Poland is a country of incredible beauty, attractiveness, combining the high-tech of modernity and the romantic spirit of the Middle Ages. People come here for romance, for delicious unusual food, for fragrant and fresh beer. They go to live in houses with a centuries-old history, sit in taverns at tables where travelers dined hundreds of years ago, drank wine, ate meat with dumplings, and grooms watered horses in the backyard.
The first European trip often begins with this country - it is the closest, it is convenient to get to it by any means, and it is relatively easy to get a Schengen visa. And the gateway to Poland is its capital - Warsaw, from the railway stations of which roads to all cities open. And, most importantly, the times when traveling in a foreign country was expensive and inconvenient are long gone. After all, modern Poland offers many opportunities, how to get from onecity to another.
One of the most popular cities, where tourists are sure to go, was and remains Krakow. Magical, fabulous, medieval Krakow, as if frozen in the days of musketeers and abbeys. Gorgeous, colorful, amazing. In Krakow, as if in a kaleidoscope, pictures of all times mixed up - the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the romantic twenties and reminders of the hard times of the war. This city is a must visit and the article below will tell you how to get from Warsaw to Krakow.
Aeroexpress
The Aeroexpress is almost silent, with only a slight sway when cornering, and this mode of transportation may be one of the best, but not the cheapest. If you are at the airport. Chopin and are looking for how to get from Warsaw Airport to Krakow, then the easiest way is to get to the Central Station by bus number 175 (terminal stop at the airport), and at the station itself look for Aeroexpress. It's not as hard as it might seem. There are many signs everywhere, and you can always contact the station workers for help.
Tickets for it should be bought in advance - the sooner the better. If you, of course, are looking for the cheapest way to get from Warsaw to Krakow. Tickets sell out fairly quickly, especially for second-class seats. If you don't hurry, you can go first class, which is more expensive, and there is almost no difference, only the seats are wider. Drinks are the same in first and second class, there are individual tables and sockets everywhere.
Aeroexpress goes 2.5 hours, non-stop, but worth itquite expensive, a few days before the trip a ticket to the second class will cost you PLN 135, and to the first class on the eve of the trip it will already cost 195 PLN. You can buy an Aeroexpress ticket either at the box office or via the Internet on the website. A pleasant bonus is that you do not need to print out a ticket purchased online, it is enough to show the QR code on the smartphone screen to the controller.
Train
What else can you use besides the rather expensive Aeroexpress train? Many tourists are wondering: if the route Warsaw - Krakow, how to get there by train? Is there such an option? Of course there is.
The train goes no longer than the Aeroexpress - only 3 hours. Yes, and a ticket for it will cost you nothing compared to the first option - 53 zł. The disadvantage of this mode of transportation is a very small number of flights. There are only a few trains (Warsaw - Krakow) a day, and tickets for them are often not available. Therefore, they should be acquired in advance. You can find out the train schedule for this route and buy a ticket for it online on the official website of the Polish Railways.
The advantages of traveling by train include speed and comfort. Passenger transportation is carried out by Polish Railways, which is distinguished by its reliability. In Krakow, the train arrives at the Main Station.
To get from Warsaw to Krakow, you need to take the Km train at Warszawa Centralna station and get off at Warszawa Lotnisko Chopina station. Trains leave every hour. They are provided by the company Polishrailways.”
Bus
Many tourists do not recognize any other option than this. So, how to get from Warsaw to Krakow by bus? It is convenient, practical, comfortable, although not as fast as by train or Aeroexpress. More recently, tickets for this direction of travel could be found for penny prices - no more than 50 euro cents, but magnates won the rival wars, cheap Polish Buses left, giving way to Flixbus, and now Warsaw-Krakow bus tickets cost from PLN 16 or from EUR 3.9.
But the advantages of traveling by bus include air conditioning, Internet (WI-FI) and a toilet. Most importantly, you don't need to think about how to get from Warsaw to Krakow. The service is available at almost any time of the day. After all, more than 30 buses run on this route per day, the first of which leaves at about 6 am, and the last one almost at midnight.
Buses to Krakow depart from several bus stations - Metro Wilanowska, there are also several passing routes via Metro Młociny 54 or nearby you can take a bus near the Warsaw Palace of Culture and Technology, which is located in the center.
In Krakow, the bus arrives at the Dworzec MDA station. Tickets for buses can be purchased, as well as for the train, both at the box office and on the company's website.
Airplane
If you're looking for alternative ways to get from Warsaw to Krakow, don't forget to look at the airlines' websites. Plane ticket on the route Warsaw -Krakow will cost you from 22 to 80 euros one way, and if you book early, you can get lucky and meet the amount of less than 40 euros for the round trip.
Air travel is the fastest way, taking only 50-55 minutes from one runway to the other, but this, alas, without the time spent traveling to and from the airport. And along with it, the road, whether by train or by plane, will be approximately the same, but the plane differs from the bus in the main thing - prestige, not everyone wants to shake on the roads, but they can afford a fast and comfortable flight.
Taxi
Probably the most expensive way. How to get from Warsaw to Krakow? You can travel in a taxi to order. This is clearly not the cheapest option. Because the most inexpensive transfer from Warsaw to Krakow is economy class cars. For example, VW Golf, Ford Focus, Opel Astra, Audi A3, BMW. Such a trip in the company of 3-4 people will cost you at least 1100 Polish zlotys or about 20,000 rubles. Compared to an airplane, in this case, you can buy the entire cabin. But without unnecessary companions and with a breeze, in the company of your favorite music and landscapes, rapidly sweeping outside the window.
There are quite a lot of companies providing such services, and you can choose both the car and the route in advance so that nothing distracts you from enjoying the trip.
By car
If you are looking for how to get from Warsaw to Krakow on your own, then traveling by car is what you need. The main thing,stock up on patience and gasoline. Everyone has their own reserve of patience, but a lot of gasoline will be needed, based on a distance of 300 kilometers, about 25 liters of gasoline in the amount of 30-40 euros. Travel time is approximately 4 hours, but the fun is unforgettable!
If you do not have your own car, then there are enough companies in Warsaw that will provide you with a car for rent for a period of more than a day.
Hitchhiking
A very common type of travel in recent times, both in Europe and in the CIS countries - on a ride. It is economical, fast, saves the wallet and the driver, who does not have to pay for gasoline, and the fellow traveler, who does not spend money on the train or bus and travels practically in a taxi.
The most popular service for finding fellow travelers at the moment is the BlaBlaCar portal, where you can see all the options, choose the best one and talk about everything with the driver. Now it's safer and more convenient to hitchhike, no need to go out on the track and get into a car with people you don't know anything about.
The average price that drivers ask for a trip from Warsaw to Krakow is 400-600 rubles, or about 25-35 PLN at the current exchange rate. Compared to a taxi, the trip is forty times cheaper, and the conditions are almost the same.
The dangers of traveling from Warsaw to Krakow
The main danger that awaits tourists on the way from Warsaw to Krakow is, of course, pickpocketing. Alas, even such a modern European country as Poland cannot get rid of this scourge. Especiallyyou should be careful in public transport and at metro stations, as well as near ticket offices.
Another trouble concerns traveling at night. If you decide to travel at night, especially on the night train, keep all your valuables in hand, no kidding. According to most tourists, almost all thefts are carried out at this time, and so cleverly that people do not feel anything, and only in the morning they notice the loss of cameras, jewelry and money.
So be vigilant, take care of yourself, and Poland will leave only good memories in your memory!