Night in Krakow and sleeping on a boat

In summer 2019 I’ve spent a couple of days exploring the nearby country of Poland. One of my few stops has been the grand city of Krakow, the second biggest city in Poland. Exploring the nightlife of Krakow is interesting as it is. My trip got even more exciting as we were sleeping on a boat over the Visla river. Let me tell you more.

We’ve been already spending a quite busy day in Poland. I already published what I and my family did on our Poland trip in those two articles:

• Quick trip to Salt Mine Wieliczka in Poland
• Auschwitz concentration camp and the dilemma of selfies

By the end of our Auschwitz visit a huge storm came in and we were lucky to hide in the local bistro where we had dinner and waited the storm out. It took just like an hour and a half and we were back in our car heading for the next adventure. Krakow.

When planning this trip I checked out what to see and where to go in Krakow along with the most Instagram-able places in Krakow. All I left to my family was to find a place to stay. My only requirements were bed and bathroom and I guess I should have been more specific.

My parents, as a surprise, booked a night at a boat hotel. They were so excited, how interesting and different it’s gonna be and they already bought it at booking. Here is the link to the Hostel on the river Marta we were staying at.

But when I heard that we are going to sleep on a boat I was not happy.

Fun fact I’m seasick.

You can imagine my panic when I found out I’m about to spend a night on a boat.

I’ve been on a boat to London and I spend the majority of my stay with my head in the toilet. My friends actually had to drag me out of it when we were supposed to leave. I’ve been on a boat from New Jersey to New York and I cursed each of the islands we had to go through in order to get to our final destination. The ride itself was not so bad for me, but to the movement of the boat when people were getting on and off at the islands was too much for me. I’ve been on a boat on my trip to Venizia and I’ve been holding my friend’s arm for dear life the whole of 20 minutes it takes to get there. The thought of spending several hours on a boat terrified me.

Turned out my parents didn’t know of my relationships with boats. My bad, cuz I usually talk about happy memories from my travels instead of the bad ones.

I was convincing myself that this time it’s gonna be different because for the first time I’m gonna be on a riverboat and not on a sea. Supposedly calmer but I had my stock of motion sickness pills prepared. Just in case.

From Oswiecim to Krakow it’s only a short while. Much longer is the drive through the city itself because of the traffic. The hostel Marta sends us instructions on where to park our car beforehand.

We parked, took our suitcases and headed to the hostel on a river.

At this time the sun was setting down. The sky was pink and we headed to the boat. The scenery was dreamy.

I was preparing for my first steps on the deck. I got in and nothing happened. No movement or vibrations whatsoever. If it didn’t look like a boat I would never have guessed I’m on a river right now. You can’t even imagine my relief and that moment.

Turns out I was stressing for nothing.

We got 2 rooms or I should probably call it a cabin. The room itself was bigger than I expected. There were 2 bunk beds on each side of the room and a table in the middle. It was so hot that day so the temperature in the room was unbearable. There was one small cabin window that was unable to properly ventilate the room. Right outside our window was a speaker that played music fill the early morning hours. Great music though.

On one side of the room was the world’s tiniest bathroom, I ever saw.

I get that they did what they could with what they had.

Good for one night but I can’t imagine spending more days in such a small bathroom.

But I got everything I demanded. I got a bathroom and I got a bed I was totally fine with but taller members of our trip had their legs sticking out of it.

We checked in and got a couple of minutes to shower and change to continue with our plan. Our plan was to head to Rynek Główny square, which could be translated as the Main square. That’s where the magic and cute photos happen. We typed our destination to google maps and followed through.

On our night walk, we passed through Wawel castle, several churches like Plac Św. Marii Magdaleny and many others we admired from afar. Went through a park to get to the main square and all along the way I was surprised with the number of people out on a Monday evening.

No matter which site you turn to when you’re on the main square in Krakow. There are some beautiful historic buildings everywhere. Just like many other European places.

Most famous on Instagram is the St. Mary’s Basilica, two towers that rise above the square, and every influencer got to take a photo in front of it. I was more fascinated by the size of Cloth Hall. There are many cafes and bars along the way but we choose the one in the center with the most spectacular view. We sat right in front of the cloth hall and got some drinks from Cafe szal. Loved the atmosphere of the warm summer night, surrounded by so much history, enjoying the good company and drinks.

We had a direct view of a couple taking their wedding photos in lovely surroundings and I get their choice of such a romantic place.

At around 11 we got icecream and continued our tour with just random wandering the Krakow streets and slowly headed to our boat for the night. That’s the part of traveling I enjoy the most. Just walking. Aimlessly. See where the road takes you. But there is only so much you can take after a whole day of activities.

We were all pretty exhausted and it was just the first day of our trip.

There was a private bar at our boat hostel, but by the time we arrived there was no one there.

According to our plan, we had to get up pretty early for our liking as we had a ton of stuff planned for that day as well.

There is nothing like the beautiful peaceful feeling of having breakfast with a view over the river. The whole breakfast felt like a private family moment. Just a couple of hosts, a buffet, and a breathtaking view.

A couple of more photos and we were ready to go.

Krakow was nothing as I imagined. Surprised me with its vividness and new experiences.

That’s how I conquer my fear, no matter how ridiculous it might seem. It was much worse in my head.

Ideal for a quick unusual stay to build up memories. Krakow is easy to explore with a lot to offer. Ideal for starting up travelers.