Krakow

Arriving by Plane.

Krakow Airport is one of the largest in Poland, and one of the largest for economy flights from the rest of Europe. It is located under 30 minutes from the city centre by bus (municipal buses depart two or three times an hour from outside the terminal building, going right round the outside of the old town and past the train station, which is the easiest place to get off. Tickets can be bought from the driver, but probably not if the smallest note you have is a 50, so it might be a good idea to buy something in the terminal if you have no small notes.

Krakow is a pretty cheap destination for budget flights, but if you are having trouble finding a cheap flight, bear in mind that train travel is not expensive in Poland, and it is easy to travel here from Warsaw or Katowice. See the main Poland section for more details.

Arriving By Train.

Krakow is one of the two southern destinations of Poland's "high speed" line. This means that trains run every couple of hours to Warsaw travelling much faster than old man with a zimmer frame. The journey takes around two hours and 45 minutes and costs around 85 zloty. Be sure to buy your ticket from the Intercity windows at the station, and bear in mind that you must book a seat before you board, even if you have a railpass. If, like much of the British parliament in the 1850s, you believe that travelling faster than 50 miles an hour will most certainly result in death, you may appreciate the more sedate regional service. This costs around 44 zloty and runs three times daily taking around 5-6 hours. Tickets for this should be bought from any non-intercity window, and it is certainly best to write down the departure and arrival times on a piece of paper, since the clerks will be very keen to put you on a fast train. Several of these trains carry on to destinations such as Gdansk in the north and Bydgoszcz in the East. See the PKP website for further details.

The main international services to Krakow are a night train to Prague, and day and night trains to Berlin (around 10-11 hours in both cases. 75 euros to Berlin at December 2006). More regular services run from Warsaw to destinations in the south of central Europe, and you can usually connect into these trains at Katowice using one of the Krakow to Katowice. As usual, the Deutsche Bahn website provides the most comprehensive details of international trains.

The station you want to get off at is Krakow Glowny (meaning main). This is the one in the town centre, and is the usual chaos of ugly platforms and street vendors. The main exit is through the original station building, which is some distance down an outdoor walkway from the platforms - the perfect welcome when you arrive at 6am on a cold winters day. For the bus station head out of the subway in the opposite direction from the main building and keep walking for around 50 metres.

Arriving By Coach.

PKS, the Polish national bus company run coaches from various destinations in southern Poland to Krakow. They are not much cheaper than trains though, and mostly only run from godforsaken rural backwaters, so you would need a very good reason to be on one...