Ermine", which is currently shown at the Wawel Castle during the renovation of the Czartoryski Museum. It might be inappropriate to charge an extra entrance fee just to see one painting (10 Zloty or 2.40 Euro), but it is truly an amazing work of art.

The second main sight in Krakow is the Rynek Glowny (Main Square), the heart of Krakow where all streets of the historic centre start or end. The guidebooks describe it as the largest and most beautiful square in Europe, and rightly so. The square is surrounded by noble townhouses, and its centre is dominated by the unique Renaissance Cloth Hall with arcades and adorned gables. And not to be overlooked the St Mary Basilica, where I found what I had missed in the Wawel Cathedral: a magnificent interior. The Basilica is most famous for the altarpiece carved by Veit Stoss. The admission is free for the main entrance (prayer entrance), but if you want to take a closer look to the chancel and the altarpiece you have to pay a fee for the side entrance.

There are many more interesting sites to visit, I want to highlight three:

The Church of St. Francis, a unique combination of Gothic architecture with mural paintings and stained glass windows in Art Nouveau, it has a very special atmosphere. The Collegium Maius, the oldest building of the Jagiellonian University and home of the University Museum, worth seeing are the beautiful courtyard and the historic rooms. And finally the Temple Synagogue in Neo-Moorish style in the Kazimierz district, it is richly decorated in red and gold (photo).

We were pleasantly surprised by the vibrant night life: plenty of locals, tourists and students from all over the world, bars and pubs are open until late at night. Most restaurants and pubs are at the Rynek and the streets north of the square, around the university and in the Kazimierz quarter.

Local specialties are pierogi (stuffed dumplings), bigos (stew with sauerkraut and meat), and Oscypek, a smoked cheese. Polish cuisine is delicious, but be aware that it is dominated by meat dishes - no country for vegetarians.