Modern tourism: discovering Krakow with an app

There are several ways to explore Krakow with puzzles: a self-guided city game on your own phone, a story-driven game with a tablet run by an operator, an audio guide in a museum, or an app that shows what the city used to look like. If you’re travelling solo or as a couple and want to explore at your own pace, the simplest option is a game in an app that you can start without booking. If you’re more interested in learning about the monuments than in puzzles, an audio guide will work better.

Being modern here doesn’t mean replacing Krakow with a screen. The best moment comes when a digital clue makes you look at a real building, street or detail. The app is a tool for getting to know the place, not the point of the trip.

Four ways to explore with your phone

• A self-guided city game in an app. Puzzles linked to places along the route, your own pace, usually no booking. Good for a walk on your own, as a couple or with family.
• A story-driven game with a tablet. The operator hands out the equipment, the story takes about two hours, and the route and start time are fixed. That’s how EscapeCity’s AR city games work, for example: the team gets an iPad with the app and internet access. It’s a format for a group rather than for one person.
• A museum audio guide. There are no puzzles, but it takes you through the exhibition at your own pace. At Wawel, audio guides cover, among others, the State Rooms, the Crown Treasury and Armoury, and the Castle Underground, in seven languages and in a Polish Sign Language version for selected exhibitions. The State Rooms and the Treasury also have a family route. You’ll find details and rental conditions on the Wawel Royal Castle website.
• City guide apps. The official krakow.travel portal lists apps about Krakow, including guides with walking routes, an app with accessibility information for wheelchair users and an augmented reality app that shows what the city looked like in the past.

The National Museum in Krakow also offers a mobile app for the Princes Czartoryski Museum. The branch’s website describes audio guides in many languages, a family route, audio description and a sign language version.

A virtual tour versus a game on the ground

Virtual sightseeing lets you look at materials about a place without travelling. An outdoor game, on the other hand, requires you to turn up in a specific place. Even if both experiences use a phone, they’re not the same thing.

In the same way, AR and VR are different technologies. Augmented reality adds digital elements to your view of the surroundings, while virtual reality presents a computer-built world. Not every app with a quiz uses either of them.

Krakow Legends on your own phone

The Krakow Legends app is a self-guided adventure game. You need an Android or iOS phone with GPS location turned on. You visit points on the map one by one, unlock tasks on the spot and solve puzzles linked to Krakow’s legends.

The game has no time limit and no fixed start time. You can take breaks and come back to your mission, which makes it easier to combine the walk with a rest. The operator says it usually takes about one and a half to two hours to complete, and access is valid for 365 days from activation, so you don’t have to finish the game on the same day. The game is available in Polish and English, and one access covers a group playing on one phone.

The app guides you around prepared locations, so don’t assume you can start the game from any point in the city.

How to choose how to explore

• You have one afternoon and want to see the Old Town on the move: a game in an app that you can start right away and pause whenever you like.
• You want to get to know a specific exhibition or the castle: an audio guide. Remember that at Wawel, renting an audio guide doesn’t replace an admission ticket, and the service is intended for visitors over 12.
• You’re travelling with a group of friends and want some friendly competition: a story-driven game with a tablet and a fixed start time.
• You use a wheelchair or are exploring with someone with a disability: start with the accessibility app from the krakow.travel list and check the conditions on the website of the specific museum.

A challenge changes the way you look

When a walk has only one goal, it’s easy to focus on reaching the end. A question about a detail holds your attention on the spot. You can, for example, compare an element you see with a description, or work out which story a clue refers to.

You don’t need to know all of Krakow’s legends beforehand. It is worth reading carefully and sharing your discoveries if you’re playing together, though. One phone doesn’t have to mean one person solves everything. You can take turns reading the messages and talk through the answers together.

Tech that doesn’t get in the way of your walk

Before you head out, charge your phone, download the app you need and read the instructions for getting started. The official description of Krakow Legends says you need internet access to download it; that doesn’t automatically mean every other feature works offline. If in doubt, check the device requirements before you buy.

On the route, look up from the screen, especially at crossings and in crowds. The most valuable part of this kind of sightseeing is still the city. Your phone is there to help you notice it, not to block the view.