So you’re planing a trip to the beautiful city and are a bit worried about the prices in Krakow? Fear not! Krakow is quite affordable for most types of travelers. Especially in comparison to Western Europe, not to mention Scandinavia.
Since it is one of Polands biggest cities, prices in Poland Krakow such as living and travel are slightly higher than in the rest of the country. However, this is more noticeable for those moving to Krakow rather than if your are just visiting.
Here I’ll try to provide you with a brief overview of the Krakow restaurant prices, accomodation, transportation and tourist attractions in Krakow so that you can plan your trip and budget with ease.
Table of Contents
Krakow Alcohol Prices (Price of a Pint) – One may say first things first
The easiest way to compare European cities to each other is by the price of beer (price of a pint in Krakow). If the alcohol is cheap, chances are you’re going to have a good time. Krakow is an extremely popular place for Western tourists looking to have a fun night out. I believe this is partly due to the lower prices that the city offers. The main reason, however, is probably the atmosphere of the old town and the beautiful architecture.
So let’s get down to business. The average price of a beer in the market square is around 7 zł or 1.70 €, this is about 30% of the cost of a beer in London which averages at about 5.00 €. Check out this handy chart, Krakow scores as one of the cheapest cities in the world in which to buy a beer in. Krakow vodka prices? It is possible to get a shot of vodka for 1 €, although most places will probably be slightly more expensive. Lets be honest price of alcohol in Krakow ain’t big.
Krakow Shopping Prices
So if you are interested in having a day in galleries buying new clothes etc. Check Krakow prices below. I think shopping in Poland may be cheaper than to other countries but its not like our prices are that attractive to come just for shopping I think.
An overview:
- Shoes price from Zara or other similar – from 30€ to 80€ on average (65€ or sneakers)
- Pants price – from 30€ to 40€
- T-shirt – from 7€ to 15€
- Jacket – from 50€ to 100€
Krakow Hotels Prices
If you are looking for cheap accomodation you might opt for a hostel. The prices for a dorm are around 10€. This may not be as low as the prices in Ukraine or Georgia where you can easily find hostels for 4-6 €, however, it is still a lot cheaper than the prices of rooms in London, Paris or Copenhagen which are all more than double than those in Krakow.
There are plently of options if you prefer to have your own room or a more luxurious experience. Lower end hotels and gueshouses offer private rooms for about 20-25 € per person. Apartments are very popular and start at about the same price. Of course there is a variety of places to stay at and like in any city the more luxurious options can cost upwards of 100 €.
To sum up Krakow prices for accommodation:
- Hostel prices – From 10€
- Basic Hotel Prices – From 30€ per double room
- Good/Medium Hotels – From 50€ per double room
- Premium hotels – From 100€ per double room
Krakow restaurant prices
Finding tasty affordable food in Krakow shouldn’t be a problem. A meal at an inexpensive restaurant costs around 4.70 € per person. A three course meal at a mid-range restaurant can be around 12-14 €. Fast food is much cheaper. Krakow is famous for it’s zapiekanki. Essentially, it is a mini baguette that acts as a pizza by being topped with cheese, meat and vegetables. One of these costs between 1.50-2.00 €. It makes for a great snack that can be bought late into the night in the Kazimierz district. You can easily find pierogies and other traditional foods in local diners for as low as 2.00-3.00 € per serving. Another local staple street food is the obwarzanka, a bagel that can be comes plain or with sesame, poppy seed or cheese. This small snack usually costs under .50 €.
To sum up restaurant prices in Krakow:
- Milk bars – 3-4€ for a meal
- Average restaurants – 5-10€ for a meal
- Good restaurants – from 7-10€ for a meal
- Premium restaurants – from 15€ for a meal
Train Prices in Krakow
You can easily get around Poland and Krakow by train. The train service (called PKP).
You can book tickets and look up prices here. Unfortunately, student discounts are only available to locals or Erasmus students studying in Poland so make sure to buy a normal ticket even if you have an international student ID.
