What should I pack for Krakow?

A packable fleece for the Wieliczka Salt Mine. This is the item first-time visitors forget. The mine sits 135 meters underground, and the air holds at 14°C year-round. Moisture drips off the tunnel walls. In June, you step out of 25°C sunshine, descend 380 wooden steps, and spend 2-3 hours in cold, damp rock corridors that have been open to visitors since the mine's founding around 1300. A 200-gram fleece solves it. That same layer works at Wawel Cathedral (founded 1020) and St. Mary's Basilica (founded 1400). Both enforce covered shoulders and knees. Wawel's entrance staff will turn you away in a tank top or shorts, and there are no rental wraps available, unlike some Mediterranean churches. Pack one pair of lightweight trousers that you can pull on over shorts for these spots.

Walking shoes with real grip matter more here than in most European cities. Rynek Główny, the main market square laid out in 1257, is entirely cobbled, and so is every street feeding into it. Ulica Floriańska, Ulica Grodzka, the lanes of Kazimierz. Flat-soled fashion sneakers will leave your feet aching by noon on day one. You want something with ankle support and a textured sole. Krakow's summer days currently run around 23°C with 72% humidity, and afternoon thunderstorms roll through roughly 3 days out of 7 in June and July. A packable rain jacket beats an umbrella here. The streets around Kazimierz and Planty park are narrow enough that an open umbrella becomes a hazard. Bring 2-3 light cotton t-shirts and one long-sleeve layer for evenings, when temperatures tend to fall to 12-15°C.

Poland runs on Type C and E plugs at 230V. If you're coming from North America, your phone charger likely handles dual voltage (check the tiny print for '100-240V'), but hair dryers and straighteners probably don't. Leave anything rated 110V-only at home. A portable charger is worth the bag space. A full day from Wawel Castle through Kazimierz to the evening bar scene on Plac Nowy will drain your phone by 4pm if you're running Google Maps and a translation app. Worth noting, cash still matters at the bar mleczny (milk bar) spots like Bar Mleczny Krakus on Ulica Gertrudy, where a full hot lunch of bigos and pierogi runs 15-22 PLN, about $4-6 USD at the current rate of 3.72 PLN per dollar. Most restaurants take contactless cards, but market vendors at Stary Kleparz prefer złoty notes.

Skip packing toiletries, umbrellas, and basic medications. Rossmann and Hebe drugstores appear every few blocks in Stare Miasto and Kazimierz, with prices running 30-50% below Western European equivalents. Shampoo costs 8-12 PLN, sunscreen 20-25 PLN, paracetamol about 6 PLN for a 20-pack. A compact umbrella at Żabka, the green convenience store that seems to occupy every other Krakow corner, costs 12-15 PLN. For a local SIM, the Plus and Play shops inside Galeria Krakowska mall (attached to Kraków Główny train station) sell prepaid data plans at 25-30 PLN for 10-15 GB. That covers a full week of navigation and translation apps.