How To Get From Krakow To Zakopane? (Updated 2024)

Listing all the possibilities for you

Krakow is not only a great travel destination in itself, but also a good hub for interesting tours around the Lesser Poland region. If you want to travel smart, make sure you don't miss out on other gems of this beautiful area! In this post I’d like to focus on the possibilities when it comes to taking a trip from Krakow to the beautiful winter capital of Poland – Zakopane.

To get to Zakopane from Krakow, there are various transportation options available. One of them is to book a tour with Discover Cracow.

How far is Zakopane from Krakow?

It’s actually pretty close! The distance of just over 100 kilometres (less than 70 miles) makes it an easy, 2-hour(ish) car/bus ride.

What are your options?
 

1. Car

If you’re travelling via your own (or rented) car, it’s probably a no-brainer to you and although I do understand the appeal of having your private vehicle on the road, don’t disregard the rest of your options before finishing this article – depending on your priorities, you may actually find a different mean of transport more suitable for your needs.

Anyway, here is the map that will take you straight from the city centre in Kraków to the very heart of Zakopane – Krupówki Street.

2. Train

This may be a good option for you if you value comfort over time, as the train journey will take anywhere between 3 up to 5 hours.

In order to check possible connections and the timetable, go to www.rozklad-pkp.pl. The website is easy to navigate and I believe you should be able to grasp how to use it in no time.

As you can see, there is an option to buy the ticket on the spot – if you decide to purchase it right away, you will receive your ticket via e-mail.

You can then either save it onto your phone so that the ticket inspector can scan the QR code directly from the screen (which is my preferred method), or print it out and keep it on you (sensible solution if you don’t trust your phone battery!). You can also buy a ticket using ticketmachine in train but you need to be carefull with them, they are not always working so its better to have ticket earlier to avoid beeing  stressed.

If you are travelling with a discount, remember to have some sort of document proving that you are eligible for that discount (e.g. your student ID).

3. Bus

There are a few companies that offer frequent, direct connections between the cities in question. The ride takes a little over 2 hours and in order to check the timetables of multiple companies at once, you can visit www.e-podroznik.pl or just google it, which gathers them together and conveniently displays them all which makes the whole ordeal much less confusing. popular bus lines operating from Krakow to Zakopane are Flixbus and Szwagropol. 

The main bus station in Krakow (Kraków M.D.A.) is quite big, so be sure to come there a little earlier in order to find the correct platform without stressing out!

This option is affordable and easy, so it’s worth considering if that’s what you’re after. Tickets range from 5 to 15 euros.