Is Krakow walkable? Is easy to walk?

Many European tourist cities like Rome, Milan, Vienna or Budapest are cities where the attractions are located very far from each other and getting around is not easy. What is it like in Krakow in Poland? Is it easy to walk around Krakow? How long does it take to get around Krakow on foot? Is Krakow easy to get around? Is Krakow walkable?

For many tourist cities in Europe, getting around between major attractions is problematic. You have to use Uber, Bolt or the metro. There is no metro in Krakow and driving is difficult. For a tourist, this is not a problem. Why?

Because Krakow, despite being the second largest city in Poland, is a very small city and all the important tourist attractions are within walking distance. The city is so small that you don’t even need an airport transfer.

It takes about 15 minutes to walk from the main railway station, where you will arrive by train from the small Krakow airport, to the very historic centre of the city, i.e. the Main Market Square (Rynek Główny). From the Main Market Square to the biggest attraction in Krakow, i.e. the Wawel Castle, it is about 750 metres and about a dozen minutes on foot.

From Wawel Castle to Krakow’s next major attraction, the Kazimierz district, it takes 10 minutes on foot. From the Main Market Square to the Kazimierz district of Krakow it takes 20 minutes.

Is it necessary to use public transport?

Public transport in Krakow in the city centre works well and is cheap, but you don’t need to use it. Most of Krakow’s attractions such as museums and historic churches are located in the small area of the so-called Old Town (Stare Miasto). The rest of the attractions such as Kazimierz or Podgórze are within walking distance. They can be easily reached by a few tram stops, which are not expensive in Krakow, but there is no need for this.

Krakow’s attractions are really few. They are located very close to each other. In this respect, Krakow cannot be compared to other cities in the region such as Prague, Budapest or Vienna, where there are enough attractions for many days of sightseeing.

Places further away from the centre are not visited by tourists and there is nothing interesting there, except perhaps Nowa Huta, which is a relic of the communist era and has recently started to become more and more popular as a tourist destination. Other districts such as Azory, Dąbie or Kostrze are not visited by tourists and have no attractions.

It is also very easy to get to the attractions near Krakow, i.e. to Oświęcim, where Auschwitz is located, and to Wieliczka, where the salt mine is located, from Krakow by very cheap and reliable public transport in the form of trains or buses.

Summary: Is Krakow walkable? Yes, Krakow is a city where it is trivially easy to get around because, compared to most tourist cities in Europe, it is a very small city where the attractions are close together.

When we rent a hotel in the area of the historical centre of Krakow in the Old Town, preferably within the so-called Planty area, so that we do not have to hire a guide or a car to explore Krakow.

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