When I think about Krakow town in Poland and some of it's main places to explore, Wawel Castle certainly comes as one of the top options in my mind. The grandness and the location makes it very special. Not only that, the castle houses different kinds of architectures and landscapes which makes it's a unique place to visit & explore in Krakow town. This blog-post talks about Wawel Castle, how to reach this place, things to do inside, free vs paid things to explore and places which can be missed etc.
Wawel hill is just across the famous Vistula river of Poland. It's visible from various parts of Wawel hill. After walking around the Wawel Castle one can go down and relax in one of the lush lawns close to the Vistula river in Krakow.
Let's know a little around Wawel Castle Ticket. The very first thing is that entry into the castle is FREE and you can roam around the campus without getting any tickets. Tickets are needed for specific shows/exhibits. Let's talk about specific details now -
Before get into details, one important to note is that there is a fixed quota of tickets to be sold in a day, so you need to plan it a better way if you really want to explore any of these places at Wawel Castle in Krakow.
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During summers most of these places are closed on Mondays and in Winters for 2 days - Mondays & Sundays.
1. State Room : 20 PNL (one ticket) : more details...
2. Royal Private Apartments : 25 PNL : more details...
3. Crown Treasury & Armory : 20 PNL : more details...
4. The Lost Wawel : 10 PNL : more details...
5. Oriental Art : 8 PNL : more details...
If you are in Krakow between April to September and visiting Wawel Castle, there are some seasonal shows which are also recommended :
1. Dragen's Den
2. Sandomierska Tower
3. Wawel Architecture & Garden
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Above photograph is clicked from one of the entry gates of Wawel Castle and the folks walking from other side are about to exist the Wawel Catsle and the wawel hill.
There is another interesting thing called Wawel Dragon. Wawel Dragon is one of the popular dragon in Krakow city of Poland and has importance in the history of Wawel Hill & it's folklore.
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If we want to delve into Wawel Castle facts, then it would be hard for me to list down all important events happened in last thousands of years in Wawel hills. Some of the things in Wawel Castle campus are Parish House, Cathedral Museum, Queen Bona Sforza's gardens, Royal Gardens, which are covered by defensive walls below Sigmund Tower. And if you visit each of these places and give time, you would know how much history is associated with the place. We didn't have any guide with us, but I realized the need as it would be hard to figure out on your own except the museum areas where you get some details.
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Wawel Castle hours : Typically Wawel castle is open from 10 am to 4:30am and the timings vary from month to other. At times it opens at 9:30 am as well and closing time is 5pm as well. This is mainly for the paid exhibits & shows.
Wawel Castle map : In this digital world probably you can manage with Google maps and it works well in terms of directions for various places within Wawel Castle. You can also buy a good travel book on Krakow or Krakow map, which can help a lot while roaming around places like Wawel Castle, Market Square or Vistula River in Krakow city of Poland.
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Wawel Castle History is very interesting and thousands years old. It's mind boggling to know how this hill has transformed over the years. We would be sharing some facts about it but not many because sources like Wikipedia can provide better details around that.
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For many centuries this castle was residence of kings of Poland and now it houses some of the premier art museums in Poland. The museum inside Wawel Castle was founded in 1930s which has ten curatorial departments which take care of collection of paintings, including an important collection of Italian Renaissance paintings, prints, sculpture, textiles, among them the Sigismund II Augustus tapestry collection, goldsmith’s work, arms and armor, ceramics, Meissen porcelain, and period furniture.
The museum at Wawel Castle holds oriental art which includes the largest collection of Ottoman tents in Europe. With seven specialized conservation studios, the museum is also an important center for the conservation of works of art in Krakow city of Poland. These Museum has special mention at various places amongst museums in Europe.
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There are various places in Wawel Castle where you can sit and enjoy magnificent views of the place. In the middle of the castle, there are huge green area but you are not allowed to walk on the grass, but can use seating arrangements around this lawn. Above photograph shows the exterior wall of Wawel Castle and Vistual River is visible on the other side from this wall. All these folks are here to see Vistual river and click the photographs there.
Wawel Castle being one of the oldest polish castles has variety of European architectural pieces from different time-periods. This Castle was declared UNESCO World Heritage site in 1978 and since then footfall in this beautiful castle has increased. Above photograph shows the amount of people you see inside the castle at any point of time.
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Walking around Wawel Castle campus is very interesting experience and I loved seeing different kinds of architectures in one campus. This campus truly represents Europe's special styles of architecture.
If you are planning to visit Krakow City, do check out our other posts from Krakow city and feel free to drop your questions through comments section below. We will try to share best possible details from our personal experiences.
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If you liked this post and found it helpful, I would request you to follow these things when traveling -
- Manage your waste well and don’t litter
- Use dustbins. Tell us if you went to a place and found it hard to locate a dustbin.
- Avoid bottle waters in hills. Usually you get clean water in hills and water bottles create lot of mess in our ecosystem.
- Say big no to plastic and avoid those unhealthy snacks packed in plastic bags. Rather buy fruits.
- Don't play loud blaring music in forests of jungle camps. You are a guest in that ecosystem and disturbing the locals (humans and animals) is not polite
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