Best Day Trips from Krakow: Where to Go and How

Part of what makes Kraków such a good base is everything within reach of it. A UNESCO salt mine, the most important memorial of the Second World War, and Poland’s mountain capital are all close enough to see in a day and back for dinner. Here are the trips worth making, roughly in order of how many visitors choose them — with honest notes on how far each one is and how long it really takes. For the city itself, see our Kraków travel guide and things to do in Kraków.

Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial

About 70 km west of Kraków, in the town of Oświęcim, lies the site of the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp — now a State Memorial and Museum. A visit is not sightseeing in the ordinary sense; it is a place of remembrance, and most people find it the most affecting thing they do in Poland. You need to reserve a timed entry in advance, and for much of the day you can only enter with a Museum-trained guide. Allow most of a day once travel is added. Read our full guide to visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau from Kraków before you book.

Wieliczka Salt Mine

Just 13 km southeast of the city, the Wieliczka Salt Mine is one of the oldest working mines in the world and, like Kraków’s Old Town, was on the first UNESCO World Heritage list in 1978. The Tourist Route leads down a long wooden staircase into a cool underground world of chambers, brine lakes and chapels carved entirely from rock salt — the vast St Kinga’s Chapel, with its salt chandeliers, is the showpiece. It’s shorter and lighter than Auschwitz and works well as a half-day. See the Wieliczka Salt Mine guide.

Zakopane and the Tatra Mountains

Poland’s mountain resort sits about two hours south of Kraków, at the foot of the Tatras — the highest range in the country. Zakopane itself is a lively wooden-architecture town with a famous market and a funicular up Gubałówka; beyond it are cable cars, valleys and hiking trails of every level, plus winter skiing. It’s the longest of the main day trips, so it suits an early start or an overnight stay. More in our Zakopane and the Tatras guide.

Ojców National Park

Poland’s smallest national park, around half an hour northwest of the city, packs limestone cliffs, caves and the fairytale clifftop castle of Pieskowa Skała into a compact, walkable valley. It’s a green, low-key alternative for anyone who has had their fill of museums and wants a few hours outdoors close to town.

Nowa Huta

You don’t even have to leave Kraków for one of its most unusual outings. Nowa Huta, on the eastern edge, is a planned socialist-realist town built around a giant steelworks in the 1950s — wide avenues, monumental squares and a completely different atmosphere from the medieval centre. A tram ride gets you there, making it an easy half-day.

How to choose

If you only have time for one trip, most visitors pick either Auschwitz-Birkenau, for its importance, or Wieliczka, for being close, easy and suitable for all ages. With two days to spare, those two pair naturally — just not on the same day, as each needs most of one. Zakopane is the call if you want mountains and don’t mind a longer drive; Ojców and Nowa Huta are shorter, lighter half-days.

Getting there: tours or on your own

For Auschwitz-Birkenau and Zakopane, organised day tours with hotel pickup take the planning out of it and are popular for good reason. All of these places are also reachable independently — by train or by the buses that leave from Kraków’s main bus station (MDA), next to the railway station — which is cheaper and more flexible if you’re comfortable arranging your own times. Each destination guide covers the specific options.

Frequently asked questions