Krakow to Prague - 15 Best Ways to Travel in 2024

The most popular way to travel from Krakow to Prague is by train. There are three companies that operate on this route: the national one, PKP Intercity (Polish) / Ceske Drahy (Czech), and two private ones, Leo Express and RegioJet. You will most likely take the PKP Intercity Krakow to Prague train, so we will focus on it first.

There are three daily train connections from Krakow to Prague, departing from the beautiful Polish city at 10:45, 14:56, and 22:42. The day trains from Krakow to Prague take around 7 hours. Tickets for these connections start at €15 if you buy in advance and can jump up to €60 if you buy shortly before the departure. 

Alternatively, you can take the train with the convenient change in either Katowice (Poland) or Hranice na Morave (Czech Republic) - the Krakow to Prague train time and the ticket prices are similar to those for direct connections. Unfortunately, there is no direct Krakow to Prague high-speed train. 

Where to buy Krakow to Prague train ticket
The best place to purchase the ticket is online at the Ceske Drahy (Czech Railways) website - it’s more user-friendly than the PKP Intercity (Polish Railways) website; you don’t need to create an account to go through the buying process. You can’t also buy tickets for all the connections on the Polish website (some of them are available only at the train station), while Ceske Drahy offers you all the tickets online. 

Prices are similar on both websites, so we suggest choosing the one that makes the purchase easier and smoother. 

If you need to buy the ticket at the train station in Krakow, you can find the ticket desks in the underground part of the station, in the corridor behind all the shops. Keep in mind that this is one of the busiest train stations in Poland, so don’t leave your purchase until the last moment, as the lines can get long, and you don’t want to risk missing your train.

Krakow to Prague night train
Besides the day train, there’s also a Krakow to Prague night train that is a great way to travel between the cities. Since both Poland and the Czech Republic are in the Schengen Zone, you can enjoy a hassle-free journey and a good sleep with no passport control in the middle of the night. 

This is a great solution for those who want to save time on traveling as well as some money on accommodation. With the departure from Krakow at 22:42 and arrival to Prague at 7:38, you will get almost nine hours of rest, and you can start exploring as soon as you arrive in the Czech capital. 

Krakow to Prague night has three different cars to choose from: second class (with six or eight seats in the compartment, depending on the car), couchettes (with six beds), and sleeping cars (with 1, 2, or 3 beds in the compartment). 

The price for the Krakow to Prague night train starts at €25 for the seat in the second class when bought in advance; the closer it is to the departure date, the more expensive the ticket gets. If you want to travel in the couchette or the sleeping car, you need to pay extra for the bed (for example, the bed in the three-person compartment costs around €15 but if you would like to have the whole compartment to yourself you need to pay €50). 

Overall, the extra fee for the couchette/sleeping car isn’t very high, and we recommend considering it as not only will you sleep better, but it will also be a safer trip. This train route is known for pickpockets, but every couchette or sleeping car has a dedicated person looking after the car and passengers; moreover, each compartment has a lock on the door you can use. 

Krakow to Prague RegioJet train
Another company that offers the Krakow to Prague sleeper train is RegioJet. They operate one daily connection, departing from Krakow at 1:30 a.m. and arriving in the Czech capital at 9:56. This train has second class and sleeping cars with three or four beds per compartment available. 

Prices for this connection are €18,90 for the second class ticket and €32,90 for the sleeping car; if you prefer to have the whole sleeping compartment to yourself, you can expect to pay €100 for your Krakow to Prague trip. 

If you decide to take the RegioJet train, the only place to buy the tickets is directly on their website. Since this train starts in Przemysl, near the border with Ukraine, it is a popular connection. It’s often sold out, so it is better not to leave the ticket purchase until the last moment.

Krakow to Prague Leo Express train
You can also take the Krakow to Prague direct train operated by another company - Leo Express. The catch is that this connection doesn’t run every day, so you must be careful when planning your trip. Krakow to Prague Leo Express trains depart only on Mondays and Saturdays, leaving Krakow at 5:39 and arriving in Prague at 12:31. 

Tickets start at €25 if purchased in advance and cost €47 for last-minute trips. You can buy the ticket online directly at the Leo Express website. 

Train stations in Krakow and Prague
The main train station in Krakow - Kraków Główny - is located on the edge of the Old Town, some 15 minutes walking from the Main Square. You can also easily reach it by public transport as numerous trams and buses stop here (the most convenient stops are Dworzec Główny Tunel, Dworzec Główny Zachód, or Teatr Słowackiego). 

Once you arrive in Prague, you can also use public transport to reach your final destination; the red metro line C stops at the central train station.

Want to use your time traveling from Krakow to Prague in a better way than simply moving between the two cities? Then take the Krakow to Prague Transfer Tour. This tour not only ensures a seamless and stress-free transfer but also allows you to explore two unique destinations along the way.

Stop 1: Olomouc Old Town
The trip leaves from Krakow in the morning and after a nearly three-hour drive you'll arrive to the first stop of the day - Olomouc in the Czech Republic. Here, you'll encounter the country's second-largest and second-oldest historic area (after Prague), packed with attractions that await your exploration. During your visit, you will explore the beautiful Old Town with its two squares, wander along cobbles winding lanes surrounded by historical buildings in different styles (such as Renaissance, Gothic, or Baroque), and admire impressive churches or the medieval town hall. 

