Wycieczka Objazdowa

  If you’re at all curious about Poland under communist rule, this tour is incredible. The tour is by a foundation that promotes Nowa Huta as a heritage site, so... read more it’s not a regular tour company. My guide genuinely cared about the history, because it’s his family’s history. He was fantastic. You get picked up in a 1980s communist era car, extremely small and a trip back in time. I had a private tour, so it was really a conversation with the fantastic guide. I highly recommend it.

  Once you've had your fill of the castle with a dragon, the trumpeter playing every hour on the hour, horse-drawn carriages and olde-worlde buildings it's time to find something else... read more to do. We would highly recommend a trip to Nowa Huta. Having grown up in the 70s/80s I knew about the Cold War but nothing about what it was like to live in the Eastern Bloc. I expected Nowa Huta to be ugly, dark, cramped and horrible.
To give the weather credit it was very foggy first thing so our first impressions of Nowa Huta were gloomy, grey and damp - it all felt very Communist.
We met our guide Mateusz a short walk from our accomodation as the car couldn't come into the very centre of the old town. He had a 1976 Lada for us. There was another couple with us at the start of the tour and the other guide came along in a Polski Fiat 126 so we were able to swap between cars which gave us a feel of being in a typical family car and a luxury party members car.
We started our tour in Nowa Huta in 'rose alley' which has been renamed after Ronald Reagan. Mateusz had photos of what it used to look like to give us a good idea of the area in the past including when it had the statue of Lenin. We then visited the steelworks administration centre - just the hallway not the centre itself followed by a museum nuclear bunker. Finally we saw a tank outside a block, heard why it faced the wrong way and then visited the Arka Pana church. The other couple with us then left and we continued on to visit the 1950s flat. This flat is only seen by people visiting with the Fundacja Promocji Nowej Huty and was tiny. We ended up in a milk bar and had a variety of foods for lunch before being driven back.
Mateusz was an excellent guide and happy to answer any of our questions however random. He is very enthusiastic about the topic and the area.
If you get the chance to go to NH then definitely go.

  Fascinating tour with an outstanding guide, Matthew (Mateusz). Lots of very interesting stories about Poland then and now, all in a fun to ride in Polski Fiat.

  Brilliant tour of the administrative building of the steel works with underground bunker. Guide spoke excellent English. Our tweenage kids enjoyed it too. Highly recommend for 25 zloty each.

  Tour of the administrative offices and underground bunker of the steel works was excellent. It was just as if we had travelled back to the 1950’s to the communist... read more era; it evoked all the craziness of the Cold War. No expense had been spared on the design and furnishings of the management building, however although the workers’ building looks the same from the outside it is far more basic on the inside. The tour of underground nuclear bunker was fascinating and most of the kit down there is still in working order. We travelled out to the site from the centre of Krakow by tram - which was really straightforward. You need to book this tour in advance as the buildings are not a museum and so you need to be escorted with a guide. Unlike all other tours we did in Krakow there were only 4 of us on this whole tour. We booked through Viator. Try and fit a trip to Nowa Huta and the steelwork buildings into your visit to Krakow.

  This tour gives you a unique look at communist Poland. Make sure to sign up to go to the bomb shelter. Our guide, Mateusz, was knowledgeable and passionate about the... read more subject. Don't miss this tour; it is definitely worth the time and money. So different!