When our taxi pulled up at our dingy hotel on the outskirts of Krakow, Sarah and I wondered why we kept coming back to Eastern Europe (though we knew the real reason was Ryanair and the moths in our wallets).

Struggling with the language barrier, and surprised that the usual English, French and German were getting us nowhere, we bundled onto a busy tram and headed for the city centre.

As soon as we walked through the gates of the old city walls, we knew we were in the right place. Why hadn’t we paid the extra few zloty for a hotel in the centre?!

The gigantic central square stretched off into the distance, and horse carriages designed just to get around the square were doing brisk business on a warm summer’s night. We stayed on foot, and browsed the restaurants looking for something ‘authentic’.

Eventually we found a cellar restaurant serving overstuffed perogies and hot spiced strawberry beer – one of the strangest things I’ve ever drunk – at heavy oak tables. It was perhaps meant to be medieval in style, but the hearty, stodgy menu was quite typically Polish to our palates. Sated, we trundled back to our grotty hotel till morning.

Since we only had two full days in Krakow, and one of those was reserved for Auschwitz-Birkenau, we got on the tourist trail early and pounded it hard all day!

First was the Wavel castle complex, which has been occupied since paleolothic times and the seat of Polish kings for 1000 years. There are museums, coffee shops and galleries in the complex, but the most popular attraction is the Wavel Dragon!

The fire-breathing dragon protects the Wavel hill, living underneath it in a cave. We wound down a staircase into the damp natural cavern to admire the stalactites and giggle at the dragon sounds piped in by unseen speakers. A dozen little shops outside the castle sell dragons of all kinds to overexcited children. So much more satisfying than Loch Ness!

We headed back to the main square for a 2-course, 3-Euro lunch and a quick look at the Wavel cathedral and Basilica. The cathedral boasts the country’s largest bell, and the basilica is home to the largest gothic alterpiece and some priceless yet garish religious artworks.

More in keeping with our girls’ weekend was the Cloth Hall; touted by the tourist board as the world's oldest shopping mall!

The trading hall has been in business for 700 years, and this weekend provided us with a hand-knitted purple sweater and a set of hand-blown wine glasses.

The bustling market was at tourist prices, but still full of knock-down bargains when you make the translation back to Sterling. I think the incredible good value of Krakow was one of its main attraction for us. What a treat to pick any restaurant in the old city and order whatever you like, and the bill still comes in under EUR10 a head!

After a quick coffee stop, we made our penultimate visit of the day before our feet protested too harshly. The Collegium Maius is the 600-year-old college of Krakow's Jagiellonian University in which Copernicus (Nikolai Kopernik) revolutionised our thinking about the structure of the universe. I was fascinated by his collection of astronomical tools including his astrolabe.

Finally, Sarah and I headed to Kazimierz - the now very trendy Jewish district - to see Oscar Schindler's factory.

We found a lot more than we expected there, in the ancient synagogues, leafy courtyard cafes and funky contemporary art galleries. We'll come back to Krakow, and this is without doubt where we'll stay next time.

With our visit to Auschwitz the next day too, Krakow was on a par with Rome or Athens in the number of fascinating layers of history we uncovered in two short days on foot.

It is surprisingly beautiful, delightfully affordable and - despite the language problems - easily navigable. If you haven't braved the budget flights there yet, treat yourself sometime soon!