Zakopane is one of the best day trips from Krakow and an absolute must when visiting southern Poland! On our most recent trip, we were wondering how to visit Zakopane from Krakow and what is the best way on a budget. So we did all the research, so you don’t have to!
Krakow is one of the most popular places to visit in Poland and we’ve visited a couple of times now! However, people usually miss out on the wonderful Zakopane (only 2 hours away) and it’s actually really easy to get to by public transport.
Transport in Poland is affordable and you don’t have to book too far in advance. So it’s a great option if you want to visit the impressive Tatra Mountains on a Zakopane day trip. Alternatively, you can rent a car.
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Visiting Zakopane from Krakow
Hot Tip – How to pronounce Zakopane? Zakopane = (za·ko·p`a·nuh)
Zakopane is a resort town in the South of Poland, surrounded by the beautiful Tatra mountains. It’s known for its wooden chalets, impressive mountains and nearby ski resorts.
Zakopane is the ultimate day trip in the winter season! We’ve visited Zakopane twice now and went skiing on our second time. We highly recommend it!
Spending one day in Zakopane is perfect to add to your Kraków itinerary, if you love lakes, forests and wildlife it’s a brilliant break away from the busier city. Dust off your hiking boots, it’s time to hit the mountains!
We’ve written a full guide on the best things to do in Zakopane if you have more than a day’s spare. If you decide to spend the night here, we recommend Hostel & Apartments u Florka 2 if you have a rental car.
Should I visit Zakopane in the winter or summer?
So you may already have a rough time frame of when you want to visit Zakopane and maybe your trip is already booked. Continue scrolling if you just want to know how to get to Zakopane from Krakow in a day.
Truthly there is no right or wrong answer to visiting Zakopane in the summer or winter. Zakopane thrives in all seasons! Here’s our rundown on the seasons in Zakopane.
Zakopane in the summer
During the summertime in Zakopane, you can experience unlimited hiking without the worry of snow. The days will be hot but you can take dips in the lake after a sweaty hike.
Although Zakopane isn’t widely popular worldwide, it’s definitely a hotspot for the locals in Poland and summer can get busy!
In the summer season, Zakopane is one of the best places to go hiking in Poland and you’ll experience some great weather! It’s also easy to get from Krakow to Zakopane to go hiking for a couple of days if you’re in Poland for a week!
Zakopane in the winter
Zakopane in winter is our favourite time of year and we can’t wait to visit again!! It’s so magical.
If you didn’t already know Zakopane is the winter capital of Poland and one of the best ski resorts in the country. The Tatra Mountains are great for hiking in the summer which means they turn into amazing ski slopes in the winter for everyone to enjoy.
The village of Zakopane is so beautiful in the winter months and we swear it makes perogies and soup taste even better!
Can I visit Zakopane from Krakow in one day?
Yes! As you can expect from the title of this guide, Zakopane is definitely manageable in one day and is the perfect day trip from Krakow. We’re going to show you everything we did on our Zakopane day trio.
However, if you have a longer time in Poland we would definitely recommend staying for a couple of nights or more to join the many activities Zakopane offers.
If you’re coming to Zakopane for a skiing trip you will definitely want to spend a few days in this beautiful resort.
Check out our 3 day Krakow guide for the best things to do in the city!
How to visit Zakopane from Krakow (Zakopane Day Trip)
Zakopane is located approximately 65 miles / 100km south of Kraków.
You can expect to catch a bus from Kraków Bus Station to Zakopane in around 2.5 to 3 hours. If you want to rent a car, you can drive the journey in 2 to 2.5 hours. For the early risers, this is easily achievable in a Zakopane day trip (which is exactly what we did)!
The bus is the more sustainable way to travel to Zakopane! Here’s a list of our sustainable travel products to switch to before your trip. We’ll give you a better breakdown of the options.
Zakopane Day Trip from Krakow by Bus
The quickest way to find times and prices for buses from Krakow to Zakopane is by looking at Busbud. We’ve used this site various times when travelling Europe and it makes it easier to plan.
Head to Kraków MDA (Bus Station) near Kraków Glowny Train Station. There are usually a few buses an hour.
- Kraków MDA to Zakopane
- Duration: 2 hours 30 mins
- Cost Per Person: 30PLN (prices may change)
Tickets can be purchased directly at the counter from the bus station, however, we purchased our tickets online the day before to guarantee a seat before we arrived at the station.
A bus ticket should cost you somewhere between 30 PLN (around £6) depending on the company and time you choose to travel.
The bus that we took had no toilet onboard so be prepared before you hit the road and bring a few snacks, there’s a Carrefour in the mall nearby.
➤ Book your bus tickets from Krakow to Zakopane in advance.
Krakow to Zakopane by Train
- Kraków Glowny (Main Station) to Zakopane
- Duration: 2 hours 30 mins
- Cost Per Person: 30PLN (prices may change)
An alternative to buses and another public transport option for travelling to Zakopane from Kraków is the PKP Intercity Train.
These do not run so frequently, approximately 3-4 times a day, every few hours. Be sure to check if there is a return train that suits your plans to get you back into Kraków on the same day before booking your outbound trip.
You can either purchase tickets from a machine or ticket office in Kraków Glowny station or book online using the IC PKP website.
Zakopane Daytrip by Car
- Rent a car via DiscoverCars
- Duration: 2 hours
- Cost: 150PLN + Fuel (prices will vary)
If you are travelling with a small group where you can split the cost, a car may work out as a cheaper option for you.Find prices and availability for rental cars on Discover Cars!
Zakopane Daytrip by Tour
Another way to get to Zakopane from Krakow without worrying about transport is to join a tour! There’s quite a few to choose from so here’s our recommendations.
