Krakow's Premier Museums 

Museums in Krakow 

Krakow boasts the best collections in Poland, and some of its treasures are the envy of every museum in the world.

National Museum in Krakow / Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie 

at 1 Al. 3 Maja street 

Main building of Poland’s richest museum, with branches scattered all around Krakow’s downtown, is the chief venue for temporary exhibitions–sometimes sensational, always interesting. The gallery of the 20th-century Polish art upstairs houses nearly 500 outstanding works by Poland’s modern artists, with a tilt towards those most important for Krakow. Arranged with regard to schools and trends rather than chronology the exhibits provide a wide cross-section of the Polish art, starting from the 1890s up to now. Also permanent are two other exhibitions: of decorative art and of the Polish arms and army uniforms.
Closed on Mondays. Open Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Free admission on Sundays.

The Czartoryskis Museum / Muzeum Czartoryskich 

at 19 Sw. Jana street 

World-famous for Leonardo's painting Lady with an Ermine, the museum has other old masters' splendid works as well, a dramatic landscape by Rembrandt among them. Other exhibits include masterpieces of ancient European craft (furniture, china, glass, tapestry, etc.), an excellent collection of arms, and Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquities. Polish history and national character can be better understood thanks to the museum’s invaluable display of items pertaining to Poland's memorable events and personalities. The museum's old-fashioned arrangement resembles private museums of the past and makes it truly charming (actually its exhibits were put together by The Czartortyskis family and given to the nation). The museum is located in the Old Town historic area in the complex made up of the City Armory, the adjacent monastery library and three old buildings at the corner of Sw. Jana and Pijarska streets.
Open Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed on Mondays. 

Free admission on Sundays.

Royal Castle on the Wawel Hill / Zamek Krolewski na Wawelu

It was home to three dynasties of Poland's monarchs. Royal Chambers feature priceless art, best period furniture and rare ancient objects (the collection of the 16th-century monumental Flemish tapestries is matchless). Crown Treasury and Armory display the Polish royal memorabilia, jewels and other precious items, and the 15th to 18th-century arms. The Lost Wawel is an archeological reserve and multimedia tour through the history of the Wawel Hill. Oriental Art includes Turkish tents and banners, Turkish and Persian weapons and carpets, Chinese and Japanese ceramics.

See Wawel Royal Castle's opening hours.

Palace of Bishop Erasmus Ciolek / Palac Biskupa Erazma Ciolka 

branch of the Krakow National Museum, at 17 Kanonicza street, phone (+48) 124291558 and 12424937. 

Treasures of old art, from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance to the Baroque, fit the early-16th-century Palace of Bishop Erasmus Ciolek that has been turned into a branch of the Krakow National Museum. After thorough renovation it has regained its historic splendor of a lavish aristocratic residence at the dawn of the Renaissance. Its ground floor contains the museum’s collection of the Orthodox church art from the 15th to the 20th century, Poland’s best. Upstairs there is room for the Polish medieval church art of the 15th and 16th centuries, a collection of portraits of the nobility from the 16th century to the 18th century, and the ancient village art. The museum’s crown jewels are two Gothic sculptures, the Madonna of Kruzlowa from circa 1420 and ‘Gethsemane’ by Veit Stoss of circa 1485. 

Open Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed on Mondays.  

Free admission on Sundays.

National Museum’s Gallery of the 19th-cetury Polish Art  

in the Cloth Hall amid the Grand Square  

Profusion of good to excellent paintings (plus some sculpture), though little known outside Poland. 

Closed for refurbishment till 2009, the bulk of the gallery's collections being moved to the Niepolomice castle and displayed there since October 2006. 

Archeology Museum / Muzeum Archeologiczne

at 3 Poselska street 

The only place on the earth where one can see a Slavonic god, because none has been ever unearthed save Krakow’s 8-foot-tall stone idol of four-faced Swiatowit. The museum’s permanent exhibitions include ‘Krakow a Thousand Years Ago’, ‘Ancient and Medieval Malopolska’, ‘Ancient Egypt', and ‘Gods of Ancient Egypt'. The place is also known for interesting and ingenious temporary displays. The museum’s seat used to be an early-medieval fortress and then a palace turned monastery turned prison.
Open Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Mondays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesdays from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Thursday 2 p.m.–6 p.m., and Fridays 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Closed on Saturdays. 

Free admission on Sundays.

City of Krakow Historical Museum / Muzeum Historyczne Miasta Krakowa

at 35 Rynek Glowny (Grand Square)
History of Krakow and its citizens. Maps, documents and city stamps. Portraits, scepters and rings of Lord Mayors. Guild utensils. And the collection of famous Krakow Christmas cribs.
Open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. 

Ethnography Museum / Muzeum Etnograficzne 

in the Kazimierz Town Hall at 1 Wolnica Pl.
Polish folklore. Other European folklore. The folklore of Africa, the Americas and Asia. It’s Poland’s biggest ethnographic museum with the world’s largest collection of Polish national costumes.
Open on weekends from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., on Mondays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Krakow Other Museums
University Museum, Aviation Museum, Museum of Natural History, Jewish Museum, Stanislaw Wyspianski Museum, Jan Matejko's House, Jozef Mehoffer's House, Pharmacy Museum, Photography Museum, Gallery of Old Japanese Art, Cathedral Museum, Geology Museum, Hipolitow House, Zoology Museum, Museum of Municipal Engineering, Young Poland’s ‘Rydlowka’ Museum, Home Army Museum, Museum of Krakow Theater, Dom Slaski, Remembrance Museum, Celestat