A visit to Krakow is incomplete without seeing the Lady with an Ermine, a masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci often considered second only to the Mona Lisa. One of only four surviving painted portraits by Da Vinci, it portrays a young woman—mistral of Ludovico Sforza—cradling an oversized ermine. The animal likely alludes to Ludovico’s sobriquet, “the white ermine.” Housed as a national treasure in Krakow’s Czartoryski Museum, the painting anchors an important collection in Poland’s oldest museum complex, which comprises a 19th-century monastery, a 16th-century Municipal Arsenal and a neo-Gothic palace built in the 1800s for the prominent Czartoryski family. The museum traces its origins to Princess Izabela Czartoryska, who founded it in 1796.
Krakow’s Old Town, Stare Miasto, surrounds the museum and centers on Rynek Główny, the largest market square in Europe and one of the earliest UNESCO World Heritage sites. Where a two-mile defensive wall once stood, a green belt now follows the old moat, encircling the medieval administrative district that developed from the 13th century onward.
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The Royal Road, once the coronation route for Polish monarchs, cuts through Old Town and keeps the area lively. More than 6,000 historic sites and charming facades now house restaurants, craft shops, pubs and cafés. Horse-drawn carriages offer scenic tours past landmarks including the Town Hall Tower, Florian Gate, a cluster of architecturally important churches, two historic theaters, and an array of monuments and statues—among them a tribute to Nicolaus Copernicus, whose heliocentric ideas transformed astronomy.
Street vendors sell flowers and obwarzanek krakowski, the twisted, ring-shaped pretzels that have become a city emblem. Traditional Polish fare is abundant: pierogi dumplings, beetroot borscht, grilled kiełbasa and other regional specialties are served at Wierzynek Restaurant and in numerous pubs and cafés tucked into historic tenement houses and medieval cellars with exposed beams and vaulted ceilings.
Old Town brims with local legends and atmosphere. One popular tale says the many pigeons that crowd the square are knights turned to birds by an enchantress. Every hour, a trumpeter in St. Mary’s Church tower plays the hejnal mariacki, a five-note Polish bugle call, and the birds scatter as if on cue—an evocative moment that captures Krakow’s blend of history, folklore and living tradition.