18. Go! The Coffee & Sandwich Bar

Under reconstruction. 
You are in Kazimierz and in a hurry? Don't worry, there is a place to grab a quick coffee to go! Go! The Coffee & Sandwich bar is located on ul. Krakowska, just next to the tram stop, Stradom. A small but quaint place that specialises in fair trade coffee to take away. You choose your coffee in three different sizes and there is sugar, sweetener, cardamon spice and chocolate powder available if you want it. They have also fresh sandwiches ready for people, who didn't have time for lunch or just missed out on eating breakfast.

Coffee Index: 5,90 pln
http://gocoffee.com.pl/

17. Santos Kawiarnia

Under reconstruction - NOT OPEN NOW (29.03.2014)
In the middle of ul. Grodzka, one of the main tourist streets between the Rynek and the Wawel, there is Santos Kawiarnia. The interior is one of a typical café, however, inside you will find a great surprise! The main reason for visiting is their outdoor terrace. With comfortable chairs in the sun, you can enjoy a relaxing ice coffee, flavoured coffees or a sweet snack on your way from the old town to Kazimierz. The crowd is comprised of mostly tourists and therefore, the staff speak good English. While you are seated, you can watch the tourists strolling by and also have a brilliant view of the Wawel castle that is located just behind you.

Coffee index: 7,50 pln (Espresso)

No wifi available on the terrace. 

16. Michalscy Cukiernia

After a small incident with a slippery stair, we felt that we were in need for a sweet treat. We were really happy when we, at the corner of the Rynek, found the biggest cake selection, so far) in Krakow City. At Michalscy Cukierna, you can find almost any cake you could wish for served in an elegant, classical and quiet atmosphere. An extra plus, was the wide variety of traditional polish, cream and fruit cakes.

It is a big cafe (enough seating for around 100 people) with a great chance to sit in small gallery near the window. The staff are pleasant and help you discover the ingredients of all their cakes so you can make the perfect choice to satisfy your cravings.

Coffee Index: 7 pln

WiFi available 
http://www.michalscy.pl/

15. Cafe Gołębia

On a side street away from the under Rynek, there is a quiet café that is close to the main tourist area but still offers a local cracovian experience. The Cafe Gołębia only has a small menu, but coffees and one type of daily cake are available  The crowd consists of students, families and older Polish folks. Small sofas, an eclectic mix of seating and tables create a unique, calm and very friendly atmosphere where you can easily relax.

If you make your way to this pleasant place, have a look in the first entrance room. Take the opportunity to have a look at the walls painted with three dimensional columns and vaults with pigeons looking at you when you are having your coffee.  There is also a photography exhibition with more modern photos.

Coffee Index: 6 pln

14. Camera Café

Do you like movies? Then the Camera Café will be an interesting place for you go to! At least we thought so, when we went in after a long day in school. In comfortable chairs, you can take a seat in this coffee place and look at scenes from classical movies on the wall. In the back of the room, they play silent movies which are screened on a wall and classical movie music is played in the background.

The Camera Café is a large place that can fit bigger groups. There are a wide range of people coming here; students, old ladies, locals etc. It has an extensive menu, with breakfasts, salads, pasta, pancakes and ice cream desserts. We didn't try the food, but the salads that two ladies at the table next to us had looked amazing!    

Coffee index: 7 pln

Wifi available 

13. Café Młynek

In an old charming building, in a more quiet area of Kazimierz, you find the cosy, Café Młynek. They offer an extensive menu with breakfast, lunch, small dinner options and desserts (vegan and gluten free). In general, around 50 people can fit into the two rooms available, so it is suitable for bigger groups - which doesn't include the additional outside space. The crowd you'll find here is very mixed: young couples, old ladies and businessmen. In the summer you can sit outside and have a nice view on Plac Wolnica. It is a perfect place to visit after a visit to the Ethnographic museum.

If you want to have a quiet moment and read a magazine or a newspaper, you'll find them near the entrance of the café. As decoration, colourful coffee mils and old antique things like type-writers and art pieces and the vault ceiling creates a charming and cosy atmosphere. This is definitely a place to rest from the more touristic parts of Kazimierz. 

