Poland · City break

Kraków City Guide

Five hundred years as Poland's royal capital left their mark. One of Europe's largest medieval market squares with the Cloth Hall at its heart, Wawel Hill above the Vistula with castle and royal tombs, and the green Planty ring where the walls once stood. Two ready-made day routes split the city between them.

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Our walking tours of Kraków

Ready-made routes from the station guide you through Kraków, to the right spots from the very first step, with no planning needed.

Old Town & Wawel

Day one follows the old Royal Route, from the Florian Gate, the last surviving city gate, across the huge main square with the Cloth Hall and St Mary's Basilica, then down Grodzka street to Wawel Hill with its royal castle and cathedral. All on foot, all close together.

Stops: Florian Gate (Brama Floriańska) · Rynek Główny (Main Market Square) · St Mary's Basilica · Cloth Hall (MNK Sukiennice) · Wawel Castle · Wawel Cathedral

Kazimierz & Podgórze

Day two heads south of the old town through Kazimierz, the old Jewish quarter with its synagogues and flea markets, crosses the Bernatek footbridge to the far bank of the Vistula into Podgórze and the Ghetto Heroes Square, and ends at Schindler's Factory. A quieter day than the first, but a considerably heavier one.

Stops: Szeroka (Kazimierz) · Bernatek Footbridge · Ghetto Heroes Square · Schindler's Factory

Going out & nightlife

Roof Top Terrace (Powiśle) · Kazimierz (Plac Nowy) · Pod Aniołami · Mercy Brown · Teatr im. Juliusza Słowackiego

Practical information for Kraków

Public transport

Operator. Responsible for lines, timetables and fares is the Zarząd Transportu Publicznego w Krakowie, ZTP for short, based at ul. Wielopole 1. Trams and buses are operated by MPK Kraków, with private companies also running individual agglomeration lines on behalf of the ZTP. The shared fare is called Komunikacja Miejska w Krakowie, abbreviated KMK, and is divided into three zones. Zone I covers the city area, zones II and III the surrounding municipalities. For visitors, the key point is that Balice with the airport lies in Zone II, as does Wieliczka, which is also outside Zone I. The offering is complemented by the regional trains of Koleje Małopolskie, whose SKA1 line links the airport, the main station and Wieliczka on a single route. The city fare only applies to these trains to a limited extent, and a separate rail ticket is needed for the trip to the airport.

Network. A dense tram network and buses. The old town is pedestrianised.

Modes of transport. Tram · Bus · Night tram · Night bus · Koleje Małopolskie SKA regional train

Operating hours. On a normal weekday, the first tram sets off at 4.05 a.m., with the earliest buses starting even earlier, at 3 a.m. Averaged across all lines, the first bus service is at 4.24 a.m. and the first tram at 4.38 a.m. In the evening, service on half of all lines ends at 11.39 p.m. Individual tram services run until as late as 12.18 a.m., and individual buses until 1.05 a.m. This doesn't create a gap, though, since the first night departure is already at 11.15 p.m. So anyone who misses the last daytime service waits at most a good hour for the night bus.

Night service. Running every night are bus lines 601, 605, 608, 610, 664, 902, 904, 910, 917 and 937. They start between 11.14 p.m. and 11.32 p.m. and run until around 5.30 a.m., with nearly all lines at a 60-minute interval. On nights before Saturday, lines 609, 611, 903, 915, 918 and 948 are added, with some lines increasing frequency to every 30 minutes. Night trams 62 and 69 run only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, roughly from 11.30 p.m. to 4.20 a.m., about every half hour in each direction. For arrivals at the airport, line 902 is especially important, it runs hourly from 11.21 p.m. to 4.51 a.m., closing exactly the gap during which no train runs.

Buying tickets. There are stationary vending machines at larger stops, in both the Krakowska Karta Miejska and the Małopolska Karta Aglomeracyjna systems, plus machines on board the vehicles themselves. A pictogram above the door shows which payment method an on-board machine accepts. Some vehicles have pure EMV machines that only take cards. Tickets are also sold at selected kiosks and shops. You cannot get a ticket from the driver. The ZTP customer counter at ul. Wielopole 1 is of little help to visitors, since tickets are only issued there from 50 pieces or a value of 500 zł upward. At the airport, vending machines stand in the arrivals hall on level 0 and in front of the hall, plus one on the bus. Paper tickets are only valid once validated, which must happen immediately after boarding.

App and payment. The ZTP lists iMKA, moBiLET, SkyCash, jakdojade and zbiletem.pl as sales apps. There are also numerous partner apps from banks, including Revolut, ING Bank Śląski, PKO BP, Santander, Millennium, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Alior Bank, Bank Pekao's PeoPay and Velo Bank. Among the apps, the combined 70-minute ticket for bus, tram and regional train is only available through iMKA. The ZTP explicitly recommends registering and topping up your account before boarding, since the purchase process depends on network coverage and mobile data speed. Card payment works at the stationary vending machines as well as at the on-board machines. There is one restriction at the airport, where public transport tickets can only be paid for in Polish złoty. Koleje Małopolskie train tickets, by contrast, can also be bought from the conductor by card or cash.

