Food Krakow KRK travel budget

Krakow Cost of Food and Drink

As I flew over the Baltic Sea from Krakow to Copenhagen, I read a piece in the SAS flight magazine about Krakow having the highest concentration of bars for any major city in the world. Kind of confirms my statement the other day that you can’t walk more than 50 meters without finding another restaurant/pub/garden café with $2 glasses of beer. Those are the large beers. Our last night in the city in Kazimierz we were in a crowded garden pub Pub Wrega at midnight drinking 15 PLZ ($3.75 USD) 1.0 L mugs of beer (Pub Wrega TripAdvisor reviews).

Every day we found a café with lower beer and food prices than the day before. We had started out paying $6.00 USD per 1.0L mugs of beer five days earlier when we arrived. The cost of meals averaged about $5 to $9 per entrée and the price for a 0.5L glass of beer averaged $2.00.

We even came across one pub with Happy Hour 3 PLZ ($0.75 USD) beer.

Absinthe bar 

We never came across a rowdy bar or staggering drunks in six days wandering the city of Krakow. This is not Las Vegas. Most pubs were very low key and served meals. Kazimierz is a trendy Bohemian studio and art section of time and the center of a vibrant social scene in the cafes and pubs.

Kazimierz street art

Kazimierz has trendy art and social scene and only ten minutes walk from Krakow Old Town.

Kazimierz Street Art-2

In between pubs and garden cafes there were plenty of boutique shops and city museums to visit during the day.

I study food prices wherever I travel. Krakow, Poland is near the lowest priced places in Europe. Some 9 million visitors travel here annually to take advantage of low prices and a trendy, historic city with a vibrant social and arts scene.

Cost of Food in Krakow

A budget traveler can get by in Krakow on $10 per day with grocery store food bought at Carrefour market on top floor in Central Station shopping mall.

Galeria Krakow

Galeria Krakow at Krakow Main Rail Station has a large Carrefour super market on top floor.

Carrefour

This was the place where I bought hot chicken (Two quarters for 6 plz ($1.50 USD) and a whole chicken for 10 PLZ ($2.50 USD).

Yesterday I made a last morning breakfast and lunch shopping run to Carrefour and purchased:

  • one whole roasted chicken,
  • 2 yogurt bottled drinks,
  • 500 ml milk,
  • 1.0 L Coke Zero,
  • 450 g cherries,
  • sliced cheese,
  • large baguette,
  • Brie,
  • feminine pads
  • 250 g smoked salmon (2 x 125 g packages)

Total price: under $12.00 USD.

Café Life at Costco Prices

We ate full meals at prices ranging from $3.75 to $9.00 USD per person on average two times each day.

Cafe salmon

Typical salmon meal was about $9 USD in several restaurants.

Cafe boat on Vistula River

River boat café on Vistula River. Similar prices were found whether eating in a sit down restaurant, garden café or river boat café.

Even cheaper food was available around town from food truck cafes.

Food trucks

Food truck café beside Vistula River, Krakow.

Potato pancake

Potato pancake at Bierhalle, Krakow.

Food truck square

Food Truck Square in Kazimierz.

Krakow is a 24 hour party city if that is what you desire. We were generally in bed by 11pm, or sometimes 1am.

U-Szwagra Burgers-Pizza

Kazimierz 24-hour burgers and beer.

Duzy hamburger

Large burger for $4.00.

Danie kebab chicken

Donie kebab spicy chicken, vegies and fries for $3.75.

Krakow is cheap food and drink and great museums, old architecture and friendly people and places all around to meet locals and other tourists.

3 Comments

  • SonomaWine July 23, 2016

    Hopefully you had one of their famous Zapiekanka. Great sandwich in Krakow.

  • Marek July 23, 2016

    I am glad that you enjoy your trip! Every visit to Poland puts me in a high excitement mode and borderline binge eating. Other Polish cities and towns are similar, although Kraków is among the most interesting places to visit. Warsaw, Gdańsk and Wrocław have excellent and inexpensive restaurants and hotels that are even a bit cheaper than Kraków. This is a temporary situation due to various macroeconomic conditions that made Polish zloty relatively weak at 4 zlotys/dollar (in 2008 the exchange rate was close to 2 zlotys/dollar). This will undoubtedly change in 5-10 years. Btw, Warsaw is connected by excellent fast trains to the other three cities, with 50% off for some weekend fares. In May, I paid ~50$ for a roundtrip weekend first class ticket Warsaw-Wrocław (with tasty meal included); Kraków and Gdańsk’s prices are similar.

  • UAPhil July 23, 2016

    Warsaw is also very inexpensive. An Uber from a centrally located hotel to the airport cost me $6 (vs. $15-20 for a similar distance ride most other places).

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