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Why
Kids Love Krakow
Krakow
is a children-friendly city. Kids are welcome by definition
almost everywhere–tourist
sights, museums,
hotels, restaurants,
cafes, shops,
etc. Obvious exceptions are places of grown-up entertainment,
from pubs
to nightlife
spots to casinos.
At the same time parents or other chaperones are expected to
take full responsibility for minors in their care and make
them behave (albeit the locals, in Krakow and in Poland
generally, are pretty tolerant towards romping children:
‘kids are kids’).
Children
rather like Krakow too. The city’s historic monuments fire
their imagination and other attractions
are plentiful enough to keep them happy.
Children’s
Krakow Favorites
Kids
enjoy the compact Krakow
zoo, situated in the middle of the vast 500-hectare
Las Wolski forest, turned to municipal park in 1917, some ten
kilometers west of the city’s central Old
Town historic district. Its seventeen hectares
accommodate over 1400 exotic animals, in that number some 600
birds and 400 mammals, representing 285 species, 32 of them on
the verge of extinction and 88 endangered. Its most prized
possessions include herds of pygmy hippopotamus, white camel,
sea lions, several species of wild cats and rare antelopes,
while the zoo’s Reptile House features dwarf caimans,
lizards, turtles, snakes, amphibians, invertebrates and exotic
fish.
The
subterranean world of the Wieliczka
Salt Mine, so fascinating to adults, seem to
enthrall children even more than their parents. (Please note
that the tour would be probably too demanding for
preschoolers.)
Krakow’s
sizable water-park complex, Park Wodny, at 126 Dobrego
Pasterza street–some five kilometers northeast from the city
center–proves a year-long magnet for kids who relish its
huge slides, whirlpools, and other wet joys.
Recreational
area most popular with parents and their offspring has been
traditionally Park Jordana next to Krakow’s huge downtown Blonia
common, just west of the Old Town. Its playgrounds,
pitches and the like complement the usual park facilities.
Entertaining
Children in Krakow
Numerous
Krakow enterprises provide entertainment for kids, either
exclusively or as important part of their clientele, from play
centers to amusement arcades to multiplexes
to museums, and even the Krakow Opera Company caters to minors
from time to time. Krakow
lacks a permanent amusement park but from spring to autumn
various funfairs are enduring feature in the city. Their
favorite location is the site near the Most Grunwaldzki
bridge, close to the Wawel
Royal Castle, on the opposite bank of the Wisla
river. The
city boasts an IMAX cinema,
situated in the Krakow Plaza shopping center at 44 Al. Pokoju
street, that also shows three-dimensional movies,
documentaries ones as well as full-length features. Plus,
every day children’s films are screened in each of
Krakow’s several multiplexes, always dubbed into
Polish. Krakow
has a repertory puppet theater, Groteska at 2 Skarbowa street,
close to the Old Town, that stages mostly children’s plays.
Also the city’s other theaters
occasionally put on productions of shows meant for
schoolchildren. Krakow
Philharmonic Orchestra regularly gives special concerts for
children in its Filharmonia concert hall at 1 Zwierzyniecka
street that abuts on the Old Town two blocks north from the
Wawel Royal Castle. Plus,
hardly a day passes in Krakow without special events organized
for children. (‘Karnet’ monthly listings magazine
includes info on most of children’s plays, concerts, films,
and other events.)
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Downtown
green oasis boasts some 5,000 plant species.
Krakow's
Parks
There are
over 25,000 beds to choose from.
Krakow
Restaurants
Krakow is
Poland’s mecca of gourmets thanks to its many excellent restaurants.
Travel
to Krakow
Over four million visitors show up in Krakow every year. Many arrive by air, but most
take advantage of the fact that Krakow lies at a major European road and rail junction.
Shopping
in Krakow
The city’s central Old Town historic district, turned into a
pedestrian precinct, teems with stores of all sorts.
Krakow
Weather
Strolls
The best way to enjoy
Krakow is on foot.
Krakow
Tours
In
Krakow and beyond. |
