The "Royal Route" - that was the name of the route from the Florian Gate, the front gate of the city, to the Royal Castle on Wawel Hill, all royal motorcades drove along this route, crossing the city from north to south. This Royal Route tour shows all the places connected with the power and prestige Poland was enjoying in the past centuries, when Kraków was its capital.
Nowadays it is a tourist route: the Church of St. Mary, the Market Square with the Passage Rows of Sukiennica, the University Quarter, the Franciscan Monastery, St. Peter and Paul's Cathedral and finally Wawel Hill itself with the Cathedral.
We will retrace with the local guide the paths of the Polish Kings and Queens – either on the Main Square or the Wawel Hill. The very best way to think of them is in fact while strolling around the Royals Chambers, as they are still there, on the portraits, and in the things they left, which remind us of the past times. With a bit of an imagination we can see the Monarchs of Poland dancing, flirting, taking the crucial decisions…
In the museum and the Cathedral we will have a unique opportunity to feel the spirit of Old Poland – the country whose citizens, strongly cultivating the Catholic religion, were at the same time longing for the pleasures of life so much that finally, in the end of the 18th century, they caused the partition of their beloved homeland.
Itinerary:
Barbican and the Old Town Walls, St. Florian’s Gate, Planty Park
Czartoryski Museum – “Lady with an Ermine” by Leonardo da Vinci
The National Theatre
ul. Szpitalna – the Eastern Orthodox Church
Small Market Square (Mały Rynek)
pl. Mariacki – St. Mary’s Church
The Main Market Square (Rynek Główny) – Adam Mickiewicz Monument, the Cloth Hall - Sukiennice, St. Adalbert’s Church, City Hall Tower, Eros bendato – contemporary artwork by Igor Mitoraj, Statue of Piotr Skrzynecki
University Quarter – Collegium Maius, Collegium Novum, Statue of Nicholas Copernicus
Fryderyk Chopin Monument
The Bishop’s Palace – John Paul II
Franciscan Church – Stained Glass Windows by Stanisław Wyspiański
The New City Hall and Wyspiański Pavilion – City Information Centre
ul. Grodzka – St. Peter and Paul’s Church, St. Andrew’s Church
ul. Kanonicza – the oldest street in Krakow
The Wawel Castle – Tadeusz Kościuszko Monument, the Cathedral, the Royal Palace, the River Vistula Panorama
The Dragon of Wawel.
Meeting point: in front of the Hotel Polski pod Bialym Orlem (click to go to the Google maps)
Endpoint: Wawel Hill
Length: ~3 km
Duration: 4 hours
The tour starts at
