Old Town, Kazimierz and Podgorze Electric Golf Cart Tour Krakow

The Planty Park, Barbican and Florian Gate

The ride begins by following the Planty, the ring of gardens that encircles the Old Town. It was laid out in the 19th century where the medieval walls and moat once stood, after most of the fortifications were demolished. From the cart you see the neo-baroque city theatre on Holy Spirit Square and the Church of the Holy Cross, a Gothic gem with a single central pillar holding up its vault.

The cart then reaches the Barbican, a round red-brick fortress built in 1498 to guard the northern gate, one of the few such structures surviving in Europe. Behind it stands Florian Gate, linked to the last surviving section of the walls. Your driver slows down for photographs, while the audio guide explains how Krakow was defended and why the Royal Route to Wawel began here.

Main Market Square and the Road to Wawel Castle

Through the Old Town the route passes Slawkowska Street, St. John's Street and the edges of the Main Market Square, laid out in 1257 and dominated by the Cloth Hall, the Town Hall Tower and St. Mary's Basilica. The cart passes the baroque St. Anne's Church, the university church, and the Franciscan Church, known for its colourful Art Nouveau stained glass and wall paintings.

The ride then follows the line of the Royal Route toward Wawel Castle, the hill above the Vistula where Polish kings lived and were crowned for centuries. The castle's Renaissance courtyard and the cathedral are visible from the road below. This is the best way to see the Old Town highlights if walking long distances is hard. A Krakow golf cart tour does not enter Wawel, so book tickets separately if you wish to visit inside.

Skalka and the Churches of Christian Kazimierz

South of Wawel the cart enters Kazimierz, founded in 1335 by King Casimir the Great. The first stop is Skalka, the Pauline Church of St. Michael and St. Stanislaus on the Vistula bank, built on the spot where Bishop Stanislaus was killed in 1079. Its crypt holds the tombs of distinguished Polish writers and artists, and a pool with a statue of the saint lies in the courtyard.

Nearby stand the tall Gothic Church of St. Catherine, founded in the 14th century, and Wolnica Square, once the market place of Kazimierz, with its old town hall that now houses the Ethnographic Museum. The cart also passes the Basilica of Corpus Christi, one of the largest Gothic churches in the city. The audio guide explains how this Christian part of Kazimierz lived side by side with the Jewish district next door.

The Synagogues of Jewish Kazimierz

The ride then turns into the Jewish part of Kazimierz, which for over four centuries was one of the great Jewish communities of Europe. The cart passes the Tempel Synagogue on Miodowa Street, the Kupa Synagogue and the 17th-century Isaac Synagogue, then reaches Szeroka Street, with the Old Synagogue, the oldest surviving synagogue building in Poland, at its southern end.

Along Szeroka you also see the Popper Synagogue and the 16th-century Remuh Synagogue, still used for prayer, with its old cemetery behind it. The audio commentary tells the story of the community, its scholars and traders, and the memorial on Szeroka to the victims of the Holocaust. If you want to see the district in more depth after this Kazimierz golf cart tour, its lanes are easy to explore on foot.

Podgorze, the Former Ghetto and St. Joseph's Church

Crossing the Vistula, the cart enters Podgorze, where the German occupiers created the Krakow Ghetto in March 1941 and where thousands of people lived crowded behind walls until it was cleared in 1942 and 1943. The stop at Ghetto Heroes Square, with its memorial of empty bronze chairs, is a quiet moment of remembrance. On one side stands the Pharmacy under the Eagle, whose Polish pharmacist helped ghetto residents.

The cart also stops at a surviving fragment of the ghetto wall on Lwowska Street, its top edge shaped like a row of tombstones, and passes the street of the former enamel factory on Lipowa Street. The ride ends its loop at the neo-Gothic Church of St. Joseph on Podgorze's market square, built in the early 20th century, before returning toward the Old Town.