Krakow Transportation Tips by filipdebont

AirPolonia Airplane Review

As I started with my planning of my Poland trip (in November 2004), I just wanted to visit Warsaw and Krakow.

After a short search, I found a cheap flight to Poland, with AirPolonia, which was flying from Charleroi - Belgium.

The price for the return flight (Charleroi - Krakow - Charleroi) was 92 euro . . . . Cheap, he

But then a dark Sunday in December (6th of December 2004), AirPolonia suddenly stopped flying. Passengers with a departure before end of March could change their ticket for a light to Poland with Wizz Air. As I was going in May, that did not count for me.

Several mails towards AirPolonia stayed unanswered. So I really thought that I had lost my money. So I launched my question on the travel forum of this great site, and och yes there came an answer. Great member Adam_UK gave me the tip to try to get my money back via my Credit Card Company (Visa).
I followed his advice and wrote a letter to Visa, explaining that I had paid for a service I would never receive, and wonder och wonder, 3 weeks later the paid sum was back on my account. (Thank You, Adam_UK)

So now I could look for a new flight. And now I booked a LOT flight.

Mode: TO

Type: Airplane

Train from Warsaw to Krakow Train Review

Via the website of the Polish train company (PKP), it was very easy to make a planning.

You can easily find al the connections and the time schedules.

Mostly I used IC trains, because these trains do not stop so often, so travelling time is shorter.

Via the website of the Polish Intercity company: www.intercity.com.pl/en/main, you should be able to make a reservation. But unfortunately it did not work from abroad.

But like in my case a friendly Polish girl (thank you Anna) made these reservations for me, and then did send me the reservation forms.

And the system works. Once you have your reservation, you have a wagon number and a seat number, you just have to present this reservation form at the conductor and pay the money to him.

So no problems standing in line to get a ticket, no language problems at the ticket office.

Mode: TO

Type: Train

By train to Krakow Train Review

So I arrived in Warsaw on time (9h50), and as luggage and passport handling went so quick, I was outside the airport building in no time. Then a short ride by taxi, so arrived at Warszawa Centralna around 10h20.

A had a train at 12h05 towards Krakow. So plenty of time to look around. I also went outside the train station, and from there I could already see my hotel for the last night of my Poland trip (Hotel Metropol). From here I also could admire the big building of the Palace of Culture and science.

So the train from Warsaw to Krakow:
- Warszawa Centralna - Krakow Glowny
- travelling time : 2h55
- travelling distance : 292 km
- price : 85 zl.

And like this I arrived around 15h00 in Krakow, there was still some time left to discover the city.

Mode: TO

Type: Train

Free drinks on the train Train Review

Even on the train there was a good service, as shortly after the train left the station, a man passed by with drinks.

First I thought he was selling drinks.

No no he was bringing free drinks, you could get coffee, tea, orange juice or water. With this drink he also gave a snack a chocolate waffle.

But this was only the case on the IC-trains, like from Poznan to Warsaw, it was an EC-train and there you needed to pay for your drink.

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Type: Train

Lots of trams By tram Review

There were plenty of trams in Krakow.

Travelling by tram is cheap and it is a good solution to avoid traffic jam at rush hours.

But I find it always difficult to use the tram, especially if you are visiting a city for the first time, it is difficult to orientate and to know to get of the tam at the right spot (and you do not know the language, so it is difficult to ask).

As you can see the tram is decorated with the small Polish flag, as this picture is made on 1st of May which is a festivity in Poland (and in many other countries).

Mode: AROUND

Type: Other

Krakow on foot

Krakow is a city that you easily can and must discover on foot.

Krakow is not that big and most touristy highlights are within walking distance.

In fact it is easy to walk through the old city (Stare Miasto), only a few minutes of walking further and you reach the Wawel hill with the Cathedral and the Royal castle.

And even the Jewish quarter, Kazimierz is nearby

So put on some decent walking shoes and let’s walk . . .

Mode: AROUND

Type: Other

Trip to the station Taxi, taxi Review

So after a quiet flight, I arrived in Warsaw airport. The luggage handling and the passport control went very quickly.

So now I needed to find a taxi to bring me to the central railway station of Warsaw (Warszawa Centralna).

Outside the airport building there was a row of waiting taxis.
Maybe because it was the 1st of May (festivity of Labour), the road were very empty, and so in less then 15 minutes I was standing in front of the railway building.

The taxi was equipped with a meter (this meter started at 6 zl.), and it was 2 zl. per kilometre.

Upon arrival the meter showed 33zl. Of course when you arrive for the first time in a country you do not have small money. So I gave the driver 40 zl. And He told me that he had no small money to return. Like this I paid 7 zl. to much, that is almost 2 euro.

A week later, for the return trip, I paid only 25 zl. So probably the driver took a longer road, or it was because of the festivity day.

Mode: TO

Type: Car/Motor Home

Flying LOT Airplane Review

So now that my "AirPolonia" problem was solved, I could start a search for a new flight.

Via the travel search engine: www.comparflight.com, I found a decent flight towards Poland. So I booked a LOT flight at www.travelprice.com, they gave the best flight schedule / price combination.

So I booked a morning flight from Brussels towards Warsaw (1st of May), and an evening return flight from Warsaw to Brussels (9th of May).

Both flights were very quiet and the flight time was about 1h50, on board there was a good service with drinks and sandwiches (even with smoked salmon).

By the way LOT is also a member of the Star Alliance group, so I even collected some flight miles on my Thai Royal Orchid frequent flyer account.

Mode: TO

Type: Airplane