Where to Stay in Krakow

A UNESCO-listed centre built around the Rynek Glowny, the largest medieval market square in Europe, with the Cloth Hall in the middle and St Mary's Basilica trumpeting the hour. Wawel Castle sits at the southern end, and the whole quarter is wrapped in the Planty, a ring of parkland where the walls used to be.

Good to know: The square itself is ringed by bars that draw stag and hen groups, and the noise carries into surrounding streets on Friday and Saturday. Book a side street or a courtyard-facing room. Restaurants directly on the Rynek charge a heavy premium for the view.

Krakow's most atmospheric district: seven synagogues, faded tenement facades, antique markets on Plac Nowy, and a bar and restaurant scene that comfortably beats the Old Town. It is where the city actually goes out, and where Schindler's List was filmed.

Good to know: About 15 minutes' walk from the main square, so it is central without the tourist premium. The bar streets around Plac Nowy get loud at weekends, but the noise is more local and less stag-party than the Rynek. Try a zapiekanka from the round market building at midnight.

The district south of the Vistula that held the wartime ghetto. It contains Schindler's Factory museum, the Ghetto Heroes Square with its empty-chairs memorial, and the Krakus Mound for the best view over the city. Quieter and more residential than anywhere central.

Good to know: Connected to Kazimierz by the Father Bernatek footbridge, so it is about 20 to 25 minutes' walk to the Old Town. Fewer restaurants and much less nightlife. The right choice if the wartime history is the main reason for your trip, or if you want low prices and calm.

The strip of streets linking Wawel and the Old Town to Kazimierz. It has no real sights of its own, which is exactly why rooms cost less, and it puts both of the areas you actually want within a ten-minute walk.

Good to know: Busier with traffic than either neighbour and short on charm on the main road itself. Look for places on the quieter side streets. Genuinely the best value-for-location compromise in Krakow.

North of the Old Town around Krakow Glowny station and the Galeria Krakowska mall, with the Stary Kleparz market - a proper working food market Krakow residents shop at daily - a few minutes away. Modern chain hotels with lifts and air conditioning.

Good to know: No atmosphere to speak of, but you are a ten-minute walk from the main square and right on top of the station for airport trains and day trips. The sensible choice for a short stay, an early flight or travelling with luggage and children.

A leafy residential area west of Wawel along the Vistula, with the Kosciuszko Mound above it, river paths for running and cycling, and a genuinely local feel. Trams run into the centre in a few minutes.

Good to know: Little to do in the evening and you will commute in for everything, though the tram makes that easy. Best for longer stays, families wanting space, or anyone who would rather sleep somewhere quiet and green.

A complete socialist-realist city built in the 1950s as a workers' utopia, with vast boulevards, a central plaza and monumental blocks. It is one of the most interesting things in Krakow and completely unlike the medieval centre.

Good to know: It is about 30 to 40 minutes by tram from the Old Town, so almost nobody should sleep here on a short trip. Visit it for half a day instead, ideally with a guide or on one of the Trabant tours, and stay central.