1 Day Zakopane Itinerary: Zakopane Day Trip from Krakow
We opted to use the buses for our trip from Kraków to Zakopane as it’s a cheap way to get around and we love using public transport in other countries.
If you have one day in Zakopane you can go hiking, skiing, to thermal spas or spend a few hours in the village. We chose to do a hike to see the Tatra Mountains and lakes up close!
This is our 1 day Zakopane itinerary with time stamps!
➤ Book your bus tickets to Zakopane in advance.
8:00 am – A 15-minute walk from our accommodation to Kraków MDA station
We were staying at an apartment in central Krakow, so it was a short walk to Kraków MDA station. If you’re staying further away, there are many local buses or you can take a taxi or e-scooter.
8:30am – Maxibus bus to Zakopane (it was meant to be 2 hours but took 2 hours 30 minutes)
The journey from Krakow to Zakopane felt quite long, especially because we knew we were returning later the same day. Our tip is to watch a movie or listen to music to pass time, just like any other long travel journey!
11:00 am – Arrive at Zakopane Bus Station
So our day in Zakopane started at 11 am! Not too bad considering Krakow is a 2-hour drive.
11:20 am – Morskie Oko shuttle bus to the National Park
The shuttle buses to Morskie Oko were super easy to find, as they’re located right outside of the bus station in Zakopane. We paid the driver on the minibus and they took us to the trailhead!
11:55 am – Arrive at the Morskie Oko trailhead
The journey took just over 30 minutes to reach the National Park. The drive through the trees once you get outside of central Zakopane is amazing. You’ll love it!
12:00pm – 17:00pm – A 5-hour return hike to the beautiful Morskie Oko lake!
We took around 5 hours to complete the trail to Morskie Oko and back. We also relaxed next to the lake for a while and took a lot of photos! You can definitely do this hike faster, but why rush?!
17:10pm – Hop on a shuttle bus back to Zakopane village
Once we were back at the main car park outside of the National Park, we didn’t wait too long for a minibus to appear.
17:45pm– Zakopane village – Get off the bus when you’re near Centrum Miasta (on Google Maps)
After a beautiful half-day hike we headed to Zakopane Centre to admire the streets, restaurants and local shops.
18:30pm – Pierogi time! We ate at Bar Górski – amazing Polish cuisine with vegan options!
We fell in love with Bar Górski whilst in Zakopane and have eaten there at least four times! They serve amazing Polish cuisine like pierogi and soup. Honestly, it’s one of our favourites. There’s lots of restaurants to choose from though, have a look around when you’re there!
19:35pm – Szwagropol Bus back to Krakow
I’m pretty sure we fell asleep during the journey back to Krakow from Zakopane. We were exhausted!
22:15pm – Arrive back in Krakow and head back to accommodation!
So as you can see, it’s a pretty long day but 100% worth it to visit Zakopane on a day trip. From experience, it is completely possible to hike the Morskie Oko trail on a one-day trip to Zakopane.
There’s also lots of things to do in Zakopane that don’t take longer than 7 hours. The trains and buses run very late from Zakopane to Krakow so it’s possible to stay longer than we did.
Best Tours from Krakow to Zakopane:
- Zakopane and Thermal Springs Tour (with Hotel Pickup) – visit the Chocholowskie Termy (thermal baths in Zakopane)
- Zakopane Day Trip with Cable Car and Tastings – head to the top of mountains in Zakopane!
Zakopane Day Trip – Conclusion of our itinerary
This itinerary was exactly what we had planned to do on our one day in Zakopane and it all worked out great! So we’re confident you can plan the same type of trip and escape from Krakow to Zakopane in one day.
We visited in October and the snow on the mountains had already started. It kind of surprised us!
It was a lovely time to visit before it got even colder in Zakopane and the hike was still accessible without ice crampons. We had all our hope that the public transport would be in our favour and luckily it was.
Apart from a small delay at the beginning, everything else was running very smoothly and we booked our bus tickets online even though we could have just purchased them at the time of travel.
The Morskie Oko hike is a 16km trail so in order to achieve the hike in a day you don’t have a lot of rest time. It’s not a very hard hike with a very slow incline up to the lake.
We stopped for around 20 minutes at the top of the lake to eat some snacks and admire the views. Then we tried to walk down to the trailhead as fast as we could.
At first, we were worried we wouldn’t have time to visit Zakopane village and eat some food, but we were SO hungry that it became a priority before heading back to Krakow.
This is why we arrived back in Krakow quite late, but we were happy with our decision. We purchased our bus ticket back to Krakow online while we were in the restaurant.
Overall it was a great Zakopane day trip from Krakow and we would love to go back to Zakopane and explore more of the beautiful Tatra Mountains!
If you do decide to spend the night in Zakopane, we recommend staying at Hostel & Apartments u Florka 2. We stayed here for three days for a ski trip and it was perfect!
Check out our other Poland Travel Guides:
- Things to do in Zakopane – During Winter & Summer
- 3 Day Krakow Itinerary -Best Places to Visit in Krakow
- 12+ Best Vegan Restaurants in Krakow – Vegan Guide
Have a great day in Zakopane and whichever way you decide to get there, it will be an amazing day trip from Krakow. Thanks for reading our How to visit Zakopane from Krakow, Incredible One Day Trip!
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Looks like fun! I love how accessible it is to be able to do a daytrip from Krakow. And that food looks like a great reason to take a break!
Zakopane looks like such a fun place to visit! I love that its beautiful in both the summer and the winter – I love a great year round destination. This is such a great one day itinerary!
Thank you! It’s an awesome place to be all year round! It’s still not majorly popular yet either 🙂