Coffee Index:  12 pln (Americano)

WI-FI available

12. Prosta Café

!!Not existing anymore!!! There you find a Polish restaurant now ....

Are you on the run? In need of a quality "coffee to go" and a quick snack? Then the Prosta Café is perfect option for you! This Coffee Lunch Bar is located on a touristy street (ulica Szewska), which is a 2 minute walk away from the Rynek.

They offer Paninis, yogurts, muffins and cookies, as well as usual coffees. For us, it is more a place to get your coffee “to go” as thee are only have 10 seats. Additionally, you need to pick up your coffee yourself at the counter and they only have paper take away cups even if you sit down to enjoy your coffee inside the cafe.

A friendly waitress that speaks good English offers you help and introduces you to their reward system where if you buy 10 get one free, which is handy considering it's location, where you can stop by quickly around the market square and get a coffee to go.

They also have girly gossip magazines available and if you sit by the window you can easily do some “people watching” if that is your thing…

Black coffee index: 4,50 pln

No Wi-Fi available

More coffee art! Is there coffee art in Krakow?

Here is more really cool coffee art! Does someone know if there are any cafés with coffee art skills in Krakow? Please let us know!

Coffee Art

Coffee Art

Fascinating Coffee Art - amazing how a cup of coffee can be a "canvas" for such unique art ... to bad you need to destroy it to enjoy your coffee.... Check it out!

http://www.fastcoexist.com/1681801/get-buzzed-over-this-crazy-coffee-art#1

11. Café Manekin

A place with an interesting interior design, Café Manekin in the Old Town, just off the shopping streets, is small but charming and its specialty is the retro seem stressing tools that it uses as decoration - the tables are made out of old, classic Singer sewing machines  You are also able to borrow fashion magazines while you are enjoying your coffee.

The place is not only made for a certain groups of fashion interested people. Due to its retro ambiance, it's suitable for all and each person can have a coffee in a special atmosphere.  It is, however, quite small and more suitable for smaller groups of 2-4 persons. The tables are on the first floor which makes this place unsuitable for wheelchairs or strollers. The menu is small, but it offers coffee, tea and cake or some alcoholic drinks. 

10. Tribeca

Near the Rynek at the plac Szczepanski you can stop by to have a refreshing coffee break. The Tribeca is a fresh, modern cafe in a great location. It aims to be an American-style coffee shop (chain), but we did not really feel that "Americanness". Still, it has a light interior with vibrant colors and rectangular shapes (lamps, folding chairs, tables), that make you feel cheerful and in a mood to have a good chat with friends. The menu has various options of coffees, sandwiches, smoothies and salads.

Seated at tables, you see girls having girly conversations, a nice young crowd on their phones or laptops, but also businessmen coming in for a quick espresso. If you want to sit and study with your laptop that is doable but bring headphones to zoom out of the acoustics of a busy cafe. The staff is friendly and they can help you out in good English.
A cute and handy idea is that they have lamps that you can grab and bring to your table if you want better reading light. These lamps can be found on the book shelf in the bigger room.

Good coffee, we had a Latte Machiatto and we can highly recommend it.

Wi-Fi available (but slow)

Coffee Index: black coffee 6 pln

9. The Cupcake Corner

Today it was time for another extraordinary café: The Cupcake Corner! It is definitely an American experience with cute cupcakes and coffee. This is the place to go if you have sugar cravings! The Cupcake Corner has a great variety of cupcakes; we tried a peanut butter and chocolate one - they were amazing!

The interior design is fashionable and chic with pastel colours which create a cheerful atmosphere. A cute detail was the board on the wall where guests could put up their own notes. It fits well with the young crowd which makes up the majority of guests. There were also one or two businessmen that sat down in cosy armchairs to work on their computers or have a phone meeting.

