Kraków is one of Poland’s oldest cities, and its historic centre remained almost entirely intact during the Second World War. That is why it is today considered one of the best-preserved in Europe and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
When I was still at school, our teachers used to organise what were known as ”Trains of Memory” — educational trips to Poland to visit the sites connected to the Second World War and the Holocaust. For various reasons, a friend and I never managed to go with the school. So, some time later, we decided to make the journey on our own terms.
Poland is not, for me, one of those trips I recount with easy enthusiasm or a desire to “inspire someone to book it”. It was an intense, deep, at times heavy experience. Visiting these places on your own completely changes your perception of them: there are no guided explanations, just the silence of the sites themselves and the full weight of their history.
The most well-known is of course Auschwitz-Birkenau, a complex made up of two distinct camps. Auschwitz I was the main camp, now partly converted into a museum, while Birkenau is a far larger, bleaker expanse where you can still feel the enormity of what happened there. Walking between the railway tracks and the barracks leaves you in a silence that is very difficult to describe.
Not far away is the site of Płaszów, a former labour and concentration camp on the outskirts of Kraków — less visited, but a fundamental part of the city’s historical memory.
These are not simply historic attractions. They are spaces that demand you stop and reflect.
Yet Kraków is not only memory. It is also a vibrant, deeply enjoyable city to explore. Its historic centre gathers around the Rynek Główny, one of the largest medieval market squares in Europe. Close by stands Wawel Castle, presiding over the Vistula river.
That evening, coming back from visiting those painful places, we watched the sunset from the castle above the river. A young man was playing the trumpet somewhere in the distance, and that scene became the quiet, deeply nostalgic closing note of a journey that meant a great deal to us both.
The Kazimierz quarter, the old Jewish district, is today filled with restaurants, murals and small bars, but it still holds very strong traces of the past beneath the surface.
Polish cuisine is simple but hearty, built to sustain you. Among the most typical dishes are pierogi — filled dumplings that can be savoury or sweet — and żurek, a fermented rye soup with a bold, distinctive flavour. Sernik is the Polish cheesecake, one of the most beloved desserts in the country.
Poland was not a light destination. It was a journey that stays with you, one that you don’t forget easily, and one that quietly changes the way you look at certain chapters of history.