Kraków museums open on Monday - hours, prices and what is free
On Monday every branch of the National Museum in Kraków is shut, the Czartoryski Museum with Leonardo’s “Lady with an Ermine” included. So are MOCAK, Manggha, the Ethnographic Museum, the Museum of Engineering and Technology, the Aviation Museum and Krzysztofory Palace. That still leaves a good day. Monday is when Wawel Castle, Schindler’s Factory and the Old Synagogue let you in for free, and it is the one day Collegium Maius opens its doors to individual visitors from morning to late afternoon.
Below are 30 addresses open on Monday: the free ones first, then paid museums, then commercial attractions. The free Mondays come with a catch. Opening hours are shorter, and passes come from a limited pool handed out at the ticket desk on the day. Turn up at noon and there may be nothing left.
Free on Monday
The last column is the regular ticket on the other days, which is what you save. Euro amounts are rounded.
| Museum | Monday | Other days |
|---|---|---|
| Wawel Royal Castle, Wawel 5 | 10:00-16:00, selected exhibitions | 57 PLN (about €13) for the 2nd floor, 47 PLN (about €11) for the Treasury |
| Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory, Lipowa 4 | 10:00-15:00 | 60 PLN (about €14) |
| Old Synagogue, Szeroka 24 | 10:00-15:00, last entry 14:30 | 22 PLN (about €5) |
| Town Hall Tower, Rynek Główny 1 | 11:00-16:00 | 22 PLN (about €5) |
| Archaeological Museum, Nowa Huta-Branice branch, Sasanek 2A | 10:00-14:00 | 6 PLN (about €1.50) |
- Wawel. From 1 October to 31 December the free Monday covers the castle’s 2nd floor and the Crown Treasury. Passes are issued only at the ticket desk on the day, with no booking, and one person can collect them for five visitors at most.
- Schindler’s Factory. There is no online booking on Monday. The desk hands out passes from a limited pool and the queue forms before opening. Give the exhibition at least an hour and a half.
- The Old Synagogue and the Town Hall Tower issue free passes online at bilety.muzeumkrakowa.pl, with any places left over sold at the desk. Get yours the day before.
- Branice is in Nowa Huta, the socialist-era district far east of the centre, and opens only until 14:00. Save it for a second visit to Kraków.
Three places are free every day, Monday included:
| Museum | Monday | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Amber Museum, Świętego Jana 2 | 10:00-20:00 | a single display next to a jewellery gallery, 20 minutes |
| Kraków University of Technology Museum, Warszawska 24 | 10:00-13:00 | hours as announced by the museum in June 2026 |
| Historical and Missionary Museum of the Congregation of the Mission, Stradomska 4 | 14:00-16:00 | closed on holidays and during the summer break |
Paid museums open on Monday
Old Town
| Museum | Monday | Regular ticket |
|---|---|---|
| Rynek Underground, Rynek Główny 1 | 10:00-19:00, last entry 17:45 | 45 PLN (about €11) |
| Collegium Maius, Jagiellońska 15 | 9:00-17:00 | 17 PLN (about €4) |
| Wawel Cathedral Museum, Wawel 3 | 9:00-17:00 | 26 PLN (about €6) |
| Tadeusz Kantor Gallery-Studio, Sienna 7/5 | 11:00-18:00, last entry 17:45 | 10 PLN (about €2.50) |
| St Adalbert’s Church Archaeological Reserve, Rynek Główny | 10:00-17:00, May to October only | 10 PLN (about €2.50) |
The Rynek Underground is closed on the second Monday of the month. In the months ahead that falls on 12 October, 9 November and 14 December 2026. Check this first when you plan a Monday.
Keep Collegium Maius for Monday. It is the only day individual visitors get in from 9:00 to 17:00. From Tuesday to Friday you can enter without a guide only from 13:30, and on Sunday the museum is closed.
The Cathedral Museum ticket also covers the paid part of Wawel Cathedral, the tower with the Sigismund Bell and the royal tombs. The Kantor Gallery-Studio opens only from Monday to Wednesday, so Monday is one of three chances a week.
