Leipzig to Krakow  – all on the freeway, on and off drizzle very annoying, long queues at roadworks annoying which I got around by riding down the emergency lane. No holdups crossing the border into Poland just rode straight through, speed limit now 140 kph. Then 4 toll stops even more annoying because I have to stop get my gloves off to get a ticket, stuff it into a pocket and at the other end dig the ticket out of my pocket and pay for the toll with my credit card which is in my wallet in another pocket hahaha all with impatient drivers waiting behind me. Long queues waiting at each toll plaza which I simply rode around or the ride would have taken even longer than the 7:25 hours for 627 kms that’s about an hour longer than it should have taken. Two stops to refuel and on the positive side the price dropped to €1.20/litre.

Krakow a surprisingly nice place to visit with a beautiful old town and a well developed tourist industry, you could say too well developed because it was packed. Also the place where Oskar Schindler made famous by Schindler’s List saved a few Jews from the Nazis. Trams go to most places and cost 3.40 zloty for a ride, Use Here maps to see the routes.

Rynek Glowny – the main square and the centre of attraction.

The Barbican and the Museum which is under the Main Square

Schindler Factory Museum – This turned out to be “Not the Schindler Factory Museum” but simply a narrative of the Nazi occupation of Krakow and Poland, mainly photographs. Don’t go there expecting to see scenes or sets from the movie on display, you will be disappointed. If you go to the Schindler Factory during the day you will have to join a long queue to buy your ticket as a restricted number of tickets are sold each day, Monday’s are free. You can buy tickets in advance online or you can buy them from the Museum Office located in the Cloth Hall which is in the Main Square, which is what I did and if you go to the factory after 6:00 PM there is no queue.

Wavel Castle – this is a money spinner for the city, there are ten different tickets you can buy to see various parts of the complex. I bought one for the State Rooms 25 zloty and one for the Cathedral 12 zloty, no photos allowed either. Be there at 0830, ticket sales start at 0900, if you don’t want to wait for hours in a queue go to the Ticket office at the rear of the castle where there are three counters instead of the one at the front of the castle where they only have one counter. The Cathedral ticket is sold at another office opposite the Cathedral.

Krakow to Jankowice – about a 30 min ride from the Ukraine border. I stopped here for the night so I could get an early start and get to the border before the queues built up. There are some horror stories about people having to wait all day to get through. This usually does not happen when you are riding a bike because you can ride to the front of the queue but my policy with borders is “get there early”. Uneventful ride fine weather 223 kms in 2:20 hrs with one stop for fuel.