Attraction

National Museum in Krakow, Main Building: hours and tickets

The main branch of the National Museum in Krakow, with galleries of 20th- and 21st-century Polish art, decorative art and European art. Open Tuesday to Sunday; permanent galleries cost 45 PLN and are free on Tuesdays.

The MNK Main Building at al. 3 Maja 1 is one of the branches of the National Museum in Krakow (MNK) and the seat of its management. It holds three permanent galleries, of Polish art of the 20th and 21st centuries, of decorative art and of European art, and halls for temporary exhibitions.

What the National Museum's Main Building is

The Main Building of the National Museum in Kraków stands at the end of Piłsudskiego Street, which runs out from the Planty, and the square in front of it opens onto the Błonia meadows; from here you can see the Kościuszko Mound. On the square stands Marian Konieczny's monument to Stanisław Wyspiański. Visitors can also use the MNK Library and its reading room in the building.

History of the National Museum in Krakow

The National Museum in Krakow was established by a resolution of the City Council of 7 October 1879, and its first home was the Cloth Hall. The Main Building was designed in the 1930s by Bolesław Szmidt, Czesław Boratyński and Edward Kreisler; the façade facing the Błonia, the hall and the staircase keep the character of a modernised classicism. Construction, halted several times, went on from 1934 to 1989, in the museum's dating. Radio Kraków reports that during the occupation the Germans set up a casino in the unfinished building.

What to see in the National Museum Main Building

XX+XXI. Polish Art Gallery: it fills the whole second floor and covers more than 120 years of Polish art, from Young Poland to the present. The first rooms hold works by Wyspiański, Malczewski, Mehoffer, Weiss and Boznańska, and further on are Witkacy, Stryjeńska, Kantor, Opałka, Wróblewski, Fangor and Sasnal. Here hangs Olga Boznańska's "Girl with Chrysanthemums" of 1894, which the museum counts among her best-known works.
Gallery of Decorative Art: according to the museum, the largest survey of its kind in Poland, with almost 4,000 objects from the early Middle Ages to the mid-20th century: stained glass, liturgical textiles, clothing, ceramics, glass, silver, furniture, musical instruments and Judaica, the last bought in 1935-1939.
European Art Gallery: European painting and sculpture from the 13th to the 20th century, hung in deliberately reversed chronological order; the last room holds Romanesque Spanish Madonnas.
Temporary exhibitions: until 31 December 2026 the European Art Gallery shows Vincent van Gogh's "Wiejskie chaty pośród drzew" (in the museum's English, "Country Cottages Among the Trees"), in the museum's words the only painting by him in Polish public collections. It is on deposit from the John Paul II Collection of the Archdiocese of Warsaw, and entry is included in the branch ticket. Until 21 February 2027 the exhibition "Obywatelka Cepelia" is on. Check the programme on the museum's website.

Leonardo da Vinci's "Lady with an Ermine" is not in this building: the MNK shows it at the Czartoryski Museum, ul. Pijarska 15. Władysław Podkowiński's "Szał uniesień" is not here either: it hangs in the Gallery of 19th-Century Polish Art in the Cloth Hall.

National Museum Krakow tickets, free Tuesdays and hours

A ticket to the permanent exhibitions costs 45 PLN standard and 35 PLN reduced; learners up to the age of 26 with a valid student card pay 1 PLN. Temporary exhibitions cost 35 PLN standard and 25 PLN reduced, and a combined ticket for two temporary exhibitions 50 PLN and 35 PLN. According to the MNK price list, children under 7 visit free, and the museum also sells family tickets. The Main Building ticket also admits you to the MNK branches Czapscy, Mehoffer, Wyspiański, Matejko, Szołayscy, Ciołek, Arsenał and Szymanowski, and is valid for 3 months from purchase; it does not cover the Czartoryski Museum or the Cloth Hall. On Tuesdays the permanent exhibitions (not the temporary ones) are free: individual visitors do not book, but must collect a free entry pass at the ticket desk. Tickets are sold at the desk (PLN or card) and online; booking is compulsory only for organised groups.

The Main Building is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00 and closed on Mondays. Last visitors are let into the galleries shortly before closing, so arrive by 17:30 at the latest; the ticket desk, shop and cloakroom work until closing. Exceptions in 2026: closed on 1 November, open 10:00-16:00 on 11 November, closed on 24 and 25 December, open 10:00-14:00 on 31 December. Details checked in October 2026; confirm them on the MNK Main Building page.

Getting to the National Museum by tram

Trams 1 and 20 stop at Muzeum Narodowe, which is also the name of the bus stop. A paid municipal underground car park by the entrance has spaces for disabled drivers. On foot the museum is about 16 minutes from the Main Market Square and about 13 minutes from Collegium Maius.

Tips for visiting the National Museum Main Building

The cloakroom is compulsory and free: coats, backpacks and large handbags go there, and it does not take suitcases. Photos are allowed without flash; filming needs prior permission from the management. Animals are not allowed, except certified assistance dogs. There is a café. The audioguide (Polish, English, Russian, German, French) costs 7 PLN, or 5 PLN reduced; a guide must be booked in advance and cannot be hired on the spot. According to the museum, the building is almost fully accessible to wheelchair and crutch users thanks to lifts, stair platforms and portable rails, except for the cloakroom and the mezzanine on the second floor; there is an outdoor lift at the main entrance, and the entrance doors have strong closers that can make them hard to open. Accessible toilets are on the ground and second floors.