Getting from Krakow to Warsaw

Merged:Bus or Train from Krakow to Warsaw....What's better & cheaper ?

i need to travel from Krakow to Warsaw.......

What's better considering price and comfort, Bus or Train ?

thanks!

Merged: In Poland soon - Warsaw to Krakow by train or by bus/coach - costs

Hi folks

I'll be in Poland soon and was looking at getting the train from Warsaw to Krakow. I looked at the PKP site but they don't seem to have any prices, only times. Does anyone know how much it costs to get the train from Warsaw to Krakow, or whether it is better to get a bus/coach?

The last time i took the train from Krakow to Warsaw it was 61 PLN and a few grosz. That was 1 1/2 years ago.

I just checked and found a price of 48 PLN with a "Wcześniej 20% - korzystna oferta " - which i guess is some kind of early booking discount. So i guess the normal price would not have changed much since the last time i took that route.

The magic button BUY TICKET says

Intercity - 195zł / 150zł (2hours 33 min)
TLK - 93zł / 60zł (2hours 53 min)

Okay thanks. I take it this is the cheapest way then?

As for the 'buy ticket' button, I did click it and it did not give me the price, it gave some message about some limit being used up.

You're right.


Have you tried with another train?

To be honest my main aim is to find out if it is better to take the train or bus. I am assuming the train, but just wanted to confirm it.

That's the maximum price. If you buy in advance, you can get first class Warsaw to Krakow for 69zl or second class for 49zl. bilet.intercity.pl/zakup_biletu.jsp?ref=infop&rezerwacja_14=1&miejsce_14=2&ref=1

Yes. Booking through the intercity site is good because they do show the discounts available (but book quickly if you want one). I'd strongly recommend first class if it's a Friday or Monday or especially just before of after a public holiday. I wouldn't touch the bus.

TLK by the way have first class too.

Okay another travel question.

My plan is to fly to one of the Warsaw airports and then go by train from there to Krakow [flight to Krakow from London are much more expensive. I can get Ryanair or Wizzair for a much cheaper price to Warsaw].

My question is whether one of the airports in Warsaw has a better connection to the train station? What would you suggest?

Ryanair only fly into Modlin airport which is about an hour away from Warsaw.
You would have to get a shuttle bus from the airport to the train station and then get a train into Warsaw and onto Kraków. I think the trains run hourly into Warsaw.

Wizzair fly into Chopin which is much closer ( about 8 kms ), and I'm pretty sure you can get a train from there into Warsaw.
As far as I know you would need to get into Warsaw to catch a train to Kraków, I don't think you can get there directly from either airport.

Okay that's great pam

So it sounds like going from the Chopin one is better as it is much easier to get to the Warsaw train station and then I could go from there to Krakow.

The other option is flying with Ryanair to Katowice that works out cheaper than Krakow, but again the question is, how to get to Krakow from there? Probably by coach I am assuming. I wonder how much it costs.

I have used Uni Bus a few times. Costs 14 zloty from Katowice to Krakow. Travel time around 1 hour

uni-bus.com.pl

Pam is it really that complicated to get from Modlin to Warsaw?

The cheapest way to get there is using Modlinbus company.
Their buses are timed to Ryanair flights and take about an hour to get to the centre.
modlinbus.pl
There is also an English site, just replace dot pl/ with dot com/

Hi folks, another question. My trip is a few weeks away and I was wondering more or less how long it takes to get to Warszawa central station from the airport [Chopin]? Oh also, is Warszawa central near to the bus station? I assume they are near to each other. Still not completely sure if I am going to be taking the train or the bus from Warszawa to Krakow.

If you take Polskibus, the bus stop is about 25 minutes away from Centralna. By bus to Krakow it takes roughly five hours so your best bet is to just get the train. Price is around 60 zlotych.

It takes 20/25 minutes from Chopin to Warszawa Centralna if you get the train from the airport. Probably the easiest way to get there especially if you then decide to get a train onwards to Kraków.

