Kazimierz, Old Jewish area, has a lot of charm, access could be better
2.5
2.5
Date of visit: June 2019
I have experience of challenges around: moving around
Overall Rating
Average
Kazimierz, is the old Jewish area. There is lots to see here from Synagogues, beautiful architecture and lots of restaurants. It's about 15 - 20 minutes walk from the Old Town but it has a less touristy area apart from Szeroka, one of its main streets. There's lots of small side streets, little hidden courtyards and this area was my favourite part of Krakow. I would give the area itself 5 out of 5, but access is pretty poor, so it brought the score down for me.
Disabled Access In and Around
Average
Kazimierz tends to have cobblestone, these are generally quite large, but every so often there is a gap and my crutch would go down into it, so it meant that I was always having to look where I was walking. I don't recall many drop kerbs and some of the kerbs are higher than the ones in the UK.
Parking & Transport
Excellent
Kazimierz is close to streets with trams, which have wheelchair signs on one of their doors. I didn't use the trams when I was in Krakow. It's a 15 - 20 minute walk to the Old Town.
Accessible Toilets
0In New Square I saw a toilet sign for men and women's toilets, which were downstairs. I didn't use the toilet while I was in the area.
Staff
0NA only came in contact with staff in the restaurants.
Additional Information
I marked the score down for poor mobility accessibility. I think wheelchair user may find this part of the town, hard going. With my crutch it was hard work but for me I really enjoyed the area and it was well worth the effort. I stayed in the Crystal Suites chez Helena Apartments, see separate review, in this area and I felt the area provided me with a good base as there were plenty of extremely nice restaurants in the area and in the evening after a busy day sight seeing it was easy as everything was on the door step. My apartment was in Szeroka, one of the main streets in the Old Jewish Quarter, in many ways it looks more like a square. There are numerous restaurants which have indoor and outdoor seating, also is the Old Synagogue, which is now a museum and a small green. It made a beautiful and fascinating location to stay. About a 5 minute walk from Szeroka is New Square which has a food market. Here you can try Zapiekanki, a Polish version of pizza. There are lots of stalls but there is not many places to sit down. However, surrounding the market are lots of restaurants, including a few tucked away in courtyards. Speaking to some of the taxi drivers/ guides they said that they preferred the Kazimierz area to go out and eat in the evening.
