Kazimierz Jewish Quarter & Wartime Ghetto Electric Golf Cart Tour Krakow

Kazimierz, Krakow's Jewish Quarter

Kazimierz was founded in 1335 by King Casimir the Great as a separate town beside Krakow, and from the fifteenth century it became the centre of Jewish life in the city. Its streets contain several synagogues, among them the Old Synagogue, the oldest surviving synagogue in Poland, now a museum, and the Remuh Synagogue, still in use and beside a historic cemetery. The Isaac, Kupa and Tempel synagogues show different periods of architecture.

A Kazimierz Jewish Quarter tour by golf cart is an easy way to cover the district's small streets, including Szeroka Street, Ciemna Street and the house of the cosmetics pioneer Helena Rubinstein. Today Kazimierz is a lively area of cafes and galleries, and your audio guide explains what each building meant to its community.

Planty Park, Skałka and Wolnica Square

The tour begins along the Planty, the green ring of parkland that replaced the medieval walls of Krakow's Old Town. It continues to Skałka, the Pauline church on the rock, linked with the martyrdom of Saint Stanislaus, and to the Church of St Catherine and the Basilica of Corpus Christi, two great Gothic buildings in Kazimierz.

Wolnica Square, the old market place of Kazimierz, is surrounded by the former town hall, now a museum, and is a good place to understand how the district's Christian and Jewish communities lived side by side for centuries. The cart makes it easy to reach spots that would take long to cover on foot.

Podgórze and the former ghetto

In March 1941 the German occupiers created a ghetto in the district of Podgórze, on the south bank of the Vistula, and forced the Jewish population of Krakow to move there. Ghetto Heroes Square, with its memorial of empty chairs, and a surviving fragment of the ghetto wall recall this history, and your guide explains life in the ghetto and its liquidation with care.

The Pharmacy under the Eagle was run by Tadeusz Pankiewicz, a Polish pharmacist who stayed in the ghetto and helped its residents, and it is now a museum. The tour also tells the story of Oskar Schindler, whose factory saved many Jewish workers, and stops near the Church of St Joseph in Podgórze.

Practical visit: comfort, timing and who it suits

The tour lasts about 90 minutes, and the golf cart is heated in winter, which makes it comfortable in cool weather. It covers a lot of ground without much walking, so it is a good choice for older visitors, families with children and travellers with limited time. Luggage and large bags are not allowed on board.

The meeting point and start time are shown on your voucher after booking. The best time to visit Kazimierz is in spring or autumn when the weather is mild, though winter tours are also comfortable. If you have questions about the history covered, your driver and audio guide provide a respectful, factual account.