Travel

How to get to Krakow

Krakow map: http://mapakrakow.pl/

You can reach Krakow by:

• direct flight to Krakow
• international train or bus
• flight to Warsaw
• car

Flight to Krakow

Krakow has its own (small) airport, appropriately named after the Pope, John Paul II, who was born near the city. John Paul II International Airport has direct connections to Amsterdam, Berlin, Bologna, Birmingham, Bristol, Brussels, Budapest, Chicago, Cologne/Bonn, Dortmund, Dublin, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Gdansk, Glasgow, Hamburg, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Milan, Munich, New York, Tel Aviv, Torino, Vienna, Warszawa and Zurich.

For updated information on flights and connections see the website: http://www.krakowairport.pl/en

At the airport there are: exchange offices, bank branch, ATMs, a restaurant and a cafe on the mezzanine of the passenger terminal, a cafe on the viewing terrace, post office and an information desk, travel agency, 24-hour first aid, a duty-free shop in the hall of international departures, 24-hour car park, car rentals agency (National, Avis, Budget, Europcar and Hertz).

The airport is located about 15 km from the city centre. You can reach it by:

• taxi (approximate price 60-90 zloty)
• public bus number: 292, 208 or the night bus 902 (the fare is 2.50 PLN when the ticket is purchased in advance, 3 PLN when purchased from the driver or 5.00 PLN at night), Tickets can be purchased in advance at newspaper stands at the airport (second floor). It takes about 35/40 mins to get to the city centre. The bus stop is located directly at the roundabout, in front of the passenger terminal.
• Quick railway line (the fare is: 6 PLN, tickets can be purchased on board).
  
The Krakow-Balice Station is located app. 200 m from the passenger terminal; you can get there on foot (around 5 mins walk) or take a free shuttle bus service which operates to and from Krakow-Balice Station (this is a 3 minute trip from the airport terminal building). The train departs app. every 40 minutes and the travel time to the centre is about 15 minutes (the timetable is available here)

The other option is to fly Katowice-Pyrzowice airport and take Lufthansa (or other) bus to Krakow, which operates regularly, and the trip takes about an hour (approx. 50 polish zloty).

To get more information take a look at: www.katowice-airport.com

International train

Krakow is one of Poland's main railroad junctions. Its central Krakow Glowny Station is situated most conveniently in the very city centre, close to the Old Town historic district. Krakow has direct railway links with Berlin, Budapest, Bucarest, Hamburg, Kiev, Lviv, Prague, Vienna, Zilin. Expresses run also to all major cities in Poland. Notably, most convenient is the shuttle express service to and from capital Warsaw where the 300-km trip takes 2h45, no stops in between.

The detailed information is available at Railway site

International bus

The bus/coach station is located on Wita Stwosza Square (east side of the railway station) and at 15 Cystersów Street (for some domestic links).
Domestic and regional links are serviced by PKS - 0300 300 120 (from TP telephone), 720 81 20 (from mobile), 0 701 374 445 (from Netia telephone); and private transport agencies.

Flight to Warsaw

There is an international airport Okecie in Warszawa, located about 10 km from the city centre.
Okecie has a direct connections to Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Beirut, Berlin, Bratislava, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Chicago, Cologne / Bonn, Copenhagen, Dublin, Duesseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hamburg, Helsinki, Istambul, Kaliningrad, Kiev, London, Lvov, Lyon, Madrid, Manchester, Milan, Minsk, Moscow, Munich, New York, Nicea, Odessa, Oslo, Paris, Prague, Riga, Rome, Sofia, St.Petersburg, Stockholm, Tallinn, Tel Aviv, Toronto, Tunis, Vienna, Vilnius, Zagreb, Zurich, as well to some others airports (Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport).

To reach Krakow from the airport OKECIE you can:

• take domestic flights (departure from Warsaw to Krakow)
• take a train
  
  There are many trains (Inter City and Express) from Warszawa to Krakow and from Krakow to Warszawa daily in the train summer timetable. More information on how to get from the airport to the "Warszawa-Centralna" railway station, can be found here.

By car

See: the map of Poland, city map

Routes to the city: The north-south E77 links Krakow with Warsaw and Gdansk in the north and Zakopane and the Slovak border in the south. The east-west E40 arrives from Lviv in Ukraine in the east and then goes west through Wroclaw and Katowice to Dresden in Germany (partly the A4 motorway). To the southwest, the Czech Republic is easily reached via the E75.

NOTE: there are no free parking areas in the city centre