Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie - Gmach Główny

What to expect

The National Museum in Krakow runs more than a dozen branches across the city, but the Main Building on aleja 3 Maja is its headquarters and largest exhibition space. The modernist building beside the Błonia meadow houses the permanent galleries - including 20th and 21st-century Polish art and a gallery of decorative arts - as well as the large temporary exhibitions that are often the main reason to come. In 2026 that show is a Vincent van Gogh exhibition, scheduled to run until the end of December.

Set expectations honestly: this is not an old-masters museum. For old masters go to the Czartoryski Museum, for the 19th century to the Sukiennice; the Main Building begins where those collections end, from the turn of the 20th century to the present. For a visitor who knows little Polish art, the 20th-century gallery is the best possible introduction - Witkacy, the interwar avant-garde and post-war art in one route. For everyone else, the international-format temporary exhibitions are the draw.

Visiting in practice

A permanent-galleries ticket costs 45 PLN (reduced 35 PLN); temporary exhibitions are ticketed separately (35/25 PLN). On Tuesdays the permanent galleries are free. Last admission is 20 minutes before closing, which in a building this size means arriving well before that - allow around two hours for the permanent galleries alone. For headline temporary shows buy tickets in advance at bilety.mnk.pl, as weekend slots can sell out. The museum is accustomed to international visitors and exhibitions carry English texts.

Getting there

The building stands at the head of aleja 3 Maja, right beside the Błonia meadow. From the Main Market Square it is a fifteen-minute walk via Franciszkańska and Piłsudskiego streets. By public transport, take a tram or bus to the stops around the Aleje Trzech Wieszczów ring road near Błonia, a short walk from the entrance.

Nearby

A few minutes on foot separate the Main Building from the Józef Mehoffer House on Krupnicza street and the Stained Glass Museum, a working stained-glass workshop on aleja Krasińskiego. Slightly closer to the Planty park lies the Stanisław Wyspiański Museum.