Rynek Underground Museum — Attraction in Krakow

The museum as a whole is not bad, but I do have some advice I wish someone had given me before going.

VISITORS: You have to buy a ticket at the ticket office and walk around the building to get to the entrance. When you first enter, you're instructed to follow the numbers to different exhibits, each one has a screen with lengthy descriptions that you can read. DON'T READ THEM, unless you're majorly drawn to a particular exhibit, it's not worth it. Move on, the better part of the museum is towards the end. Once things start getting interesting, you will be able to tell. I made the mistake of wasting a lot of my energy at the boring stuff and nearly walked out before completing the whole round. But, there's a lot more to the museum than the first room you see, so hang tight.

Some comments for the museum: Better signposts to indicate where the entrance of the museum is and where to get tickets. The museum is not very well advertised, and it is difficult for people to be drawn to the entrance if nobody knows it is there. Maybe add a map with museums to visit on the main square. As mentioned above, the text is very lengthy. I frankly felt as if I was reading a history students' homework. I feel a clearly marked title and sentence describing each number / exhibit would be extremely helpful, then people can choose to move to the screen and read about them in detail if they want. Half the time I had no idea what I was looking at and was inclined to wait in queue for the screen just to know what is in the display cabinets. The 180° screen should be marked more clearly. It is a good part of the museum and can be easily missed without realising. One thing I was personally interested in was the St Mary's Basilica, and I found myself standing in front of the display screen waiting for the screen to change. The rotation view of the church in each era was good, but could easily be cut to about 2 seconds or zoomed in and out to different details of the building instead of a repetition of the same thing for (maybe?) 10 full seconds. The museum was very dark, making things hard to see and read. I can imagine this will be more difficult for people with impaired eyesight. If the dark underground theme is desired, maybe add some bright spotlights onto...

Nope, nope, nope. If you are ten and have never been to any museum you might enjoy this. Otherwise this was a huge waste of time and money. For 32 zł per adult you will just walk there, wondering when the proper part will start. Let me save you 32 zł - never.

It looks all fancy (glass railings, shelves, many projectors etc.) but the content is very basic and the whole exhibition dull. You will see there profiles/cuts of the ground from 13/14th century like at least ten times - still showing the same-, all the descriptions are suitable for 10 years old, the lightning is rather keeping you in the dark (maybe not to realise the low worth...), the 180 ° cinema just shouting out some names with no story behind them,... Excavation pictures seemed interesting but with no detailed description ("excavations in the mist", really?) and all is simply staged in a way which is not interesting and you just don't know what you are doing there.

Be also prepared that in the first part it is unbreathable there, guards are following you with frowny faces like you should not be there and that you definitely steel some small brick or god forbid go back (you must not turn back!). And unless you really, really have to, don't use the small toilets at the end since they were so urine smelly miles away and visibly not cleaned for ages. New, yes, but nobody cared.

P.S. We also tried to go there on Tuesday when it is for free. That day you can go there only between 10:00-14:00, ok. But guess what: tickets are "sold out" hours before the closing time and no, you cannot go there without the tickets. Surprise, surprise...

To sum it up. For 32 zł I would expect something good to remember not regretting spending the money and time... Just go for some nice dinner, that's money better spent and you will...

The result of major excavations under the Rynek in 2005-10, this is a fantastic insight into the medieval Kraków hidden beneath the modern square. You are taken through the archaeological remains, with the cobbled streets of past eras and the foundations and cellars of buildings which stood either side of the cloth hall until the nineteenth century. The story is told through a mixture of boards (Polish/English) and interactive screens (with several language options), and the whole experience takes at least two hours to do properly. Halfway round, there is an inverted Perspex pyramid where you can look up onto the towers of St Mary’s on the square above. Excellent though the museum is, the lighting is low and it can consequently be very hard to read some of the static boards and information labels in the gloom. It can also get quite congested at the start and in the five videos of Kraków’s history at the end (each of these video rooms only has four seats). Although these elements could be improved, it does not detract from a really excellent experience. Note that although the entrance is in the side of the cloth hall facing St Mary’s church, you can’t buy tickets there. It is best to buy them online (you can reserve for collection at the ticket office) as it can get busy and slots sell out, but to buy or collect tickets you need to go to the office on the opposite side of the cloth hall, the side facing the...