If you have already seen everything in Krakow itself, the surrounding regions of southern Poland offer an additional bounty of marvelous sights worth exploring.

Tyniec (12 km) – Tyniec is a historic village on the Vistula river, famous for its Benedictine Abbey and limestone Jurassic hills.

Wieliczka (13 km) – is a small town famous for the Wieliczka Salt Mine, which was opened in the 13th century and produced table salt continuously until 2007. It contains incredible statues and chapel carved out of the rock salt.

Ojców National Park (16 km) – Poland's smallest national park, known for its biodiversity and the legend of Łokietek's Cave where, as the legend has it, he hid thanks to help received from a spider.

Puszcza Niepołomicka (20 km) – Niepołomice Primeval Forest used to be the most popular hunting ground for the Polish royalty (area famous for its , now extinct, Aurochs). Nowadays, home for various species of flora and fauna such as Polish wisent and wild boar .

Pieskowa Skała (27 km) – notable for Pieskowa Skała castle, which is one of the best-known examples of a defensive Polish Renaissance architecture.

Kalwaria Zebrzydowskia (40) km) – Kalwaria Zebrzydowska is a magnificent cultural landscape of great spiritual importance. Its natural setting – in which a series of symbolic sites of worship relating to the Passion of Jesus Christ and the life of the Virgin Mary was laid out in the 17th century – has remained practically unchanged. It is still today a place of pilgrimage.

Wadowice (50 km) – the birthplace of John Paul II. The most significant attraction of this lovely town is Holy Father John Paul II Family Home in Wadowice – a modern, interactive museum taking visitors on a tour through Karol Wojtyła’s life.

Oświęcim (65 km) – is best known as being the location of the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II, built and operated by the Third Reich.

Rabka (70 km) – a popular spa town, known for taking advantage of hydrotherapy in local resorts and sanatoriums.

Tarnów (80 km) – one of the biggest cities in the region, known for its market place in the Old Town, with medieval urban layout of streets and tenement houses, some from the Renaissance period

Zakopane (100 km) – the’ winter capital of Poland’ is visited by over 2,500,000 tourists a year. Tourists are drawn to Zakopane for its excellent conditions for winter sports: alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, and ski jumping. In the summer, tourists come to enjoy hiking, climbing, and spelunking. Many come to experience góral culture, which is rich in its unique styles of food, speech, architecture, music, and costume. Zakopane is especially popular during the winter holidays, which are celebrated in traditional style, with dances, decorated horse-pulled sleighs called kuligs and roast lamb.