Day trips from Kraków

The two most important trips out of Kraków share one rule, and it is the only thing you need to remember: without a booking you do not get in. Auschwitz issues tickets only through its own site, and Wieliczka works with guides and groups — neither is sorted at the gate.

Auschwitz-Birkenau

An hour and a half to two hours west of Kraków, by train or bus. A ticket for an unguided visit is free but issued in your name, and it is reserved only at visit.auschwitz.org; the gate has none. A visit with an educator lasts about three and a half hours and covers both camps; Birkenau is three and a half kilometres on and a free museum shuttle runs between them. This is a whole day, and nothing else is planned after it.

MistakesBooking Auschwitz too late is one of the costliest mistakes made here:Mistakes everyone makes in Kraków →

The Wieliczka salt mine

By train from the main station to Wieliczka Rynek-Kopalnia, about twenty minutes. The visit is guided, in the language you choose, and takes around two and a half hours; down there it is seventeen to eighteen degrees all year, which makes it the trip for a July heatwave — with a jumper. The only way back up is by lift.

When to goSeventeen degrees down there is the same in summer and winter — what changes up above, month by month:The best time to visit Kraków →

3 daysIf you do not yet have a plan for the city itself:Kraków in 3 days →

Zakopane and Ojców

Zakopane is two hours by bus, at the foot of the Tatras, and is a Polish mountain town of timber architecture with a funicular up Gubałówka. As a day trip it is long but feasible; with an overnight you gain Morskie Oko, a lake nine kilometres' walk each way. Ojców National Park is closer — forty minutes north — and is Poland's smallest national park: limestone crags, caves and the castle at Pieskowa Skała. Entry to the park is free; Łokietek Cave and the castle charge separately.

GuideZakopane with a night and the mountains?Zakopane →

Getting aroundHow to reach the station or terminal each of these trips leaves from:Getting around Kraków →

BudgetAnd where the money goes in the city itself — and where it is wasted:What Kraków costs →

What does not combine

• Auschwitz and Wieliczka in one day. They are sold together and it is physically possible, but they lie on opposite sides of the city and, more to the point, they do not follow one another in tone.
• Zakopane as a half day. Four hours on the bus there and back, and Morskie Oko is a nine-kilometre walk each way from the car park — that is a full day or an overnight, not an afternoon.
• Wieliczka without a booking in season. Entry is in guided groups, at a set time for your chosen language, so the ticket is bought in advance.

Where to stayIn the evening you're back in the city — where sits closest after a day like that:Where to stay in Kraków →

FoodAnd dinner, after a whole day out:What to eat in Kraków →

NeighbourhoodsBack in the city tomorrow — which quarter to explore once the trips are behind you:The neighbourhoods of Kraków →

Hidden gemsAnd once Wawel and the square are done, three places left for last:Kraków beyond Wawel: a mound, a city under the square and a former power station →