Horse-drawn carriages in Kraków

The horse-drawn carriages on the Main Market Square are one of Kraków's best-known sights: two-horse rigs wait at the rank and take passengers around the Old Town, most often towards Wawel. The service is run by many private operators, not by a single attraction with a city price list. You agree the route, duration and price for the whole ride with the driver before you climb in.

Fiacre, carriage and the enchanted carriage

In the former Austrian partition, Kraków included, such vehicles are traditionally called fiacres – the name comes from the Paris inn of Saint Fiacre, where a carriage-hire office operated in the 1640s. The most famous Kraków carriage was immortalised by Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński in the poem "The Enchanted Carriage" from a collection published in 1948. Its model was the fiacre driven by Jan Kaczara, known for often speaking in verse. His son drove the same carriage, lettered "Zaczarowana Dorożka", until 1985, when after a collision with a Wartburg it never returned to the streets.

How the horses are looked after today

Kraków City Hall sets the rules for carriages on the Market Square and checks them regularly. According to the city's notice, horses are harnessed every other day (14–15 days a month) and work no more than 12 hours a day in total; on the other days they rest in stables and on pasture. Only two types of lighter carriage are allowed – the victoria and the landau – with a total rig length of up to 7 m, on rubber-tyred wheels with brakes, always pulled by two horses.

In summer 2014 scientists from the University of Agriculture in Kraków studied the blood, heart rate and thermal conditions of working horses; the results were within normal ranges. The report did, however, identify the Small Market Square as the hottest rank, and it was closed in 2016. Drivers attend compulsory annual training, and in summer the city provides extra water points for the horses.

Route and booking a ride

The rank is on the Main Market Square. The most common ride takes in the Old Town and Grodzka Street down to Wawel, but the details depend on the driver and the traffic. You can ask for a longer route, but there is no single city fare – agree a clear price for the whole ride before you get in. During events the Market Square may be closed to carriages, and then they either do not run or wait elsewhere.

Tripto tips

• Watch out for: in hot weather, with a tired horse or poor conditions, skip the ride; do not ask the driver to go faster.
• Weather: the ride is in the open air, and the folding hood only partly protects you.
• Afterwards: Wawel, the Planty park and Kazimierz are a short walk away.