Tip: Take a free guided city tour

When I, my friend and my 12 year old son went on an interrailing and couchsurfing trip across Eastern Europe, we were on a low budget. We where delighted to discover it´s possible to go on a guided city tour in the capitals, led by very knowledgeable history enthusiasts, with the "pay what you want" concept. 

In Kraków we ended up on a tour through the Jewish quarters of the city. Our guide, Tomasz, proved to be a highly passionate storyteller with a great sense of humour. Very vividly he told us about the fate of the Jewish population and the awful deeds they were victims of around the time of the second world war. He also pointed out venues where some scenes from the film Schindler´s list" had been shot.

Here is an excerpt from our book:

"Welcome to the tour. My name is Tomasz. I'm a historian and professional storyteller, and some of you may already have met me on the Old Town tour or the World War II tour. Then you know that unlike civilized guides, I shout. Civilised guides say things, I shout things," he says with a big grin, making the group laugh. After a pause for effect, he continues:
"This tour is similar to the Old Town tour, but unlike that one, which covers just one area, today we'll cover two. We'll start in Kazimierz, the Jewish Quarter. Not only is it our starting point, but also the best place on earth – it's fantastic. From here we'll move across the Vistula River into Podgórze. Podgórze is an incredibly important place. During World War II, the Nazis created a ghetto here for the city's Jews, so we'll talk about the Holocaust when we're there."

Do you want to learn more about our guided tour and other adventures in Kraków, as well as the rest of our interrailing and couchsurfing journey through Eastern Europe?

Here is some info about the book

And here you could get your own copy