Kraków has the kind of old town that makes you slow down on foot, and it deserves it. At the centre is the Rynek Główny, the main market square, one of the largest medieval squares in Europe, with the Cloth Hall in the middle and the two uneven towers of St Mary's Basilica at the corner. Each hour a trumpeter plays a bugle call from the taller tower, and the tune stops abruptly in mid-phrase, in memory of a watchman said to have been shot in the throat by a Tatar arrow while sounding the alarm.
South of the square lies Wawel Hill, with its castle and cathedral, where Polish kings were crowned and buried for centuries. The city was Poland's capital until the late sixteenth century, and survived the Second World War with its old centre largely intact. Just across the old town is Kazimierz, the historic Jewish quarter, which has become a district of cafes, synagogues and galleries. Poland's university tradition runs deep here, with the Jagiellonian University dating from 1364, where Copernicus studied.
The ride that begins here is the Eagles' Nests Trail, a chain of medieval castles along the limestone uplands between Kraków and Częstochowa. King Casimir the Great strengthened the border defences in the fourteenth century, building strongholds on the cliffs, and the ruins and restored castles now sit among white rock outcrops, beech woods and farmland. North of Kraków the road enters the Ojców area, with limestone gorges and a small national park. Roads are mostly paved and quiet, rolling rather than steep, with villages every few kilometres. Spring and autumn are lovely, summer can be hot and thundery, and winter can bring ice.
Kraków has all the fuel, workshops and hotels a rider could want, with fuel stations on the ring roads. City traffic is heavy and tram tracks can be slippery when wet. For breakfast, try an obwarzanek, the ring-shaped bread sold from street carts, and for dinner pierogi or żurek soup. Leave the bike in a secure garage and explore the centre on foot.