So most frequently asked questions about train prices:
- Train ticket price from Krakow to Warsaw or from Warsaw to Krakow – ~17-31€
- Train prices Krakow to Praha – ~54€ (Check with PKP Intercity)
- From Krakow to Vienna – The travel includes many changes, therefore, it’s really hard to say – not recommended (better to rent a car and have a 5-6h travel)
Train prices can, however, differ on the same route and distance depending on the provider. A trip with Regional trains (REGIO) is slower and less expensive than with Intercity (IC). The most expensive option is taking the newly acquired “Pendolino” the tickets for this train are called Express Intercity Premium (EIP). So if you are not in a rush you can compare the prices of different trains or plan a trip with regional trains that usually require a lay over. A 300 km trip from Krakow to Warsaw costs 15 € with IC and 32 € with EIP .
Other transportation
A one-way bus or tram ticket in the city costs 0.90 € while a 24-hour ticket for all public transport is 3.60 €. It is also possible to buy a ticket that allows you to travel and transfer for 20, 40, 60 or 90 minutes. This is a good option if you know how long your trip will take and if you have to switch buses along the way. The taxi tariff in Krakow is around 0.50 €/km with a starting price of 1.5 € so a 5 km trip can cost you around 4 €. I enjoy biking around town so it might be a cool idea to rent a bike, especially during rush hour.
Krakow Tours prices
Like in any large European city, free tip-based walking tours are available. You can check the times of tours of the Old Town and the Jewish quarters here. There are plenty of companies that offer bus tours, eco-vehicle tours, bike tours, segway tours you name it! The prices vary depending on where they take you and how. A bike or walking tour can cost 20 €, while an excursion outside the city to Auschwitz or Wieliczka is around 40 €. I would recommend a tour of Kazimierz as it is difficult to understand it’s significance when walking around alone.
If you have any questions about the costs of visiting Krakow let me know… I might have missed something! You can compare the costs of specific items in Krakow to those in your home country here. Below is a nice chart you might like to check.
So what do you think? Is Krakow a cheap city?
Krakow Prices Comparison
| London | Krakow (Cracow) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurants | |||
| Meal, Inexpensive Restaurant | 15.00 £ (71.15 zł) |
4.22 £ (20.00 zł) |
|
| Meal for 2 People, Mid-range Restaurant, Three-course | 55.00 £ (260.88 zł) |
21.08 £ (100.00 zł) |
|
| McMeal at McDonalds (or Equivalent Combo Meal) | 5.00 £ (23.72 zł) |
3.79 £ (18.00 zł) |
|
| Domestic Beer (0.5 liter draught) | 4.50 £ (21.34 zł) |
1.48 £ (7.00 zł) |
|
| Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle) | 4.50 £ (21.34 zł) |
1.48 £ (7.00 zł) |
|
| Cappuccino (regular) | 2.62 £ (12.45 zł) |
1.58 £ (7.51 zł) |
|
| Coke/Pepsi (0.33 liter bottle) | 1.23 £ (5.85 zł) |
0.78 £ (3.68 zł) |
|
| Water (0.33 liter bottle) | 0.96 £ (4.56 zł) |
0.60 £ (2.86 zł) |
|
| Markets | |||
| Milk (regular), (1 liter) | 0.90 £ (4.29 zł) |
0.55 £ (2.59 zł) |
|
| Loaf of Fresh White Bread (500g) | 1.01 £ (4.78 zł) |
0.62 £ (2.94 zł) |
|
| Rice (white), (1kg) | 1.34 £ (6.34 zł) |
0.73 £ (3.45 zł) |
|
