Free museums in Krakow on Wednesday
Free museums in Krakow on a Wednesday are spread over four districts, so choose two or three rather than chasing all of them. In the Old Town it is Collegium Maius , the Jagiellonian University’s museum three minutes from the Main Square; across the river in Podg贸rze, the Eagle Pharmacy and Cricoteka . Pomorska Street is in Krowodrza, a 20-minute walk from the square. Out in Nowa Huta both air-raid shelters of the Nowa Huta Underground route are free, Szkolne 22 and Szkolne 37 .
Museums with free admission on Wednesday
Jagiellonian University Museum Collegium Maius
Collegium Maius Krakow - the Jagiellonian University's oldest building. Opening hours, tickets 17/10 PLN, free Wednesdays, guided tours in English.
Regular: 17 PLN | Reduced: 10 PLN
Cricoteka - Centre for the Documentation of the Art of Tadeusz Kantor
Cricoteka Krakow: Tadeusz Kantor's stage machines and archive on the Vistula in Podg贸rze. Hours Tue-Sun 11-19, tickets PLN 25/15, free Wednesdays.
Regular: 25 PLN | Reduced: 15 PLN
Eagle Pharmacy
Eagle Pharmacy in Krakow - museum of Tadeusz Pankiewicz's pharmacy in the Podg贸rze ghetto. Opening hours, tickets 22 PLN, free entry on Wednesdays.
Regular: 22 PLN | Reduced: 16 PLN
Nowa Huta Underground - os. Szkolne 22
Nowa Huta Underground at os. Szkolne 22 - a 1950s air-raid shelter with a Cold War exhibition. Opening hours, tickets 22 PLN, free entry on Wednesdays.
Regular: 22 PLN | Reduced: 16 PLN
Nowa Huta Underground - os. Szkolne 37
Nowa Huta Underground, os. Szkolne 37 - a 1950s air-raid shelter beneath a school. Tickets 22 PLN, free entry on Wednesdays.
Regular: 22 PLN | Reduced: 16 PLN
Pomorska Street
Pomorska Street - the former Gestapo headquarters in Krakow, a memorial branch of the Museum of Krakow with preserved cells. Tickets 22 PLN, free Wednesdays.
Regular: 22 PLN | Reduced: 16 PLN
Tadeusz Kantor Gallery-Studio in Krakow
Tadeusz Kantor Gallery-Studio in Krakow: the artist's last flat on ul. Sienna, a Cricoteka branch by Ma艂y Rynek. Mon-Wed only, PLN 10/5, free Wednesdays.
Regular: 10 PLN | Reduced: 5 PLN
Tips for Wednesday
- Collegium Maius: free in the afternoon, English in the morning. Free entry covers unguided visits from 13:30 to 17:00, last entry 16:30. Guided tours cost the usual price on Wednesday; from Tuesday to Friday one of them runs in English at 9:45. Nothing is published about the language of the labels. Note that the museum is shut on 29-30 September 2026 while the university prepares the start of the academic year, so Wednesday 30 September 2026 is not a free day.
- Collegium Maius: time it to the clock. The courtyard clock plays at 15:00 and 17:00 during the free window, and you watch it from the courtyard without a ticket. There are no timed entries, so you can arrive at 13:30 and simply walk in.
- Pomorska Street: the chapter Schindler’s Factory leaves out. This was the Gestapo headquarters, and the cells in the basement still carry the inscriptions prisoners scratched into the walls in 1943-1945. The exhibition “People of Krakow in Times of Terror 1939-1945-1956” ends with the years 1945-1956 under communist rule - for most foreign visitors the genuinely new material.
- Pomorska Street: labels and timing. A visitor guide reports bilingual captions with good English, but the museum itself does not say so. Last entry is 16:30 and the display takes 45 to 90 minutes. It is about 20 minutes on foot from the Main Square along Karmelicka.
- Reserve the Museum of Krakow passes. The Eagle Pharmacy, Pomorska Street and both Nowa Huta shelters release free Wednesday passes on bilety.muzeumkrakowa.pl, and the desks only hand out what is left. For the shelters we would book anyway: the desk hands out only what is left.
- Eagle Pharmacy and Cricoteka: one afternoon in Podg贸rze. Take the tram to plac Bohater贸w Getta: the pharmacy is on the corner of the square, and Cricoteka about 600 metres along ul. Nadwi艣la艅ska. In the pharmacy, open the drawers - the photographs and documents are kept inside them.
- Cricoteka: both addresses free, English not guaranteed. Wednesday is the only day you can see the permanent Kantor display and the Gallery-Studio on ul. Sienna free of charge, because the studio opens Monday to Wednesday only. Cricoteka publishes nothing about English wall texts.
- Nowa Huta: a half-day trip. The two shelters are five minutes apart on foot, and the museum suggests starting at os. Szkolne 22. Allow about 30 minutes each way from the main station area.