Which ticket. A new Taryfa has applied since March 2, 2026. A single journey or 30 minutes costs 6 zł at the standard rate and 3 zł discounted, 15 minutes costs 4 zł, 60 minutes 8 zł, 90 minutes 9 zł. All these time tickets are valid across all three zones. The 24-hour card costs 20 zł for Zone I and 25 zł for I+II+III. The 48-hour card costs 40 zł, the 72-hour card 55 zł, both available only for all three zones combined. The 7-day card costs 65 zł for Zone I and 80 zł for all zones. This lets the thresholds be stated precisely. The 24-hour card for Zone I corresponds to the price of a good three 30-minute tickets, the 48-hour card to that of nearly seven, and the 72-hour card to that of a good nine. Someone staying three days pays 55 zł with the 72-hour card instead of 60 zł for three separate 24-hour cards for Zone I, while also covering zones II and III into the bargain. The 48-hour card, meanwhile, costs exactly the same 40 zł as two 24-hour cards for Zone I, but also brings in the outer zones. For families there is a weekend ticket for 25 zł, valid Saturday and Sunday for two to seven people, allowing for one or two adults plus up to six children under 16 depending on the group makeup. The combined 70-minute ticket for bus, tram and regional train costs 10 zł.

Fare zones. All time tickets from 15 to 90 minutes are valid across all three zones. Only for the 24-hour and 7-day cards do you need to choose. The airport lies in Zone II, so the Zone I day card alone is not enough.

Tip. From the station to the main square is ten minutes through the Planty green belt.

Getting there

Main station

Location. Right on the edge of the old town, beneath a shopping centre.

Long-distance trains. Kraków Główny is served by every PKP Intercity long-distance category, from the fast EIP (Pendolino) through EIC and IC to TLK. The Pendolino takes about 2 hours 21 minutes to Warsaw, a regular InterCity about 2 hours 54 minutes. Eight direct express trains in the EIP and EIC categories run daily to the Tri-City of Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia. To Poznań there are 17 train pairs a day, and 23 toward Katowice from Lesser Poland. Since December 2025, a Pendolino has run to Zakopane for the first time, covering the route in 1 hour 57 minutes, with nine daily train pairs into the Tatras overall. In summer, seasonal trains to the Baltic coast are added, the EIC Posejdon to Kołobrzeg and the EIC Lajkonik to Hel. The station is also well connected internationally. A train runs to Vienna every four hours, likewise to Prague, with trains heading to the Czech Republic seven times a day in total. There are four direct connections to Berlin at four-hour intervals. The IC Carpatia carries overnight travelers via Katowice to Vienna, Munich, Bratislava and Budapest, and new is the IC Saxonia direct carriage to Leipzig via Wrocław. The IC Hańcza runs via Warsaw, Suwałki and Kaunas to Vilnius. One note for 2026, due to construction work on the routes toward Warsaw, Kielce and Tarnów, some trains may take longer than the timetable suggests.

Opening hours. The first regional train toward the airport leaves the station at 3.26 a.m., the last at 12.46 a.m. Between 1 and 3.30 a.m. this service pauses completely.

Airports

KRK

Into the city. The SKA1 train takes 17 minutes to Kraków Główny. The 300 city bus takes about 45 minutes, a taxi or minibus about 25 minutes. The platform is behind the parking garage and connected to the terminal by a covered bridge.

Frequency. From Kraków Główny the train runs every 30 minutes from 6.06 a.m. to 9.36 p.m., departing at minutes 06 and 36 each hour. Before and after that it runs hourly. From the airport the first train leaves at 4.17 a.m., the last at 1.47 a.m. Between 1.47 am and 4.17 a.m. no train runs, and only the hourly night bus 902 helps then.

Local quirks

The bugler breaks off. Every hour, the Hejnał is sounded from the tower of St. Mary's Basilica and cuts off abruptly mid-note. It commemorates a watchman struck down by an arrow.
At night the tram only runs on weekends. Night trams 62 and 69 run only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, from about 11.30 p.m. to 4.20 a.m. From Monday to Thursday, only the night bus remains once regular service ends. So anyone leaving a bar in Kazimierz late on a weeknight should look for a bus stop, not a tram track.
No machine at the airport takes euros. Public transport tickets at the airport can only be paid for in Polish złoty. The vending machines in the arrivals hall on level 0 and on the bus do accept cards, but not euro notes. Anyone arriving without złoty and without a card is stuck at the machine.

Good to know

Currency: PLN zł
Emergency number: 112
Plug type: C · E
Time zone: Europe/Warsaw
Driving: right

Speed limits. built-up areas 50 km/h, outside towns 90 km/h, expressway 100–120 km/h, motorway 140 km/h

Within built-up areas, 50 km/h applies around the clock, there is no higher nighttime limit. Dipped headlights or daytime running lights are mandatory on every trip, even in sunshine. Pedestrians have right of way as soon as they step onto a crosswalk. Anyone caught driving more than 50 km/h over the limit within a built-up area has their license confiscated on the spot.

Tipping. Ten percent in restaurants. State the amount when paying, otherwise it counts as change.

Tolls. On state motorways you pay electronically via the e-TOLL app, on concession sections such as the A4 at toll booths.

Access restrictions. Krakow and Warsaw have set up clean transport zones, graded by emission class and year of registration.