The best is to take a train. Book the ticket as early as possible, then you will pay 50 zł only for the fastest trains (2.5 h). You can do it online on intercity.pl/en

Okay thanks folks. So pam you say that it is better to get the train from the airport to Warszawa Central rather than the bus? Is it not a lot more expensive?

As for the train from Warszawa to Krakow, how much cheaper is it to book online early than to buy once I get there?

The only thing I am concerned about with booking online is that you have to book certain times, and if I should be alter for any reason, I'll have a problem. I also don't want to book a time too late and have to wait for hours to catch my train just to 'be on the safe side.'

Train or Bus, Wielkipolak, not much difference. They both use the same ticket. The train station at the airport is quite an annoying walk away and the bus stop just outside arrivals - that's the main difference. Also there are more buses than trains so less waiting. The train goes the long way round (though it stops at Warszawa Zachodnia where all the Kraków trains also stop - could be handy in avoiding crowds etc) whereas the bus goes on a more direct route (though it goes slower during the morning rush hour). The train is slightly mor comfortable however both train and bus are short journeys.

A taxi's less than £10, much quicker and worth considering, as is getting on the Kraków train at Zachodnia.

Okay thanks for that

Warsaw-Cracow, ticket for tomorrow: 150 PLN in the 2nd class of the fastest type of train (EIP), 60 PLN in the 2nd class of the TLK train (slower and less comfortable, although some of them are not much slower than EIP).

June 14th - 42 PLN for TLK, 49 PLN for EIP. Both 2nd class.

EIPs are therfore about 3 times cheaper, TLKs are 30% cheaper.

See: bilet.intercity.pl

Hi again folks. Thanks for your assistance so far.

So I leave in a couple of days. I was looking at the trains. My arrival time at Chopin is 17 50. I don't have any extra luggage to collect once I land, just what I carry on. There seems to be a TLK train at 19 15 that I want to catch. The one after is almost an hour and a half later. The TLK 2nd class is much cheaper than the second class of EIP. In fact second class EIP seems to be more expensive than TLK first class. How much worse is this TLK train for crying out loud? Or are the EIP trains just that much more amazing?

Anyway I notice the later you book the ticket the more it costs. If you book it on the day it seems to be 60zl. If I book it now it will be a few zloty's less.

My question is, how likely is it that I will make the 19 15 train from Warszawa Central to Krakow with an arrival time of 17 50 at the airport? Am I likely to make it to Warszawa Central within the hour? I don't want to book the tickets now and then miss the train.

jon357 says the buses are right by arrivals, so I should be able to get there quickly. Can you buy the ticket on the bus and is it more expensive if you do so?

I'm not sure I want to risk ordering tickets online though but would I have to pay more if I buy them at the station?

If you buy a ticket enough time in advance, then EIP is almost as cheap as TLK (which is also cheaper than, let's say, a day before the journey). With time the price difference grows :)

EIP are modern Pendolino vehicles, in TLK you can meet old-fashioned carriages with dirty toilets (although modern ones also happen). But I wouldn't say it's much worse. It's still a train and provides some comfort.

I think you should manage to catch the train. If you buy a ticket in a window at the station, then if you don't manage to catch the train, you can always change the reservation - even on the board, with the help of the conductor. In case of tickets bought online it's much more problematic. You have to buy a new one, cancel your ticket on the webpage and then send a complaint to get the money back.

Go to the PKP IC website and check the price of a ticket for today - the price of a ticket bought in a window at the station will be the same.

It is possible to buy a ticket on the bus in Warsaw. But it's a bit tricky. According to what I've read, in some buses there are ticket vending machines that accept only coins, in others they accept only payment by card. If there is no vending machine, the tickets should be sold by the driver, but they aren't obliged to sell tickets if they are delayed or if you don't have the exact amount of money, equal to the ticket price. I don't know how it is in Warsaw, but in £ódź it also often happens that the driver has no tickets because he has run out of them.

