3 days in Krakow: Jewish Quarter, Schindler Factory, former Ghetto, Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Wieliczka Salt Mine Guided Tour

Jewish Krakow - Kazimierz district
Kazimierz is a fashionable artistic part of Krakow, located in the place of the former Jewish district, where there are now independent galleries, unusual shops, vintage fashion boutiques. Feel the atmosphere of this unique place. Excursion on the Jewish Kazimierz (UNESCO monument) is devoted to history and traditions of the Jewish people, since XIV century up to now: the closed life of the first settlements, assimilation of XIX century, tragic death during the Second World War, history of filming of Steven Spielberg`s film "Schindler`s List". Today, Kazimierz is one of the most fashionable areas in Krakow, where synagogues still stand, old cemeteries, cafes and shops have been preserved.

Schindler's Factory
The walk around Kazimierz will end with a visit to one of the most popular museums in Krakow - the former Enamel Factory, where a German entrepreneur employed Jews to save them from deportation to camps and death, there is an exhibition "Krakow under Nazi occupation". The modern arrangement of the exhibition is rather a theater and a film telling the history of the city, its inhabitants and occupants, rather than an ordinary museum.

In former ghetto
The Ghetto Heroes Square is a square in the Podgórze district of Krakow. In the years 1941–1943 it was within the ghetto. It was a place of concentration of the Jewish population before transport to concentration camps. Currently, there is an unusual monument in this place - several dozen cast-iron chairs standing individually in the square. They symbolize property and belongings of Krakow Jews scattered on the streets after the liquidation of the ghetto.

Auschwitz-Birkenau Memprial and Museum
Around 60 km to the west of Krakow is the small town of Oswiecim, where in 1940 a set of German concentration camps was established. Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest German concentration camp, where more than 1.5 million prisoners were tortured and murdered during the Second World War.
Auschwitz-Birkenau is preserved intact as a reminder of the crime committed against humanity here. The museum includes the ruins of crematoria, gas chambers, the railway platform and other objects of the former concentration camp.

The salt wonders of Wieliczka
The Salt Mine in the town of Wieliczka, located nearby Krakow, was opened in the 13th century as one of the oldest salt mines in the world. It reaches almost 327 meters underground and is over 287 kilometers. Walk through 20 chambers and countless corridors and steps on the tourist route, breathe the healing air fully and admire the magnificent wooden structures, natural lakes, chambers and majestic salt sculptures. 

Meeting point: ul. Szeroka 24 (on the steps of the Old Synagogue)(click to go to the Google maps )