Things to do in Kraków

Three days for the city plus a day for the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial. One day for the Main Market Square, Wawel Hill and the Old Town. One for the Jewish quarter Kazimierz and the former ghetto in Podgórze. A fourth day for Wieliczka salt mine or the Tatra mountains in Zakopane.

Wawel Cathedral and Castle on the hill above the Vistula — the coronation site of Polish kings, with the bronze tomb of Casimir IV by Veit Stoss inside the cathedral. Climb the Sigismund Tower for the bell-named-after-the-king and the view over Krakow's terracotta rooftops.

Kazimierz — formerly the Jewish quarter, now the bohemian centre with synagogues, Plac Nowy and great food spots. Cross Powstańców Śląskich bridge to Podgórze for Schindler's Factory museum, the eagle pharmacy in Plac Bohaterów Getta, and ZMP brutalist housing blocks. Nowa Huta further east for the Stalinist planned town.

Pierogi — ruskie (potato-cheese), z mięsem (meat), z kapustą (cabbage and mushroom) — at Pierogarnia Krakowiacy or Zapiecek. Obwarzanek (sesame-poppy ring bread) from a street cart. Zapiekanka (Polish open-faced pizza) at Plac Nowy in Kazimierz at 2 a.m. Żubrówka vodka with apple juice (a Tatanka).

Almost entirely — the Old Town is one of the largest medieval squares in Europe and ringed by the Planty park where the city walls used to stand. Trams 13 and 24 are useful for reaching Kazimierz from the main station and onto Podgórze. The bus 304 reaches the airport directly.

The Czartoryski Museum — recently re-opened, holding Leonardo's Lady with an Ermine (one of only four Leonardo female portraits in the world). It's two blocks from Floriańska Gate, smaller than the Louvre, almost no queue. The painting is hung in its own dark side-room for the full effect.