Jewish Heritage in Kraków: Kazimierz, the Ghetto & Schindler's Factory
For over 500 years Kraków was one of the great centres of Jewish life in Europe, and its story — from the synagogues of Kazimierz to the wartime ghetto in Podgórze and Oskar Schindler's factory — can be traced on foot in a single, deeply moving day. Here is how to plan it, with the best-rated guided tours and tickets to book.
At a glance
- 1Kazimierz walk from Szeroka Street
- 2Old Synagogue & Remuh Cemetery
- 3Podgórze: Ghetto Heroes Square
- 4Schindler's Factory museum
Morning: a guided walk through Kazimierz
Start on Szeroka Street, the heart of the old Jewish town of Kazimierz, where Jewish communities settled from the late 15th century. Within a few blocks you'll find the Old Synagogue — the oldest surviving synagogue building in Poland — and the 16th-century Remuh Synagogue with its remarkable Renaissance cemetery. A guided walking tour (typically 2–3 hours, from around €20) adds the context that plaques alone can't: who lived here, what was lost, and what survives.
Midday: synagogues, museums and a district reborn
Kazimierz once held seven synagogues, and most still stand — the ornate Tempel, the Izaak and the High Synagogue among them. Stop at the Galicia Jewish Museum for its photographic record of Jewish Galicia, then pause at Plac Nowy, where cafés now fill the old market square. The district's revival is real: the JCC is active again, and the Jewish Culture Festival each summer draws thousands. It is a place of memory, but not only of memory.
Afternoon: across the river to the Podgórze ghetto
Cross the Vistula footbridge to Podgórze, where the Nazis forced Kraków's Jews into a walled ghetto in 1941. Ghetto Heroes Square, with its memorial of 70 empty steel chairs, marks the deportation point; the Pharmacy Under the Eagle on its corner tells the story of Tadeusz Pankiewicz, the Polish pharmacist who stayed. A fragment of the ghetto wall survives on Lwowska Street. Walk it slowly — guided ghetto tours keep the tone factual and respectful.
Late afternoon: Schindler's Factory
End at Oskar Schindler's Enamel Factory at Lipowa 4, now the superb museum 'Kraków under Nazi Occupation 1939–1945'. It covers far more than the Schindler story — the whole city's wartime experience, told through immersive exhibits. Timed-entry slots sell out days ahead in high season, so book in advance; a guided tour with admission (from around €20) is the easiest way to guarantee entry and adds an hour of expert commentary.
Book the experiences in this itinerary
Top-rated tours for exactly what this plan recommends in Krakow — prices per person.
