The trap is not always the famous thing. Sometimes the famous thing is worth it. The trap is the famous thing surrounded by twelve restaurants with laminated photo menus in six languages and a man in a costume standing outside.
The ten-second test
Look at the menu in the window. Is there a photo of every dish? Is it laminated? Does it have a translation into four languages including Japanese? Walk away. This is not where locals eat, and it is not where you want to eat.
What to swap
- Wieliczka Salt Mine: worth it, actually. Go in the morning, book online, take the guided tour. The underground lake is real. The tourist shop at the end is not.
- Horse carriage on the Rynek: skip. There is no version of this that is not a trap. Take a tram instead - trams are how Krakow actually moves.
- “Traditional Polish restaurant” on Floriańska: most are fine for tourists and fine for exactly nothing else. Walk to Kazimierz. The milk bars there serve the same food for a third of the price.