How to get from Krakow to Lviv? Easy ways

Lviv, located not far from Kraków, is one of the most interesting tourist destinations when exploring Europe. The city, which belonged to Poland until 1945, has retained much of its Polish character and reminds many people of Kraków. How to get from Kraków to Lviv? Here are a few ways and the best way to travel to Lviv. How much does it cost?

Flights to Lwów

Do planes fly to Lwów? No, the airport in Lwów remains closed, even though it is located very close to the Polish border. Politicians and airport representatives have mentioned that the airport in Lwów could be one of the first airports to resume flights, but a specific reopening date has not been set.

In the past, low-cost airlines often flew to Lwów from Kraków, and tickets could be purchased for as little as a few dozen złoty. The flight from Kraków to Lwów takes less than an hour, but currently, no civilian planes land there. So, what to do and how to get from Krakow to Lviv?

Getting to Przemyśl and then to Lwów

From Kraków to Lwów, the easiest way is to travel by car or take a bus. Kraków is relatively close to the border. Choosing the best travel option requires a bit of planning, as the most convenient way to get from Kraków to Lwów is by transferring in Przemyśl.

Przemyśl is the last major city before the border. Why go to Przemyśl? Because the queues at the border crossings have been very long for decades. Whether traveling by your own car or taking a bus, you might end up waiting at the border for several hours, or sometimes even longer.

From Kraków, you can reach Przemyśl either by car via the A4 highway or by train from Krakow Glowny to Przemyśl Główny station. A train to Przemyśl from Kraków costs 62 PLN (14.7 EUR, 12.4 GBP, 15.4 USD). At Przemyśl Główny station, you can board a direct broad-gauge train to Lwów.

A train from Przemyśl Główny to Lwów costs UAH 547 (12.4 EUR, 10.4 GBP, 13 USD) or UAH 771 for first class. The train journey takes about 1.5–3 hours, but conditions may change, and the train might take much longer.

Best way to travel

The best way to travel is to get to Przemyśl and then to the small town of Medyka, where there is a pedestrian border crossing. For holders of passports from countries in the European Economic Area, there are practically no queues, and you can cross the border in about 30 minutes.

If you arrived in Przemyśl by train from Kraków Główny station, buses to Medyka depart from near the Przemyśl train station, heading directly to the border crossing. The journey takes about 10–15 minutes and costs a few złoty. The buses do not have a fixed schedule; they depart when full, which means every few dozen minutes.

Crossing the Border in Medyka

You can also reach the Medyka border crossing by your own car. Directly in front of the border crossing in Medyka, there are parking lots that cost a few dozen złoty per day. Before the crossing, you get off the bus or park your car and proceed to cross the border on foot.

Getting from the border to Lwów

After crossing the border in Medyka, you have three options. Immediately after crossing the border, you will be approached by drivers pestering you to use their services for getting from the border to Lwów. You can choose between hiring an entire car or a seat in a shared bus. Buses cost around a dozen euros per person, but if you speak a foreign language, locals willy try to charge you significantly more. Buses do not operate on a fixed schedule; they depart only when all seats are filled.

In the border town, there is also a bus stop from which small buses, typical of post-Soviet countries and called marshrutkas, depart. These yellow buses, in a technical condition characteristic of post-Soviet countries (poor), go to Lwów and take about 2.5 hours to get there. Their advantage is the price. The trip from the border by marshrutka costs 150 UAH, which is approximately 15 PLN, 3.40 EUR, 3.60 USD, or 2.90 GBP.

Getting to Lwów requires a bit of planning and maneuvering, but it is very simple when using the pedestrian border crossing. The pedestrian border crossing, followed by a 70 km journey from the border to Lwów, is the fastest way to travel from Kraków, allowing you to avoid queues at the vehicle border crossing.

Traveling by car

Of course, you can also drive from Kraków by car. The border crossing you reach directly from Kraków via the A4 highway is called Korczowa-Krakowiec. The queues at this crossing can be very long, so if you want to avoid waiting, it’s better to choose a different crossing. Do not head to the Medyka-Szeginie crossing by car, as there are also huge queues there.

The best option is to choose smaller crossings, such as Krościenko–Smolnica, Rawa Ruska–Hrebenne, or Malhowice–Nizankowice.

Summary: Getting from Kraków to Lwów

Direct travel from Kraków to Lwów is possible, but it risks exposing you to many hours of waiting in queues at the border crossing. If you decide to travel by your own car, choose smaller border crossings. However, the best option is to use the pedestrian border crossing Medyka-Shehyni and then travel to Lwów either by public bus, private bus, or car with drivers offering their services in the gray market.

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