Some Photos from Our Visit to Polish Aviation Museum in Krakow

Originally, I was planning to only briefly mention this place and share a few photos. However, this community has a disproportionate number of AvGeeks, so I’ve decided that a photo essay is appropriate. Our visit to the Polish Aviation Museum (see this page on TripAdvisor) was a last-minute addition during our short time in Krakow. The website is in Polish only. I’ve only learned about this place a week before we left for Europe, totally by accident. I instantly knew we had to make a stop there as a special treat for my husband.

Since our flight from Krakow to London was set to leave at 6 PM, we had some time to kill. We did have to leave from Zakopane at 8:30 AM because it takes a full two hours to reach Krakow by car. I also had to figure out what to do with all of our luggage. I probably should have reached out to the museum, but decided to simply stop by the luggage storage at the main train station in Krakow. My relatives from Belarus decided to visit the museum with us, so I paid a total of $25 to leave all of our junk behind.

After that we used a Bolt app to get a ride. It’s cheaper than hiring a taxi at the station and only takes a few minutes to get a driver to pick you up. Uber doesn’t work very well in Poland. Ask me how I know. The museum is relatively close to the station, and it took us only 10 minutes to reach it by car. The ride was cheap, too. Speaking of cheap, admission to the museum only cost us $8 per person, less for kids.

Unfortunately, we happened to be in Krakow on the hottest day of the year. But that didn’t deter my husband. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that excited, and that includes our wedding. He normally comes along to whatever I plan, but often lacks enthusiasm. Not this time! He was running around like a kid in a candy store, taking photos of everything. I took a few myself.

Poland has a proud tradition in a field of aviation, and I was fascinated by old photos of graduating pilots’ class of 1931:

Many of Polish pilots ended up flying for RAF after Hitler and Stalin divided Poland

 

 

My husband was mostly here for the planes. He told me that it’s impossible to see some of these models in the United States, so this was a unique opportunity for him. The museum is  quite large, with several hangers full of planes and a bunch of of them outside in a graveyard of sorts. Most of the information is in Polish, but my husband knew exactly what each model was.

Here are some of the planes we saw (don’t ask me what they are):

Not surprisingly, he was most excited to see a MiG plane, not something you can normally do in US.  All in all, if you are a lover of aviation, my husband gives this museum a thumbs up, way up. His only regret is that he didn’t have all day to explore. Or two.