Złoty. Poland is not in the euro. Cards work everywhere down to the pretzel carts; the trap is the machine or the waiter offering to charge in your own currency. Press PLN and let your bank convert.
Trams. A new tariff arrived on March 2, 2026: zł 4 for 15 minutes, zł 6 for 30, zł 8 for 60, zł 9 for 90 and zł 20 for 24 hours in zone I. Buy in the jakdojade or mPay apps and activate before you step on, or from the card machine on board, and validate paper tickets the moment you board.
Wawel. The hill is free; each exhibition is its own timed ticket, zł 57 for a floor of the castle and zł 95 for both, sold online up to a month ahead. The cathedral is a separate ticket of about zł 26. On Mondays the castle runs shorter hours and hands out free passes to a few exhibitions at the ticket window, gone within an hour or two of opening.
Auschwitz. Entry is free, but every visitor needs a named pass from visit.auschwitz.org, released each day at noon for dates 90 days out, and you show ID at the gate. For most of the day individuals may only enter on a tour with a Memorial educator, about three and a half hours for zł 150; the free individual passes are for the late afternoon. Bags larger than 35 by 25 by 15 centimetres stay outside, and security means arriving 30 minutes early.
Wieliczka. The Tourist Route is 3.5 kilometers and 800 steps down to 135 meters, two to three hours at 17°C (63°F). English-language tours run through the day for around zł 150 to 170; tours in other languages must be bought online beforehand.
Kazimierz and Sunday. Most shops shut on Sunday by law, apart from a few trading Sundays a year and the small Żabka stores. Kazimierz is unaffected: the synagogues, the Galicia museum, the Plac Nowy zapiekanka hatches and the bars open. Book a time for Schindler’s Factory across the river; walk-up tickets go quickly.
The airport train and tipping. Koleje Małopolskie trains run from the terminal to Kraków Główny in under 20 minutes, every half hour, for about zł 20, from the machine or the Koleo app. Tip ten percent, in cash or stated before the card goes through; thank you as you hand over the card means keep the change.
On the day. Save the Auschwitz pass and the Wawel QR codes in Waystop’s Documents, where they open offline, and carry ID for the memorial. Activate the tram ticket on the platform, and be at Wawel for opening if you want the Monday passes.