Whereas most of Poland had been reduced to rubble by the end of the second world war, Krakow escaped total destruction and today there are few European cities with such a concentration of history and art.
Krakow's museums and galleries contain more than 2.3 million registered artworks, including Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine in the Czartoryski Museum, but it is in the cobbled streets, courtyards, pavement cafes and beer cellars that the city's real beauty can be found.
Wawel Castle overlooks Krakow and is the defining landmark of the city. A full tour of Wawel Cathedral and the castle could take all day, but a short walk around the Romanesque, Renaissance and Gothic architecture is worth the effort. The castle is a beguiling mixture of styles and its colonnaded inner courtyard is a masterpiece.
However, it is on the stroll down Wawel Hill, through the dappled sunlight of the Planty gardens and along the Royal Road that the visitor finds architectural beauty of quite stunning proportions. Here you'll find the 17th-century Jesuit church of St Peter and St Paul, with 12 disciples mounted on the main gates, and rows of 17th- and 18th-century buildings, housing artworks and selling bottles of Polish beer and fresh salted pretzels. Here, too, is the Florianska Gate, which opens out onto Rynek Glowny: a 4-hectare, 13th-century square (the largest medieval town square in Europe).
Rynek Glowny is packed with medieval architecture. The 16th-century Renaissance Cloth Hall, the 13th-century Gothic Town Hall tower, the 14th-century basilica of the Virgin Mary and the tiny 11th-century Church of St Adalbert are the highlights, but fringing the square are myriad stores, restaurants, clubs and cafes in perfectly preserved buildings. Open fires, barszcz (beetroot soup) and Bigos stew characterise this area in winter. Enjoy pavement cafes, sernik (cheesecake) and vodka with strawberries in the warm Polish summers.
Sit and watch the world go by, you won't lose track of time; the nearby Krakow Signal, or Hejnal Mariacki, won't let you. The signal is played by a trumpeter every hour from the basilica's taller tower. The signal, dating from the Middle Ages, is so dear to the Poles it is broadcast across the nation at noon every day. Don't be alarmed by the abrupt ending to the tune, it commemorates a bugler who was shot through the throat by a Tatar archer in 1241.