Krakow, the land of Lody (the Polish name for ice cream). I have never seen a place where ice cream is so intertwined with daily life, other than Italy (as stereotypical as that is it’s definitely true). It’s hard to walk a full block without passing yet another Lody shop or people munching away on their ice creams. Let’s just say it will be hard to resist trying all the delicious ice cream during your trip to Krakow. After spending 5 weeks in Krakow, here is our guide to the best desserts in Krakow Poland. We’ll show you some of our favourite Polish Desserts and of course, the best ice cream in Krakow.
Where To Find The Best Polish Desserts In Krakow
Stara Paczkarnia
The best Paczki in Krakow can be found here, I’m sure of it. At this little window, you can find freshly cooked Pączki (Polish doughnuts), and also watch as they make this delicious Polish dessert. Paczki are deep fried doughnuts traditionally filled with rose jam. Here you can get many delicious flavours, we loved the blueberry filling and the traditional rose flavour. But they also have lots of other flavours like bounty, toffee, salted caramel, chocolate, and many more. Paczki is definitely one of the best desserts in Krakow.
ul. Stradomska 18, Krakow
Monday to Friday 8 AM to 8 PM + Saturday 10 AM to 8 PM + Sunday 10 AM to 7 PM
Cukiernia Cichowscy
A traditional cafe and bakery in Krakow, first established in 1945 and operating under the same name since 1984. Cukiernia Cichowscy has a beautiful traditional design and you really feel like you’ve stepped back in time, in the best possible way. This is a great location to have a break and enjoy cakes, chocolates and biscuits. We loved the traditional Kremowka dessert. Cukiernia Cichowscy is home some of the best cakes in Krakow. There is also a takeaway side here if you prefer.
ul. Starowiślna 21, Krakow
Monday to Friday from 9 AM to 6 PM + Saturday from 9 AM to 2 PM
Sernik
Sernik is not a dessert shop, but a traditional Polish cheesecake dessert. So where to get the best sernik in Krakow? You can get these at lots of bakeries and restaurants. We tried ours at Miodova restaurant and it was delicious.
ul. Szeroka 3, Krakow
Every day from 12 PM to 11 PM
Zaczyn Bakery
Zaczyn is my favourite bakery in Krakow. This is more of a modern Bakery than a traditional one. They have a selection of delicious bread, breakfast options and sweet buns. The wheat-rye bread was so so good. The sweet buns with custard and baked peach or raspberry were heavenly. The straight out of the oven, baked peach version will go down as one of our top food moments in Krakow (careful they can be hot!). Super busy on Sundays, but that kind of adds to the atmosphere and experience. You may have to wait for sweet buns to come out of the oven, depending on when you arrive. But you usually don’t need to wait long, and it’s definitely worth it. I have heard that if you come later in the day there may not be sweet buns and bread left, so make sure to get there in the morning for these. For modern bakeries, Zaczyn is the best bakery in Krakow.
Barska 4, Krakow
Wednesday & Thursday from 7.30 AM to 3 PM + Friday to Sunday from 9 AM to 5 PM
The Best Ice Cream In Krakow
Good Lood
If there’s one thing you will notice immediately here it’s how popular Good Lood is. We had to line up for our ice cream, although the line goes fairly fast. The serving sizes can go quite big, I think 4 scoops in a large cone. We had 2 scoops each and I have to say the scoops were massive. Here they have a few standard flavours that they always have, and then they have special flavours for that day. The standard flavours are local dairy (milk & fresh cream), caramel with pink Himalayan salt, dark chocolate and Polish strawberry. Their ice cream is made with 100% natural ingredients.
Multiple Locations, Krakow
Every day
Lodziarnia Donizetti
A delicious gelato shop in Krakow Old Town, using natural ingredients. Here we tried the Pan di Stelle (biscuit) flavour and mascarpone, both were fabulous.
ul. Świętego Marka 23, Krakow
Every day from 11 AM to 8 PM
Traditional Ice Cream Brothers Hodurek
Known in Polish as, Lody Tradycyjne Bracia Hodurek, this is a small little window that you could easily miss if it wasn’t for the people lining up out the front. Here they serve delicious ice cream made with natural ingredients and tasty sorbet. They also have a vegan chocolate ice cream option. Choose from a standard or sweet (waffle) cone or cup. We loved the chocolate ice cream and mango and passionfruit sorbet.
Lody Tradycyjne Bracia Hodurek
Zwierzyniecka 3, Krakow
Every day from 10 AM to 9 PM in summer (closed in winter)
Lody na Starowislnej
I have to admit, personally, although I enjoyed the ice cream here, I didn’t love it, but I loved the experience of getting it. It feels like stepping back in time, with very quick service, only a few flavours, small little cones. It’s pretty popular, and had a line when we went. We tried chocolate with nuts, but I think they are better known for their fruit flavours, which have real fruits in them.
ul. Starowiślna 83, Krakow
Every day from 9 AM to 7 PM
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