How to Easily Get From the Krakow Airport to the City Centre

Planning a trip to Krakow?  Skip the taxis and the Ubers.  The train is the best way to get from the Krakow Airport to the city centre. 

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Krakow airport train versus a taxi

If you are staying anywhere near the Old Town, Kazimierz (Jewish Quarter) or the train station, you can (and should) take the train from the Balice Krakow Airport to the city centre.  If you’re staying further out of the city, you’ll have to review the time and costs to see which makes the most sense for you. 

But, when you compare the two, the price of the train is significantly cheaper, and takes around the same amount of time as a taxi. 

Travel time from Krakow airport to city centre

The train is very quick at 17 minutes from the airport to the Krakow railway station.  An airport taxi takes generally 25-35 minutes, but may vary with traffic. 

The train has a strict schedule leaving every 30 minutes during the day and every hour in the late night hours. The Krakow airport train is a direct line to the main station, which is a short 10 minute walk to the north entrance of the Old Town. 

The Główny station is also connected to the Galeria Krakowska shopping center.  So you will need to follow the signs (and the crowd) to exit both the train station, and the mall, to get to street level. 

There are dozens of public transportation stops right outside the Galeria to continue to your final destination. 

Click here to check the Kraków airport train timetable

Krakow airport train cost

The cost of the Kraków airport train is very affordable at 20 PLN ($5.40) for a one way ticket.  There is no additional fee for luggage. 

There is Uber in Krakow, but when I compared apps, it was significantly more expensive than Bolt.  If you are unfamiliar with Bolt, you should definitely download it from your app store.  It works in cities around the globe as a competitor to Uber, and pricing can be quite a bit cheaper. 

For example, the price for Bolt was around 60 PLN ($16) whereas Uber was 200 PLN ($53).  With rideshare apps, the price is also variable on time of day, and demand. 

Unlike the rideshare apps, the official Kraków taxi service has flat fixed rate fares based on distance.  The airport is approximately 18km to the city center, which places it in zone 6.  This puts the Krakow airport to city centre taxi cost at 129 PLN ($35).  

The cheapest option to Krakow is the bus at 4 PLN ($1).  There is a Krakow airport bus to city centre which takes around 35 minutes in transit, depending on traffic. This bus stop is a 15 minute walk west of the Old Town.  You may need to take a tram, to get closer to your accommodations. 

Where to buy train tickets 

The tickets for the train to Krakow are very easy to find and purchase.  Follow the signs from the airport terminal to the train platform.  From there you can buy the tickets one of three ways: the ticket machines at the platform, the ticket machines inside the train, or from the onboard conductor once the train leaves from the Krakow airport to the city centre. 

The machines are equipped with different languages, so no need to worry about trying to figure out Polish.  Just click through the prompts, then you can tap your credit card to pay.  If you have multiple people in your party, you can buy them all at once. 

The train leaves two times per hour, so if you are at all concerned about missing the train, just get onboard, then purchase your ticket. 

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