So, if you are looking for the best American sweets in Krakow, The Cupcake Corner could definitely be a finalist, or even the winner. It is perhaps not a Polish experience, but it has, for sure, amazingly good cupcakes. 

http://cupcakecorner.pl/en/

Wifi should be available, but did not work during the time that we were there.

8. Café Botanica

Café Botanica is just off the Rynek Glowny, right beside many tourist attractions. However, the café itself is not a tourist trap. When you enter the first thing you see is a big steal tree stretching its branches up towards the ceiling. Green details and plants try to create a botanical feeling with wooden tables to match the atmosphere.
The place is quite big with three rooms, however only one is non-smoking. If you are sensitive to smoke, this might not be the best place since the smell is to some extent present even in the non-smoking room. If you love a cigarette with your coffee - this is the place to be.

On a Saturday, around 18:30 pm, there is clearly an after work-feeling with coffees and glasses of wine or beer on the tables. Even if it is so close to Rynek Glowny, the crowd consists mainly of Polish locals.

However, in our opinion, the place is a little bit too cold and sterile - the "botanical" details are too few to make the impression of being in a garden or green house, as you might picture it from the name. Overall, it is a place to stop by if you need a quick rest when going sightseeing around the Rynek Glowny or for an after work drink with friends, but it is not a place for relaxing, long coffee meetings. To our taste, it is not a place to go if you want a good quality coffee.

Coffee index: 8 pln

Wifi available.

www.cafebotanica.pl

7. Camelot

Looking for a different coffee experience? Then we would recommend Camelot! When you approach the building you see that this place is something special. An old, charming house where you immediately feel that you want to enter! At least it was that way for us, when we passed it yesterday and decided to go back today!

Inside, there are three different rooms, each with an own concept. We choose the room that looks like you are a part of a Thousand and a Night-story, mainly because the rest was so crowded! It seems like a place where locals and tourists have brunch/coffee during the weekend. When you sit down, you are surrounded by a lot of decorations, chandeliers, religious paintings and Jewish wooden musicians etc.

The menu is extensive and you could get everything from plain coffee to traditional Polish lunch dishes. Perhaps it is not the best place to go with children, since it would be difficult to fit in a stroller or pram. When you have had your coffee, you could check out the interior concept store on the top floor that is connected to the café.

Black coffee: 7 pln
Wifi available.

www.camelotcafe.pl

6. Tekura

The Tekura Cafe is a stylish, pleasant and enjoyable place in Kraków where the hip staff is welcoming as soon as you walk through the door. Here you can work on your laptop, hang out, read your favorite magazine or a good book or have a nice coffee with your loved one. In an ambiance of comfy and stylish wooden fixtures with old details and swing or 50s soul music you can relax. Pastries, lunch options and cakes are served and an ale collection is available if you are in need of something stronger than coffee. Around 50 people find a seat at the tables, in couches or on the long family table in the entrance. Tekura offers board games so that the young crowd might have an exciting game going while you're there. There is a high chance that you might meet other English speaking students, which, for example have Tandem meeting in various languages on the spot (WI-FI available).

Our impression: Young retro cafe with a modern touch and good coffee.

Coffee Index: Americano 8,50 pln

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tektura/356751461078030

Why you should drink coffee? To avoid accidents!

Newspapers, today, are reporting about new findings from Australian scholars: caffeine helps to avoid accidents for long-distance drivers!

Well, we are saying that you don't have to be a long-distance driver to experience the advantages that coffee gives you. Coffee cheers you up in any situation - when you need it and when you want it :-). So, as regular coffee drinkers, we have to say that we weren't al that surprised about the result of this study!

Read the newspaper article about the good things about caffeine here!

5. CoffeeHeaven

CoffeeHeaven is a chain, even though that should not put you off immediately. You will find eight CoffeeHeavens in Kraków City. Besides of their convenient location they present themselves with a nice working atmosphere, where you will be surrounded by students, small-scale business meetings and locals as well as tourists reading newspapers etc. (WI-FI available). It is hard to speak generally for all CoffeeHeaven but the one we went to (Karmelicka Street) is a delightful, urban venue where you can enjoy a good variety of coffees for whatever purpose. The atmosphere is fast moving, metropolitan and a slightly American coffee chain feeling. For our taste the coffee was of good quality (especially the milk foam of the cappuccino was really good), but the prices at CoffeeHeaven are for sure a little more expensive than the average coffee you find in Kraków.

