Our flight landed around 7 PM at the sleek and modern John Paul II International Airport. A quick taxi ride later, we arrived at our apartment in the Kazimierz district — Krakow’s historic Jewish quarter. It was a beautiful part of the city, full of old buildings, cobblestone streets and little courtyards, but also with a lively café, bar and food scene that gave it plenty of life without feeling completely overrun.

We had a full week in Krakow and took to the city almost immediately. It was beautiful, clean and easy to settle into, and before long we were wondering why we hadn’t been there sooner. Being the non-touristy travellers we are, we spent the first couple of days doing the practical stuff — getting ourselves organised, buying a SIM card and marvelling at the incredible produce in the nearby supermarket. We also spent many hours sitting in local cafés, drinking excellent coffee and watching the world go by. We ate some excellent Polish food, along with some very authentic Chinese and Vietnamese food — which I know sounds slightly odd in Poland, but, my dear reader, this is something we really miss in France and we take the opportunity whenever we can.

By day three, after a fantastic Chinese lunch, we finally ventured into the main square and market hall in the Old Town. Rynek Główny is enormous, one of those squares that seems to open up around you all at once, ringed with elegant old buildings and dominated by St Mary’s Basilica and the long arcaded Cloth Hall sitting right in the middle. Horse-drawn carriages clipped around the square, café tables spilled across the edges and people drifted in every direction. It was undeniably beautiful and exactly the sort of place you imagine when you think of Krakow. It was also absolutely heaving. After one look at the crowds, tour groups and touts, we did a circuit of the square, took the obligatory photos, wandered through the market hall and then happily retreated back to our quieter corner of the city.

Another day we walked along the Vistula River to the castle and church complex at Wawel. The walk itself was lovely, following the river with the castle gradually rising above us on its limestone hill. Wawel Castle and the cathedral are every bit as impressive as you would expect — towers, courtyards, old stone walls and that unmistakable sense that an enormous amount of Polish history has happened on that hill. Unfortunately, so had an enormous number of school excursions. The place was packed with groups of children, teachers, guides and people trying to work out which queue they were supposed to be standing in. We admired it all for a while, decided we had seen enough, and found ourselves a shady spot with a cold drink instead.

We also loved exploring the small produce markets and food truck areas scattered around town. These were much more our style — places where you could wander without any real plan, stop when something looked good, and sit for a while without feeling you had to be ticking off another sight.

And then, just like that, our week in Krakow was over. It was time to pack up again, head to the bus station and get on the bus to Banska Bystrica in Slovakia.

See you there.