| Eggs (12) | 2.12 £ (10.04 zł) |
1.37 £ (6.49 zł) |
|
| Local Cheese (1kg) | 5.88 £ (27.88 zł) |
4.69 £ (22.24 zł) |
|
| Chicken Breasts (Boneless, Skinless), (1kg) | 6.56 £ (31.11 zł) |
3.26 £ (15.48 zł) |
|
| Beef Round (1kg) (or Equivalent Back Leg Red Meat) | 8.43 £ (39.98 zł) |
6.41 £ (30.41 zł) |
|
| Apples (1kg) | 1.95 £ (9.24 zł) |
0.55 £ (2.60 zł) |
|
| Banana (1kg) | 1.00 £ (4.76 zł) |
0.94 £ (4.44 zł) |
|
| Oranges (1kg) | 1.88 £ (8.91 zł) |
0.94 £ (4.45 zł) |
|
| Tomato (1kg) | 1.95 £ (9.27 zł) |
1.05 £ (5.00 zł) |
|
| Potato (1kg) | 1.29 £ (6.14 zł) |
0.36 £ (1.70 zł) |
|
| Onion (1kg) | 1.12 £ (5.33 zł) |
0.40 £ (1.91 zł) |
|
| Lettuce (1 head) | 0.78 £ (3.69 zł) |
0.57 £ (2.69 zł) |
|
| Water (1.5 liter bottle) | 0.92 £ (4.38 zł) |
0.39 £ (1.87 zł) |
|
| Bottle of Wine (Mid-Range) | 7.99 £ (37.90 zł) |
4.22 £ (20.00 zł) |
|
| Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle) | 1.72 £ (8.15 zł) |
0.66 £ (3.12 zł) |
|
| Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle) | 1.79 £ (8.47 zł) |
0.88 £ (4.19 zł) |
|
| Pack of Cigarettes (Marlboro) | 9.50 £ (45.06 zł) |
3.16 £ (15.00 zł) |
|
| Transportation | |||
| One-way Ticket (Local Transport) | 2.50 £ (11.86 zł) |
0.80 £ (3.80 zł) |
|
| Monthly Pass (Regular Price) | 132.00 £ (626.11 zł) |
18.76 £ (89.00 zł) |
|
| Taxi Start (Normal Tariff) | 3.50 £ (16.60 zł) |
1.26 £ (6.00 zł) |
|
| Taxi 1km (Normal Tariff) | 4.00 £ (18.97 zł) |
0.42 £ (2.00 zł) |
|
| Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff) | 35.50 £ (168.38 zł) |
6.32 £ (30.00 zł) |
|
| Gasoline (1 liter) | 1.19 £ (5.63 zł) |
0.95 £ (4.52 zł) |
|
| Volkswagen Golf 1.4 90 KW Trendline (Or Equivalent New Car) | 18,000.00 £ (85,378.23 zł) |
14,757.86 £ (70,000.00 zł) |
|
| Toyota Corolla 1.6l 97kW Comfort (Or Equivalent New Car) | 18,702.00 £ (88,707.98 zł) |
16,023.87 £ (76,005.00 zł) |
|
| Sports And Leisure | |||
| Fitness Club, Monthly Fee for 1 Adult | 45.95 £ (217.93 zł) |
21.49 £ (101.94 zł) |
|
| Tennis Court Rent (1 Hour on Weekend) | 11.94 £ (56.64 zł) |
9.02 £ (42.78 zł) |
|
| Cinema, International Release, 1 Seat | 12.00 £ (56.92 zł) |
5.27 £ (25.00 zł) |
|
| Clothing And Shoes | |||
| 1 Pair of Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar) | 63.02 £ (298.91 zł) |
50.97 £ (241.78 zł) |
|
| 1 Summer Dress in a Chain Store (Zara, H&M, …) | 31.47 £ (149.27 zł) |
28.53 £ (135.31 zł) |
|
| 1 Pair of Nike Running Shoes (Mid-Range) | 65.03 £ (308.46 zł) |
58.10 £ (275.57 zł) |
|
| 1 Pair of Men Leather Business Shoes | 78.16 £ (370.74 zł) |
65.01 £ (308.36 zł) |
|
| Rent Per Month | |||
| Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre | 1,681.11 £ (7,973.91 zł) |
403.00 £ (1,911.54 zł) |
|
| Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre | 1,179.74 £ (5,595.77 zł) |
298.09 £ (1,413.89 zł) |
|
| Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre | 3,127.35 £ (14,833.74 zł) |
684.87 £ (3,248.48 zł) |
|
| Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre | 1,981.65 £ (9,399.44 zł) |
485.54 £ (2,303.03 zł) |
|
| Buy Apartment Price | |||
| Price per Square Meter to Buy Apartment in City Centre | 14,368.48 £ (68,153.08 zł) |
1,958.21 £ (9,288.23 zł) |
|
| Price per Square Meter to Buy Apartment Outside of Centre | 7,242.21 £ (34,351.51 zł) |
1,263.49 £ (5,993.02 zł) |
|
Thanks! This article answered all my questions.