Something for the weekend
More details than you can shake a stick at
Handy regional guide
Background
Climate and weather
Krakow is subject to much the same extremes of temperature as the rest of Poland. Summers can be shocking warm and close, and winter bitterly cold and windy. The best thing to do on a really uncomfortable day is to go round the salt mines, which are a constant 15 degrees celsius.
Although the new bus station is indoors, the train station platforms are pretty exposed, and other bus stops and shopping streets are completely exposed. Basically even if you just stay in your accomodation the entire time, you are still going to need a decent coat, scarf, gloves, hat and preferably portable blast furnace in winter for when you arrive.
Landscape and scenery
Krakow has a largely intact old town (compared to the rest of Poland, which was brutally attacked during the German occupation). This includes an impressive castle (which was the original seat of the Polish monarchy), the largest market square in central Europe, and even an intact jewish quarter. The Wistula river which winds through the centre of the town is not nearly as grim and brown as it is by the time it reaches Warsaw, and provides a quite pleasant waterfront. The town outside of the historic area offers rather less - the new town has been built in typical grey eastern-bloc style, with almost no buildings of particular note. Even the greyness is not that noteworthy, since cities such as Warsaw and Katowice have even greyer and larger suburbs.
Carry on an hour or so to the south of the city and the mountains which more the border with the Czech Republic and Slovakia are huge and beautiful, with plenty of walking and pretty good winter sports (although the resorts are more full of Polish than international visitors, so language remains an issue). The area directly around Krakow is a little less inspiring, being a little flat. It is nice enough though once you have escaped the suburbs.