More about: Transfer from/to Krakow
The International Airport is located approximately 11 km from the center of Krakow and is connected to the city by public and private transport. To avoid headaches upon arrival, I advise you to decide in advance which option is the most convenient for you.
1. The best transfers between Krakow airport and Krakow city center
The first thing you have to decide is whether it is more important for you to be comfortable and fast or to save some money on your arrival in Krakow. Depending on this, you will be better off with public transport (bus or train to the center) or private transport. Within the convenience of private door-to-door transportation, I recommend:
2. Private transfer from Krakow airport to your hotel
When you arrive at the airport in Krakow you will probably be tired from your trip or eager to start touring the city; in either case you will want to get to your hotel as soon as possible without having to walk around to get out of the airport and look for a means of transportation. For this reason, the most convenient way to get to the city center is a private transfer from the airport to the hotel.
You can book this private transfer service from Krakow airport to your hotel in advance (in case of any unforeseen event the cancellation will be possible with a minimum of 24 hours notice). You will only have to provide your arrival date in Krakow, your flight details so that the driver can wait for you and check for possible delays and the address of your hotel so that the transfer will drop you off at the same door.
How the service works
Once you get to the arrivals terminal, the driver will be waiting for you with an identification sign and will take you to your hotel in an air-conditioned minivan shared with six other travelers. In an average of 20-40 minutes you will be at your hotel in the center of Krakow. You will not have to worry about flight delays; the driver will be waiting for you and you can always contact the agency via e-mail.
Private transfer back to the airport
This service is also available from your hotel to Krakow airport. The operation is the same: you book online and the day your flight departs a minivan shared with other travelers will pick you up at your hotel and take you to the airport. Your driver will take care of calculating the right time so that you will not be late for your flight and have to board in a hurry and to avoid, on the other hand, long waits that mean losing precious time of your trip.
3. Shared transfer from the airport to the city and back
You can also save money by booking a shared transfer from Krakow airport to your hotel in the center of Krakow and back. The booking method and travel conditions are the same and this option will allow you to forget about the more tedious details of your trip and focus on enjoying Krakow and its surroundings.
How it works
As with the private transfer, in the shared transfer the driver will meet you at the airport and take you to the door of your hotel, but you may have to share the ride with another traveler who at the same time also needs to move from the airport to the city (or vice versa).
Therefore, during the trip, the driver may make some intermediate stops to drop off or pick up another traveler. This, which can lengthen the trip by ten or fifteen minutes, also makes the fare a little more economical.
Advantages
Other advantages of any of these services are the space for luggage or availability schedule, as they are available 7 days a week regardless of the time you arrive at Krakow airport.
4. Other options to get from Krakow airport to Krakow city center
Train
It departs from the airport every half hour and operates from four in the morning to eleven at night from Monday to Sunday. The ticket price is one or two euros and it takes about 45 minutes for the full journey and about 20 minutes to the stop at the central train station in Krakow, which is where I recommend you get off if your hotel is located in the city center (the last stop is outside the city of Krakow).
The name of the train is SKA1 and it has WIFI on board and electric charging points. On arrival at the airport you will see the train station signposted.
Bus
There are two daytime lines to reach the center of Krakow (208 and 252, which can be found on signs at the airport exits) and one night line (902). Tickets cost one euro; you can buy them in the vending machines near the bus stop or on the bus itself.
The trip to the city center takes about 45 minutes. Among the most important stops for scheduled buses passing through the airport are the Krakow Central Railway Station (line 208) or the Krakow Congress Center (line 252).
As for the night bus, it operates from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. and has among its main stops the Glówny station.
Cab
The cab is more expensive than hiring a private transfer in advance and drivers are not obliged to accept euros instead of the Polish currency (zloty). Still, it is an available option if you do not have transportation booked when you arrive at the airport and want to avoid public transportation. The stop is easily located from the arrivals terminal and the approximate price is about 25 euros to the center.
Ana's Traveller Tip
Avoid changing money at the airport; you will get worse conditions than in the city exchange offices.
5. You may also be interested in
Once you have organized your arrival in Krakow it is important that you organize in advance the activities you want to do in the city, as it is quite touristic and some of them should be booked well in advance. So I recommend you to take a look at these guides: