Краков - столица королей. Krakow is the capital of kings.

Rested in a sanatorium in Truskavets, Lviv region. and decided to go on a 3-day excursion to Poland in Krakow. Used the services of the tour agency "Tour-Galicia". To obtain a visa, you only need an internal and foreign passport and a sanatorium book from the sanatorium where you are relaxing. In my case, I still needed a pension certificate - visas for pensioners are free of charge. A photo for a visa was taken in the same place in a travel agency for free. Service in the travel agency is excellent, no complaints there. The visa is issued somewhere in 7 days. Trips to Krakow were carried out once a week, on Friday. More often in summer. The pension certificate is sent to the Consulate General for 3-4 days along with all the documents. The cost of the trip seems to be 105 or 115 Euro (travel-insurance-accommodation with breakfast-guided tour of Krakow).
Our group of tourists was of 7 people. The trip was carried out on a comfortable minibus "Hyundai". The driver is experienced, there are no complaints about driving. He, the driver, gave any advice on the trip, country, excursions, shopping, and other issues. If the driver was addressed in Ukrainian, then he answered in Ukrainian, if in Russian, then he answered in Russian. Information concerning everyone, the driver reported in Russian. On the eve of the trip there was an abnormal snowfall, but this did not interfere with the trip, the driver coped with such problems despite the snowy roads.
We left Truskavets, it seems, somewhere at 13-14 o'clock, for each tourist we stopped at his sanatorium. It is more profitable to buy zloty for the first expenses in Truskavets, there the exchange rate is more profitable than at the checkpoint. They crossed the border in less than an hour. There were no problems with this, except for the queue. After crossing the border, we immediately realized that we were in the European Union, the road was clean, it seemed that there was no snow falling on the road. We arrived at the hotel at 22:00.

The hotel is located in the small town of Wieliczka, which is actually a suburb of Krakow. Settlement in the rooms consisted in the fact that as soon as we approached the reception desk, we were all given the keys and told that we could go to our rooms, we were settled (no filling out forms, painting, presenting and withdrawing passports, etc. . -European Union). It is advisable to have dinner somewhere on the road or take it with you (roadside cafes are very expensive). I went out upon arrival in the city, found a couple of supermarkets, but they were already closed, in small outlets only alcohol, chips, ice cream . When concluding a contract with a travel agency, I read in the contract that after crossing the border, the passport is confiscated, but no one confiscated the passport, it was with me all the time of the trip.
Hotel "Gorsko ***" corresponds to its 3 stars. Located almost in the city center. The hotel has recently been refurbished. The hotel has two floors. Well maintained. Has its own restaurant. The hotel fully meets the price-quality ratio for Europe. There were few vacationers in the hotel, not in season. The travel agency, when making a trip, warned that due to the fact that I was traveling alone, I would have to pay extra for a 1-bed room, it seems 20 zlotys. However, I didn’t pay anything extra and they put me in a 1-bed room, but very small, right at the entrance to the hotel. The room is comfortable, at the entrance there is a narrow corridor with a nightstand, a shower-washbasin-toilet right, and to the left you can even say that a niche for the bed. There is a TV on the wall next to the bed, and there is a built-in wardrobe. There is soap and shampoo. For the two nights that I spent at the hotel, the room was not cleaned and the towels were not changed, but this was not necessary. You can buy draft and bottled beer, drinks, ice cream from the administrator around the clock, but the price is twice as expensive as in the store. Morning breakfast in the restaurant. Buffet. Satisfies every taste: scrambled eggs, sausages, sausages, ham, fruits, cheese, cheese, vegetables, pickles, dessert, pastries, tea, coffee, milk, juice, etc. The hotel has video surveillance everywhere, judging by the computer monitor at the reception, there are 16 video cameras, but there may be more.
In the morning there was the first excursion to the salt mine "Velichka", located about 200 meters from the hotel, we walked. The tour is paid, I don’t remember the price, it’s acceptable. I liked the tour to the mine very much, the guide is Russian-speaking. The depth of the mine is 350 m, they descended into the mine on foot along the workings, they are many kilometers there, in some places in the adits there are chambers with selected salt of incredible sizes. There are many salt sculptures and other handicrafts, chapels, etc. The mine is included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site, it seems to be 700 years old, almost the oldest enterprise on the planet. We went up from the mine by elevator. There are numerous souvenir shops in the mine, I do not advise buying expensive souvenirs there. The same souvenirs can be bought at half the price at the mine, at the main entrance, across the road there are souvenir kiosks, everything is the same there.
After the mine, we went to Krakow by our minibus, where we were met by a guide - a teacher from a local university, a girl from Ukraine. Before the tour, the guide asked what language to conduct the tour. Opinions were divided, 5-Ukrainian, 2-Russian. Therefore, the tour was conducted in Russian. It is difficult to tell and list everything that was seen and heard even approximately. Krakow is an ancient city open-air museum. Wawel Castle - the residence of the kings, the town hall, monasteries, churches, basilicas, etc. It's impossible to list everything, the beauty is indescribable. And this is not just some part of the city or a street, but a very large part of the city where you want to walk and look all the time.

After the tour we had free time. We had lunch in a cafe in the same place in the old town, the guide also dined there, she showed it to us. The cafe is cheap. I ordered 150+50 bison - they consider it their national drink, zhurekh (soup), chop. Everything is very delicious. The prices are reasonable. After that, I tried to go shopping, but then immediately abandoned them (on the way back, not far from the checkpoint, they always make a stop for shopping - there are a number of supermarkets for clothes, groceries, household appliances, shoes, in short, you can buy everything, so in Krakow, do not waste time shopping) and wandered around old Krakow for a long time, taking pictures. When the guide said goodbye to us, she gave us free maps of the old city and noted where we were and where our minibus was located - it was very convenient so as not to get lost, showed landmarks on the ground, and the driver gave everyone business cards of the hotel, there is a small map, how to get to the hotel and phone numbers. Didn't eat at the cafe. I went to the supermarket, bought ham and buns. In the old town I found a big tent - a fair of European wines, bought mulled wine and had dinner there.
After a tour of Krakow, we returned to the hotel. We spent the night. We had breakfast and went home. On the way back we stopped in the town of Lancut at the Lubomirski-Pototski castle. However, there were no Russian and Ukrainian speaking guides there, and excursions without guides are not allowed, so we just took pictures near the castle and drove home. The border was crossed in no more than 30 minutes. Upon arrival in Truskavets, everyone was taken to their sanatoriums. I liked the trip very much, I advise everyone, inexpensive and informative. After visiting Poland, any Ukrainian will say that he is for the European Union!