After a 9 hour train ride overnight I arrived in Krakow around 7 am on May 6, 2012. At 9 am my local expert guide Monica picked me up for a bicycle tour and we started with a ride next to the Vistula River and cycled up to Wawel Hill, location of Krakow's Royal Castle, the Wawel Cathedral and the magnificent Renaissance courtyard of the castle. All of Krakow's downtown area became a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, during the first year that this prestigious award was issued. Following our visit to the Royal Castle we continued through Krakow's Old Town. We cycled on historic Kanonicza Street past St. Andrew's and Saint Peter and Paul churches to the Jagellonian University, the oldest university in Poland and the second oldest in Central Europe. Its most famous students include Nicolaus Copernicus and Pope John Paul II. Then we reached Krakow's Main Market Square (Rynek Główny). This magnificently preserved medieval square holds several impressive buildings: the Gothic St, Mary's Basilica, the Renaissance-era Cloth Hall (which holds souvenir stands today) and the Town Hall Tower, a remainder of Krakow's Gothic Town Hall from the late 1200s. Measuring 40,000 m2 (or 430,000 square feet), this market square is the largest medieval square in Europe and a huge attraction for locals and visitors alike. We continued our bicycle tour of Old Town Krakow past the busy Florian Street and through the 14th century St. Florian's Gate to the Krakow Barbican, a historic fortified gateway into the city that was constructed in the late 1400s. This area is part of the Krakow Royal Route that the Polish kings used to pass through on their way to coronation in the Wawel Cathedral. The entire Old Town of Krakow is encircled by Planty Park, built in the early 19th century where the city's medieval fortifications used to be. This scenic walkway with its 30 smaller gardens is a popular recreational area among Cracovian residents. In the afternoon my bicycle guide Monica took me outside the city centre, past the huge Błonia meadow, location of several masses held by Pope John Paul II. which attracted many hundreds of thousands of worshippers, to Kościuszko, Hill which holds a memorial to one of Poland's most important national heros. The view from the mound over the city is phenomenal. In the evening I headed back to Krakow's Main Market Square to once again take in the sights of St.Mary's Basilica, the Renaissance masterpiece of the Cloth Hall and the medieval Town Hall Tower. Krakow is very atmospheric at night and people sit in the outdoor cafes that surround the entire gigantic square. This medieval square and its surrounding neighbourhood is full of bars and restaurants and one of the city's main entertainment areas.

• published: 09 Aug 2012
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