Krakow street food walking tour: the snacks and the stops

A Krakow street food walking tour works best as a loop, from the Old Town carts to the markets and back. VisitMałopolska, the regional tourism portal, names the street essentials: maczanka, zapiekanka, sausages from a blue Nysa van and grilled oscypek with cranberry, and it lists the obwarzanek among the traditional Krakow flavours.^7,8,9,6,10 Each belongs to a different time of day, and planning around that is the secret of a good walk.

Start in the morning with bread. Carts sell the obwarzanek all over town, and the regional portal says it tastes best still warm.¹¹ Mid-morning, walk north to Stary Kleparz, a market trading since the 15th century.¹² Lunch can be maczanka, the pork roll in caraway sauce, which the same portal calls the ancestor of today's hamburger.^7,13 Afternoon is for ice cream on Starowiślna Street, and evening for zapiekanka.

Night belongs to the sausage. By Hala Targowa, the blue Nysa van grills over a live beechwood fire from the evening until the morning.⁵ With that, you have eaten the city's street classics in a single day, mostly on foot and for little money. The map on this page marks each stop; what follows covers what to order, what each snack should taste like and how to tell the real thing from a copy.

The zapiekanka is Krakow's open sandwich. The regional portal describes a baguette or a Krakow weka roll, cut lengthwise and baked with mushrooms and grated cheese.⁸ Ketchup is the traditional sauce, though mayonnaise, garlic sauce or a very spicy sauce are on offer, and extras run from ham and bacon to cucumber and paprika.^33,34 Locals recommend chives on top. Order a classic first, then experiment on a later visit.

Its home is Plac Nowy, where the Polish Tourism Organisation says the square is famous for the zapiekanka.⁴ The hatches open onto the round building in the middle, the Okrąglak.³ That market hall was built in 1900 in the centre of the square, and it still serves the snack today.¹⁸ Walk round the whole building before you choose a hatch; the menus differ, and part of the fun is comparing toppings.

Zapiekanka is big, hot and messy. Eat it standing, with plenty of napkins, and share one if you plan to keep tasting. The bread should be crisp at the edges, the mushrooms soft and the cheese properly melted. Tourism officials call it a must-try slice of the city's street food culture whether you love it or not.⁴ The site's own tipsy food tour includes zapiekanka among its tastings too.

Grilled oscypek is the famous Polish snack from the mountains. The smoked sheep cheese of Podhale is grilled and served with cranberry at markets and on the streets.⁶ It became a protected designation of origin under an EU regulation of 13 February 2008, and Poland and Slovakia agree it is a different cheese from the Slovak oštiepok.^57,58 The cheese is made from May to September, and the cranberry balances its salt.⁵⁹

Bread snacks multiply in Krakow. The Kazimierz bagel, baked in the city since the 17th century, is a different product from the obwarzanek, and the pretzel here is shaped like a flattened figure eight.^60,61 At the Easter Monday fair called Emmaus, the stalls sell indulgence pretzels and gingerbread hearts.^62,63 Sweet snacks fill the rest of the year, from pączki on Fat Thursday to krówki fudge.^64,65

For something cold, the ice cream workshop at 83 Starowiślna Street serves simple flavours in traditional wafers.³¹ In high season, especially at weekends, the queues are huge.⁴⁶ Krakow's squares also gather food trucks among post-industrial buildings, with dishes from far beyond Poland.⁶⁶ Mixing the old snacks with the new trucks is part of what makes a street food walk here so varied.

A Krakow street food tour takes the guesswork out. The Krakow Street Food Walking Tour lasts 1.5 to 2 hours with guides in Spanish, Italian, English, French, German or Russian, a maximum of 15 participants and a private group option, from €40. Arrive 10 minutes before the start, since latecomers cannot join. It has 381 reviews averaging 4.7, and it suits travellers who want the snacks explained by someone local.

Similar walks exist. The Traditional Street Food Walking Tour also runs 1.5 to 2 hours in the same set of languages, from €40, with 58 reviews. Another Street Food Walking Tour, at the same length and price, has 19 reviews. Our site's tipsy food tour takes longer, 2.5 to 3 hours, adds pierogi, bigos and Polish shots to the zapiekanka, and starts from €37, with an English-speaking guide.

Pick by the kind of evening you want. The street food walks focus on snacks and run shorter; the tipsy tour mixes food, history and drinks. The traditional walk, the smaller street food walk and the tipsy tour come with free cancellation until a day ahead, 24 hours before the start. Whichever you pick, a guided walk early in your stay shows you where the good carts and hatches are, so you can return on your own later in the trip.