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4 things you need to know about Krakow, Poland

Though Warsaw is the capital, Krakow is rated as the best city in Poland. There are a lot of things to do in this fun-filled city. To know more, read my blog on ‘Things to do in Krakow‘. Apart from the main attractions, in this blog, you will know about

  1. How to reach Krakow
  2. Accommodation
  3. Krakow public transport
  4. Krakow’s Nightlife

↪️ Download these 4 things free Krakow: Guidebook ↩️

1. How to reach Krakow

By flight

Krakow is well connected to Europe. Low-cost airlines such as Wizz Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Ryanair offer cheap flights to Krakow from all over Europe and some parts of Middle East Asia. The international airport is 11km west of city center. On reaching, use a transfer service to get the main city.

Below is an example of my trip. We flew to Warsaw, then drove to Krakow. The official currency in Poland is Polish zloty (zl)

Flight price was the main reason for the trip

By road

This is the cheapest mode of transport to reach Krakow. Grab a cheap deal with operators like Flixbus, Infobus, Leo express to travel all around Poland. Check out the lonely planet to know more about train travel in Poland. 

I don’t prefer to take trains in Europe because they are insanely expensive. I would rather take a flight. If you plan your trip, I guarantee that the flight price is almost the same as that of a train.

Rent a car

Renting a car in Poland is cheap. We paid only 60€ for 4 days along with the insurance. So if you have a driving license, then my suggestion is to rent a car

Waze app helps you on road

The app ‘Waze‘ is similar to google maps or ‘Here maps’ in terms of functionality and user interface. But the biggest advantage is that it also displays the current maximum speed when you are driving. So if you are in Europe and unaware of the speed restrictions, I recommend you download this handy app.

Also, this app allows the user to enter locations of speed cam, real-time accidents, etc. We started using this app from our second day and it saved our time.

2. Accommodation

Our hostel bookings were through Booking.com and the price was 5€/night for one person. Cheap, isn’t it?

More than 2000 accommodations are available on the Booking.com. Our hostel was a few km from the city center. So used public transport to move around

3. Krakow public transport

The integrated tram and bus system makes commuting easy. Normal operating times are between 5.00 – 23.00. A single ride costs about 3.4 zl ~ 1€. 

Night buses operate from 23.00 to 5.00. So no issues when you party late at night. But do remember that the bus frequency is less. Inyourpocket gives much detailed info about Krakow’s public transport, taxis, car rental.  

Planning to stay longer in Krakow? Then I recommend you buying the 24/48/72 pass. They cost 15/24/36 zl respectively. Much detailed info is available introducing Krakow. But do remember that most of the attractions are reachable on foot. Unless your accommodation is outside the old town, I don’t see any reason to buy the pass.

4. Krakow Nightlife

The old town is in full swing, even at night. Krakow’s main square is the place to be; the main reason being food stalls.

krakow

We tried some street food but had no idea what the name was. They tasted good. It had confusingly many meat options.

Peak hours

Pub crawl

My friend and I instantly decided to pub crawl in Krakow. We booked a company, Krakow crawl because the rating was high. Our crawl included 

  • 1-hour unlimited drinks at the first pub
  • Free entrance to 3-4 different pubs 
  • Welcome shots on every pub

The package was similar to our Madrid pub crawl and cost about 12€. The first hour had unlimited drinks like Beer, Wine, Vodka. Beer pong set us the mood.  The Bartenders of the first pub were kind and entertaining. I believe this pub was a part of the students’ hostel. 

We enjoyed 3 pubs and then decided to wrap it up. I hardly remember the other two pubs. Night buses run throughout the night. So there were no issues reaching home after partying.

When you see the enjoyment to price ratio, Krakow is one of the top cities in Europe.

Time of visit: May 2018

Download these 4 things free Krakow: Guidebook

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