They're fine, though sometimes jammed at weekends in the summer or just before and after public holidays.


Certainly very good.


If you have hand luggage only and everything else goes smoothly, no problem. If the plane's at a remote stand and they bus you to the gate, and if you're at the back of the plane so not on the first bus and have a queue at passport control due to other larger planes coming in at the same time plus (the real problem) to wait for a long time at the luggage carousel, then you're cutting it very fine and should get a taxi to be safe.

If the plane is delayed by a few minutes you will definitely need one to get that train luggage/queues or not. A taxi to Dworzec Centralny should only be about 40-50zl from a reputable firm.


Assuming you get to the arrivals hall with plenty of time to spare, walk out of the nearest door. You'll see first of all the taxis in the first lane, then several lanes with a zebra crossing. Look ahead and to your right a bit and you'll see the bus stop (I think on the third lane) about 30 seconds walk away. There will probably be a few people waiting. The ticket machine is next to the bus stop. You can buy from the driver also (though they do run out) and you will need coins for this.

It's a bit of a Catch 22 situation. You could be coming through the barrier at 1830, in which case you will definitely need a taxi and would need to have booked the train online unless you're lucky. If you're out early you'll have more breathing space though and I was outlining the worst case scenarios. A cab is still a good idea. You could get the later train or pay a bit more or a faster one and then get the bus at your leisure. If the difference in price between TLK and EIC isn't much more than 40-50zl this is probably your best bet.

I've winged it like that a few times and always (so far) been lucky however I've often had to get a taxi when I'd been planning on getting a bus.

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Looking at the times on the PKP website, you've got 2 safe choices:
1. Get a taxi and then and the TLK (If you've hand lugagge only and lucky and come through the barrier by, say, 1820 you can get the 18.33 airport bus - you've only a tiny chance of getting the 1815. It's number 175 by the way - and you'll probably make it to the station with if you're lucky time to buy a ticket there). Beware though of flight delays, long waits for luggage etc.

2. Come through at your leisure and stress free, get the bus (same 175 bus) have a cup of coffee, a beer or a MaccyD or both at the station and get the 8.35 EIP.


No. There are online discounts however there are a limited number of tickets for that which sell out quickly and you're too late by far already. On intercity anyway - TLK is very cheap anyway so I'm not sure they discount much.

Ok thanks for info folks.


Don't really want to pay three times the price though. I'll try and catch the TLK if I can.

One tip - if you reach the station just before the departure of this TLK and it's impossible to buy the ticket in a window and manage to catch the train, just board it immediately. You can buy a ticket from the conductor, paying only 10 PLN (if I remember well, but for sure it's something around this) extra.

But this doesn't apply to EIP, for them this extra price is something like 100 PLN, or even a few hundreds :) For any other train category in Poland (EIC, IC, TLK, trains of other companies) you can always do like I've written.


If you take the train from airport, then you can catch one that leaves it at 18:50. And then change thains not at Warszawa Centralna but at Warszawa Zachodnia (Warsaw West). You will have 15 minutes for the train change, and a whole hour for the whole airport stuff.



Schematic how to get to the train station:

You will find a ZTM ticket machine over there, where you can buy a 20-minute ticket for 3.40 PLN and it seems to be the cheapest option for the train. In a KM train (green one, like the one found by me) you must enter it with the first door counting from the front and give it to the conductor to let him validate it. In SKM trains (red ones, if you are at the airport train station earlier and you catch an earlier train there) you just validate it in a punching device.

It depends on from where are you coming, but if from Schengen area, then there is no passport control, so it's faster.

Good advice from KPC but remember if you board the train without a ticket and want to buy one from the conductor, make sure you're in the first carriage - this is how you have to do it. Remember also that they don't always carry much change.

Good luck @Wielkipolak, let us know how your journey goes.