National Museum in Krakow — Attraction in Krakow

A really fantastic museum. Pricier than some in Krakow but well worth the cost- I think that the tickets are valid for one extra visit within six months, so keep that in mind.

No bags or coats are allowed in the exhibition but cloakroom and locker facilities are freely available in the basement. The ticket offices are curiously positioned- on either side as you enter and facing into the museum. Easy to miss.

We visited two of the permanent exhibitions and two temporary exhibitions. The first permanent one was a real passion of mine- arms and armour. The interpretation sheets are separate to the cases, so you never find yourself overwhelmed by information and can just admire the workmanship of the items on display if you prefer, but the sheets are really helpful and their English translations are excellent. There's even have-a-go armour and weapons, which I naturally got stuck into.

The second permanent exhibition was Polish crafts and wares. The items are well-presented, although the furniture, tableware, and domestic items which makes up the majority of the exhibition aren't items that particularly interest me. Despite this, there are some real gems in there so be prepared to look closely, which kept my interest up throughout the exhibition.

The first temporary exhibition we saw was the Leonardo Da Vinci display. It's a single painting in a large darkened room- the Lady with an Ermine. But it's so stunning and beautifully presented, it's an absolute must-see. I could have spent much longer in front of that one small portrait. Do be aware that the Lady may be moved back to her original home in the Czartoryski Museum soon.

The second exhibition was about the Wawel Heads- despite this topic the museum covers much of the history of the restoration and conservation of the Wawel Royal Castle. A little bit dry, but quite interesting- especially if you've already seen the State Rooms at the Wawel Castle.

Highly recommended- but do try to allow for a couple of days. There's a really vast amount to see...

Urgh. And the winner of the most dull and uninspired museum award goes to...

To begin... We were on our last day in Kraków and decided we'd visit the most revered "National Museum". 114pln later and we had an all access ticket inc audio guides... Brilliant, let's go, modest backpacks in situ holding our valuables!

Off we trot to see The lovely lady and her Ermine, we were what can only be described as barked at by the troglodyte on guard "no bags" ok, I went in and viewed whilst the other half waited patiently and silently seething! On to the next bit, a series of rooms with a collection of stuff... No rhyme or reason to the flow or order of things, no heart felt descriptions of what the items are, who they belong to or why they are of importance, the audio guide didn't offer any help in this room either?

OK... Off to the 2nd floor in the hope of finding something inspirational "no bags" explained much more patiently than the first guard! Frankly we had had enough of this now, unable to see any of the exhibitions we'd paid to see because we had our backpacks... Apparently there are lockers, we were not told about these until returning the headsets. I thought I'd try our luck at asking for some form of refund as we were not willing to leave our bags in a locker, we were not lucky. Oh well, enjoy our money...

I visited the museum this afternoon with my girlfriend. The experience started at the ticket booth, where an uninterested employee offered little help when asked about the combination tickets. There was an abruptness to her speech that implied she was either disinterested or annoyed, making us feel unwelcome from the start.

Upon purchasing our tickets, we endeavored to find the appropriate floor where our tickets were valid. I approached a museum worker and politely inquired where our tickets were valid, to which she coldly replied, “not here,” while wildly gesturing to the upper floors.

We eventually arrived at the correct floor, where our tickets were scanned by yet another museum worker. The look of disdain and general attitude of this worker left me speechless. At one point, she even looked me up and down in a judgmental manner. Her face contorted as she uttered some incomprehensible command, more suited to addressing a dog than a paying visitor.

While the permanent exhibits were phenomenal and we thoroughly enjoyed viewing everything the museum had to offer, our visit was unfortunately marred by the holistic and generally negative attitude of the museum's workforce. This is in no way reflective of the celebration of diversity and inclusion that the museum...