Awesome Polish Souvenirs From Kraków:
10 Special Gift Ideas
Unfortunately, we can’t always take our loved ones with us on holiday to Kraków. However, there is a way to make it up to them… Awesome Polish souvenirs! The perfect gifts for friends and family, or a treat to ourselves as a cool little reminder of a special trip to Poland.
We’ve put together a list of Polish souvenir and gift ideas that we feel are unique or special to Kraków and Poland.
Awesome Polish Souvenirs From Kraków:
10 Special Gift Ideas
Unfortunately, we can’t always take our loved ones with us on holiday to Kraków. However, there is a way to make it up to them… Awesome Polish souvenirs! The perfect gifts for friends and family, or a treat to ourselves as a cool little reminder of a special trip to Poland.
We’ve put together a list of Polish souvenir and gift ideas that we feel are unique or special to Kraków and Poland.
Polish Amber
The gold of the North! Amber is the native gemstone of Poland. Poland’s Baltic coast has some of the richest amber deposits in the world, and has seen a trade in amber since the neolithic period (10 000 B.C.).
An ancient trade route known as the ‘Amber Road’ passed North-South through the entirety of Poland. With this, amber was brought from the Baltic down to the wealthy Mediterranean. This means that despite Gdansk in the North having the richest amber history, you can find incredible amber jewellery all across Poland.
Cool fact: The Polish seaside resort of Jurata is actually named after a goddess from Baltic legend. The legend goes that the goddess lived in a beautiful castle made of amber under the waves of the Baltic Sea. She ruled the sea and all life in it.
A local fisherman was disturbing the peace, so she set out to punish him. Instead, they fall madly in love. The God of Thunder found out about Jurata falling for a mortal. In anger, he struck her beautiful castle, smashing it into a million pieces. Thus over the years, Poles have found little pieces of amber washing up on their beaches.
Mind-Blowingly Good Local Vodka
In an article about Polish souvenirs, it’s impossible not to mention the Polish national spirit. Poland is the homeland of vodka, and the local stuff is incredibly special. The history, tradition, quality and variety is unmatched anywhere in the world.
There are hundreds of types of vodka to choose from but we’ve nailed down a couple of suggestions to make things easier:
Bison Grass vodka (Żubrówka) is world-famous for its unique taste. The vodka is flavoured with a special grass picked from the primordial Białowieża forest (home to Poland’s wild European Bison). In Polish folklore, the blade of grass inside the bottle is rumoured to have many medicinal and mystical properties.
It’s an interesting vodka to drink straight, or can be mixed with fresh apple juice and cinnamon. This, pictured above, makes the famous Szarlotka (apple pie) cocktail. Trust us, it’s delicious!
Guests on the Kraków Vodka Tour checking out one of the best home-made flavoured vodka cafes.
One of our favourite vodkas gifts is a delicious home-made flavoured vodka, called “nalewka”. There’s a huge variety of flavours, and a few shops will sell stunning, gift-wrapped glass bottles to fill with your favourite flavour to take home with you. The best Polish souvenir in our opinion!
Tasty Local Fudge
While not unique to Poland, Polish fudge is excellent. The Kraków Christmas Market has some really cool fudge shops but these sweet are still available all year round. In Polish they’re called “Krówka” which actually means “a small cow”. These sweet little treats will make a really awesome Polish souvenir to bring home.
Make sure to try all available flavours in order to find your personal favourite. If you know someone with a sweet-tooth, it’s an ideal gift idea. It’s sometimes possible to get them customised, with either your name , or the name of someone you would like to spoil.
Painted Easter Eggs
The tradition of painting eggs in Poland dates back to the 10th century. The practice is hugely popular within Polish culture. Originally a pagan celebration of Spring time and new life, they’ve fitted seamlessly into Christian and Catholic culture and celebration.
It’s mostly an Easter tradition, but they are available in all parts of Poland year-round. They’re especially popular in small gift-shops, where you could get them in all colours and with all patterns.
Retro & Vintage Postcards
This gift idea might sound quite cliché, but postcards in Poland are absolutely one of a kind, if you search carefully. If you head into the Jewish District Kazimierz, you’ll find lots of unique little shops selling wartime or Soviet-era artwork and postcards.
Even the more touristy cards can be a nice touch, Kraków is a stunning city, that surprises many people who simply expect a cold, grey landscape and Soviet architecture. It’s good to show people what they’re missing 😉
Quirky fact: Under communist rule, much of Western culture was outlawed or suppressed. Especially rock n’ roll music. To get around this, music was recorded secretly onto inconspicuous material rather than vinyl disks. In Poland postcards were commonly used for this. It’s very hard to track down one of these as a gift though.
Podhale Folk Souvenirs
A Podhale landscape, looking towards the awe inspiring Tatra mountains.
Poland has a rich folk culture, dating really far back into history. Folk souvenirs therefore make some of the most interesting gift options, and usually aren’t too expensive either.
Each region of Poland has its own unique cultural characteristics. One of the most famous folk regions, without doubt, is Podhale, located in the southern part of Poland. The regions capital is Zakopane – the hiking and winter sports capital of Poland.
If you plan on visiting Zakopane to see the breathtaking Tatra mountains, make sure to pick up some authentic Oscypek. This tasty smoked mountain cheese is made from sheep milk. The cheeses are moulded and pressed with the emblematic shepherds axe, know as a ciupaga. These cheeses are one of the most authentic Polish souvenirs to bring home, particularly because legally they can only be made and branded in this region.
Traditional Polish Pottery
One of the iconic Polish souvenirs is Bolesławiec pottery. The products of “Pracownia Ceramiki Bolesławiec” are hand-painted in a beautiful, traditional folk style. They’re a great souvenir because they’re pretty, traditional, and functional. If you’ve managed to smuggle back some delicious pierogi, what better way to eat them than on gorgeous Polish folk pottery!
Polish City Emblems & Symbols
Kraków
One of the most famous city landmarks is the Wawel Dragon statue, which is literally a fire breathing dragon. Every single gift-shop will have some dragon figurines but we think a Kraków dragon shot glass to go with a beautiful bottle of home-made Polish flavoured vodka would be truly awesome gift combo.
Warsaw
Much like Kraków’s dragon, Warsaw is represented by a mythical mermaid. There will be mermaid symbols available everywhere and that’s a cool option.
We also really like Warsaw’s Wedel Chocolate factory. Wedel is Poland’s most historical chocolate brand, starting out in Warsaw. When treating yourself to chocolate cakes and other delicacies, it’s a great chance to pick up a chocoholic gift or two. There’s a huge selection of unique and interesting gift-wrapped options to choose from.