Our overall impression is an urban, pleasant meeting point to spend time with friends or to find a convenient working space while you on the run in Kraków.

Opening times: in general from 9 am-21 pm.

Coffee index: 8.90 pln

https://costacoffee.pl/map

4. Charlotte

Looking for a French bakery? Than Charlotte would be the perfect place to go! Here is a place that can accommodate larger groups - in total it offers seats for around 100 people. The ground floor is smaller and more quiet and in the basement you find a bigger room where you can sit right next to the house bakery and smell all the delicious pastries and cakes they produce.

Charlotte's specialty is homemade fresh bread, which is served in a lot of varieties (sweet and salty). Lactose free options are available for all coffees, which are really tasty. They have good table service and long opening hours: 07:00-24:00 (breakfast is very recommendable). The interior is a mixture of black&white bohemian and urban pieces with the feeling of being in a bakery, while being surrounded by chic and fashionable tourists and locals.

They have WI-FI (slow version).

Coffee Index: Americano 7 pln

http://www.bistrocharlotte.com/

3. Shake&Bake

To make a long story short – it’s a lovely place. It’s a small, cleanly designed, funky, young café, where every cute detail counts. In a relaxed atmosphere, in colors of light blue, pink and yellow, the nice waitresses are waiting for you to prepare a coffee made with love. You have 4 tables and around 15 seats where daily fresh bread, muffins, milkshakes and cookies can be enjoyed (vegan and gluten-free options are availables). It’s suitable for a quick coffee on the run, a study break or a light snack with friends (WI-FI available). One of the most special things here is the candy suspender behind the counter – would make every child happy.  Also they have a charming “little customer book”, where small comments and hand drawn pictures etc. are welcomed. A discount card – “buy 9 items, get the 10^th for free” is available, too. All beverages and foods can be “to go”.

Our overall impression of the Shake&Bake: it’s a cute, playful and funky place that cares about their customers and serves good quality coffee and food.  

Coffee index: Americano 5 pln

https://www.facebook.com/shakeandbakepl

2. Hamlet Café

What could be cosier than having a coffee in a grandmother’s living room? That is the feeling you get when entering Café Hamlet in Kazimierz. The furniture is old-fashioned and doesn't match and all the tables have crochet table cloths. Together, these things give you the impression of visiting a home. And perhaps you are? The old lady hosting the café is interesting and friendly and you really feel taken care of.

The menu is quite small but very typically Polish with pierogi (ravioli) and zurek (sour soup). The cakes are delicious and low priced. They're mostly different kinds of homemade fruit cakes.

Overall, Café Hamlet is a place with great atmosphere and a great location near ul. Dietla so you can easily stop by for a cosy coffee while being in the old Jewish quarter. It is also a place to go to spot locals - older polish men often stop by for their daily coffee!

1. Chocoffee

The Chocoffee is a fancy, elegant café with a special lounge atmosphere. It is located close to the under Rynek. The Chocoffee offers a huge variety of specific coffees (e.g. Arabian coffee) as well as pralines, ice creams and pastries. It is decorated with lots of elaborate and chic fixtures. You find a place where you can come and sit for a long time, to study or have a business meeting (WI-FI available). It also has a small play area for children.  

In addition, it is suitable for groups (10 or more people), which isn't always easy to find in Krakow. In the menu, you'll find a story of the history Cafe and Chocoffee's philosophy. They serve Fair-trade coffee.

Our overall impression of Chocoffee was a high-class, centrally located Cafe. It's special menu (especially for chocolate lovers) and sophisticated atmosphere makes it a more luxurious place to meet.

Normal black coffee costs 6.90 pln

http://www.chocoffee.com/?page=3&id=13