Reaching Kraków By Air
Most air passengers will arrive via Kraków’s John Paul II International Airport and, if possible, this is where you want to land. John Paul II International is a smart, modern airport, located a mere 15km outside the city, with excellent transport links. There are daily flights from a handful of other Polish cities, most noticeably Warsaw, as well as services from many european countries. Both EasyJet and Ryanair run a budget line from the main UK city airports. North American travellers can fly direct from Chicago, whilst visitors from the Far East will have to change in Dubai or at a European hub.
Reaching Kraków By Train
Kraków Główny, the city’s main station, is served by trains from most Polish destinations, as well as from the capital cities of neighbouring countries. There are direct trains from Berlin, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, and Kiev. But you’ll have to change if you’re travelling in from Minsk or Vilnius. Many of the longer journeys are overnight, with sleeping cars an additional option. The airport train from John Paul II International also arrives here.
The station has an excellent location, a mere 5-minute walk from the Old Town, making it a fantastic point of arrival. The station is fairly new and, as it is built into a large shopping mall, has pretty much everything a traveller could need.
The Polish rail network is run by a number of companies and you should be aware that tickets are not interchangeable. Assume that a ticket is only valid for the particular journey you bought it for. Other than that, the whole system is fairly easy to understand. Note that queues are common, so leave plenty of extra time if you’re buying at a train station. Stations in larger cities will often have a dedicated counter for the more expensive PKP InterCity tickets, which can speed things up, and you can also buy from a ticket machine in larger stations.
The network is comfortable and reasonably fast. It’s also cheap, depending on the type of train you choose. The 289km journey from Warsaw to Kraków can be done in less than 2.5 hours on the faster trains, at a cost of 35€ for a second class ticket. The slower trains take an hour longer but cost only 14€ one-way.
The fastest trains are operated by PKP InterCity and are marked on timetables as EIP (Express InterCity Premium). You need to buy these tickets in advance – up to 30 days ahead – as seat reservations are compulsory. But you can buy online from outside Poland. First and second class tickets are available. Snacks are available on board the trains.
The same firm also runs a budget intercity service, marked as TLK (Twoje Linie Kolejowe) on timetables. As with the EIP trains, these also need to be booked in advance. The service is second class only and you shouldn’t expect any snacks on board. Any routes marked with IC (InterCity) will be considerably slower but no cheaper, and can be ignored.
Regio also run some express services (marked REG on timetables), which might be worth considering, and there are more localised operators, such as Koleje Małopolskie, who run the service to the airport.
In practice, the choice is actually very simple. Just put the route you want into the online timetable and choose the price and journey time that suits you best.
Information about direct international train connections to and from Krakow can be found here.