TOP 10 most important safety tips for your Krakow stag weekend

One of the questions most frequently aksed concerns the safety of Krakow “Am I physically safe here”??

I’ve lived in this fantastic city for 9 years and my honest impression of it is that it is a very friendly place and much safer than any other popular holiday city. Krakow is a small city and the population of almost one million people is accounted for by the surrounding satellite towns that were added during the 1950s, courtesy of Uncle Joe Stalin.

Dave has done his homework in great detail, and the venues that you book through us are stag friendly, central to the city and extremely safe. In all our years of business, we have never had a provable case of theft or violent crime against any of our clients. And I hope that this continues to be the case. Occasionally, someone reports a nicked wallet but, more often than not, the wallet has been found and then returned to the owner.

Common sense is an international virtue.

• Look after your mates. Don’t let members of your group wander off when they’ve had a few too many. The effects of alcohol, travel and language difference can be very disorientating. Krakow is a beautiful city and very friendly but the narrow cobbled streets and number of quite similar doorways means that initially it’s a bit of a maze. If a lad wanders off and gets lost, there is a pretty good chance that the rest are in a cellar bar and out of range of telephone. He probably won’t remember the name of the place and will be lost. If you don’t notice it for some time, each of you thinking he?s with some other part of the group, then he will be very lost. So stick together and if someone needs the porcelain telephone and some rest, ask the guide to get call a taxi and get him to bed. Also, all of you should keep the address of your accommodation with you at all times so that you can show it to a taxi driver if you become isolated.
• Stay cool. Boys will be boys but try not to get too carried away. It might seem an incredible act of bravado to take a drunken slash against a church wall, but if you get caught, you’ll be sorry when you sober up. The local boys in blue have effectively military training and are very capable. You’ll be arrested without ceremony (and don’t try to resist – it won’t work and will make things far worse) and bundled off to the “drunk tank” and kept there until the police decide you are sober enough to leave. If this means that you miss your party and flight home, the police won’t show any sympathy at all. They can hold you for up to 48 hours and the minimum you will pay is 150 PLN per night. On the other hand, they’ll leave you alone unless you are doing something really daft.
• Peace of mind. In the unlikely event of an accident, you will be entitled to emergency medical treatment of a very high standard. There is a reciprocal arrangement between Poland and UK and this will be free if you are an EU member. You will need something like an E111 form or EU EHIC card which can be obtained online. It is not a substitute for travel insurance and would not cover you for anything other than emergency medical treatment. You should always carry one unless you have a private alternative.
• Drinking and driving. Don’t undertake any potentially dangerous sporting activities if under the influence of drink or drugs. That’s just inviting trouble. In any case, if suppliers of, for example, go-karting, paintballing or shooting judge you to be unsafe, you won’t be allowed to participate and your money will not be refunded.
• Know your limits. Try to stay within the city centre or Kazimierz district late at night. These are very safe but the outlying areas can be less predictable, especially if you are alone, well oiled and wearing the wrong football strip and singing a song in support of your own favourite UK team!
• Softly softly catchy monkey. Polish women are gorgeous and usually very friendly but not as “available” as their counterparts in some other European countries. They are also well educated and probably speak or understand English well, so please be careful what you say or suggest to them. It might be taken the wrong way.
• The right place. It is illegal to drink alcohol in a public place that is not licensed. This includes beer and a policeman might use it as an excuse to give you an on the spot fine. But don’t worry, there are literally hundreds of bars in the central area so you won’t have to walk far to get a cold one!
• Follow the highway code. A red light at a zebra crossing means that you may not cross. On the spot fines are quite high so try to avoid them, not least for your own safety. Some of the major junctions close to the centre are quite complicated with several roads crossing, along with trams from as many as 3 different directions. Also the traffic comes from the opposite direction to that which you are used to if you live in UK. They are dangerous so keep your wits about you and obey the lights. Don?t play roulette with you lives, health or cash!
• The key to success. Hotels and other accommodation providers normally supply only one key per room. So please make sure that one of you becomes the key holder on behalf of his room mates, and that he looks after it well. If one of guys should decide to leave the party and head for bed, make sure that he is given the key. Otherwise he might end up waiting outside on the pavement for the others if the apartments, for example, don’t have 24 hour reception service.
• Faithful respect. Poland is a Catholic country and the spiritual side of life is taken very seriously here. This doesn’t stop Polish people from enjoying life however! So under no circumstances be tempted to parody or otherwise take the rip out of the religion here. It is very offensive and might lead to problems. Once a group of very civilized revellers asked advice about their intentions to use a Pope and Cardinals theme for their fancy dress wear. They were very understanding and didn’t take the risk! But DO leave religion out of it.