Kazimierz, Podgórze and further out
Kazimierz is the old Jewish quarter south of the Old Town; Podgórze is across the Vistula from it.
| Museum | District | Monday | Regular ticket |
|---|---|---|---|
| Galicia Jewish Museum, Dajwór 18 | Kazimierz | 10:00-18:00 | 35 PLN (about €8) |
| Kraków Glassworks, Lipowa 3 | Podgórze | 10:00-16:00, last entry to a demonstration 15:00 | 30 PLN (about €7) |
| John Paul II the Great Museum, Totus Tuus 30 | Podgórze | 9:00-17:00, April to October only | 20 PLN (about €5) |
| Kościuszko Museum, al. Waszyngtona 1 | Krowodrza | 9:00-18:30 | 34 PLN (about €8) |
| Museum of the Benedictine Abbey in Tyniec, Benedyktyńska 37 | Dębniki | 9:30-17:00 | 15 PLN (about €3.50) |
| MuFo Józefitów, Józefitów 16 | Krowodrza | guided tours only, at 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00 | 18 PLN (about €4) |
On a Monday afternoon in Kazimierz, the Galicia Jewish Museum is your best bet. The Old Synagogue and Schindler’s Factory close at 15:00, the Ethnographic Museum and the Museum of Engineering do not open at all, and Galicia stays open until 18:00. The Kraków Glassworks is on the same street as Schindler’s Factory, at number 3, and opens on weekdays only.
A warning about the combined ticket for the Old Synagogue and the Eagle Pharmacy: the pharmacy is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, so half of a combined ticket bought on Monday goes to waste.
Commercial attractions open on Monday
These are private exhibitions with no free days. They open later and close in the evening, which makes them the fallback for a Monday after 16:00, once the museums have shut.
| Attraction | Monday | Regular ticket |
|---|---|---|
| Banksy Museum, Berka Joselewicza 21 | 11:00-19:00, last entry 18:15 | 60 PLN (about €14) |
| Polonia Wax Museum, Floriańska 32 | 10:00-22:00 | 59 PLN (about €14) |
| Museum of Illusions Krakil, Straszewskiego 15 | 10:00-19:00 | 59 PLN (about €14) |
| Womai - Science and Senses Centre, Pawia 34 | 10:00-18:00, 8:30-16:30 during the school year | 55 PLN (about €13) |
| Kraków Pinball Museum, Stradomska 15 | 14:00-21:00 | 50 PLN (about €12) |
| Living Obwarzanek Museum, Paderewskiego 4 | 9:00-16:00 | 45 PLN (about €11) |
| Living Butterfly Museum, Grodzka 48 | 10:00-21:00 | 39.99 PLN (about €9) |
| World of Little Technicians, Kościuszki 47 | 10:00-20:00 | 39 PLN (about €9) |
| Museum of Torture, Floriańska 10 | 10:00-21:00 | 35 PLN (about €8) |
| Executioner Museum, Rynek Główny 29 | 10:00-19:00 | 30 PLN (about €7) |
| Kraków Arcade Museum, Centralna 41a, Czyżyny | 14:00-21:00 | 70 PLN (about €16) |
A Monday route from Warsaw
The fastest trains from Warszawa Centralna reach Kraków Główny in 2 hours 46 minutes. Do not try to fit Wawel and Schindler’s Factory into the same Monday: both ticket desks have to be reached in the morning, and the Factory’s exhibition takes an hour and a half to two hours. Pick one.
The Wawel version
- 10:00, the Wawel ticket desk. Collect free passes for the 2nd floor and the Crown Treasury.
- The Cathedral Museum on the same hill, 26 PLN including the cathedral, the bell and the royal tombs.
- Before 14:30, the Old Synagogue in Kazimierz, with a pass booked the day before.
- Around 15:00, the Galicia Jewish Museum, open until 18:00.
- To finish, Collegium Maius until 17:00 or the Rynek Underground with last entry at 17:45, unless it is the second Monday of the month.
The Schindler version
- Before 10:00, the queue at the Schindler’s Factory desk on Lipowa 4. Allow two hours for the exhibition.
- The Kraków Glassworks on the same street, at number 3, with the last glass-blowing demonstration entry at 15:00.
- Before 14:30, the Old Synagogue, across the Vistula in Kazimierz.
- The afternoon at the Galicia Jewish Museum, until 18:00.
Sources
Hours, prices, what the free day covers and how passes are issued come from the museum profiles on muzea.org.pl linked above, which in turn rely on the museums’ official websites, among them wawel.krakow.pl, muzeumkrakowa.pl, ma.krakow.pl, maius.uj.edu.pl, galiciajewishmuseum.org, cricoteka.pl and mnk.pl. Checked on 26 September 2026. Museums announce holiday Mondays and one-off closures separately, so check the museum’s website on the day you travel.