Be sure to check the astronomical clock on the side of the town hall, too! It’s a one-of-a-kind structure, designed in the Socialist Realism style in the 1950s after the original clock from the 15th century was destroyed during World War 2. If you are lucky, you can even witness the small show the clock makes. But the most important monument in Olomouc Old Town is the Holy Trinity Column from the early 1700s, the largest structure of that kind in Europe. It’s imposing and rich in details; hence, it was awarded the UNESCO World Heritage Site title. 

After the lunch break, you will leave Olomouc and head towards your next destination - Kutna Hora.

Stop 2: Kutna Hora & The Famous Bone Church
Even if today this is a rather sleepy town, back in medieval times, Kutna Hora was a thriving mining town, a second-important place in the region after Prague. Today, you can still find remnants of those prosperous times, especially the stunning Cathedral of St Barbara. The works on this impressive structure started in the late 14th century. As a result, the cathedral is an excellent mix of Gothic and Renaissance styles, with the distinctive tower dominating the area. 

But the most popular and intriguing place to visit in Kutna Hora is Sedlec Ossuary, where you will stop during your Krakow to Prague sightseeing transfer too. This modest building is better known as the Bone Chapel, as inside, you will find bones of about forty thousand people, exhumated from the local cemetery in the 1500s. In the late 19th century, some of the bones were used to create interesting sculptures, such as a chandelier or the Schwarzenberg family coat of arms. While Sedlec Ossuary might seem like a morbid place, it is worth a visit as it’s one of the most unique places to see in Central Europe. 

From Kutna Hora, it’s a short, one-hour drive to Prague.

The Krakow to Prague Transfer Tour takes around ten hours, so it is only a little longer than using public transport between the two cities, yet you can add two interesting stops to your itinerary that normally would be difficult to see. You will travel in a comfortable, air-conditioned vehicle, accompanied by a tour guide who will tell you more about the region and answer all your questions. 

The Krakow to Prague Transfer Tour is available both as a public tour, departing and arriving at central areas of both cities, as well as a private option only for your group with hotel pickup and drop-off.

A popular alternative to the train is the Krakow to Prague bus. A few companies operate on this route, with around ten daily direct connections between the cities (some of them are overnight, which can help you save time on travel). 

Depending on the connection, the Krakow to Prague journey time varies between 7 and 12 hours; on average, you can count on spending around nine hours traveling between these two cities by bus. 

Some buses go from Ukraine, so the departure from Krakow might be delayed, depending on the time at the border. We don’t recommend choosing those connections because of the uncertainty of travel. Instead, we suggest taking the popular companies, like Flixbus. You can get the overview of the Krakow to Prague bus schedule here.

Flixbus from Krakow to Prague
There are five direct Krakow to Prague Flixbus connections, with tickets starting at €22 (shortly before the departure, you can expect to pay around €40). You can buy the ticket directly at the Flixbus website. Even if buses are not as comfortable as trains, Flixbus vehicles have plenty of leg space and complimentary wifi and power sockets next to each seat, so the journey isn’t that bad. 

Bus stations in Krakow and Prague
All the buses depart from the MDA bus station in Krakow, located next to the main train station (on the other side than the shopping center Galeria Krakowska). In Prague, you will arrive at the bus station Florenc, well-connected with the rest of the city by public transport, including the metro (red line C).

Since you will be spending a big part of your day traveling from Krakow to Prague, there is an interesting option to consider that not many people know about. It’s the combination of taking a bus and a train, with a short walk across the border in between. Not only will your journey not be monotonous, but you will also have a chance to see one of the most interesting yet underrated towns in Poland - Cieszyn. 

For centuries, this was one town, until 1920, when during the post-WW1 turmoil and geopolitical changes in the region, Cieszyn was divided between Poland and the Czech Republic, with the border right in the middle of the town, on the Olza River. Now, with both countries in the Schengen Zone, you can easily walk between two countries.

Krakow to Cieszyn by bus
The first step is to take the bus from Krakow to Cieszyn. There are seven direct buses every day (plus two more on Fridays and Sundays), with a travel time of 2.5 hours. The bus ticket from Krakow to Cieszyn costs around €7; you can buy it at the company’s website that serves this route - Lajkonik- where you can also check the schedule. Currently, the first bus departs from Krakow (MDA bus station) at 8:05, and we recommend taking it so you can use your day traveling from Krakow to Prague to the fullest. 

Visiting Cieszyn
Once you arrive in Cieszyn, you can either go directly to the Czech side of the town to catch the train to Prague or spend a few hours enjoying this beautiful town. The Old Town is located some 10-minute walk from the bus station, and that’s where you will find most of the Cieszyn’s attractions: the charming main square surrounded with some stunning townhouses, the castle, or the Romanesque rotunda from the 11th century that you can see on the 20 Polish złoty bill. 

After exploring the town for a bit and relaxing in one of the lovely cafes there, you can walk across the Olza River to Cesky Tesin - the Czech side of the town. The train station is located around a 10-minute walk from the Olza River, but you can also see a bit of Cesky Tesin on the way. Although most historical sites are on the Polish side of the town, Cesky Tesin is a pleasant place for a stroll. 

Train from Cesky Tesin to Prague
From Cesky Tesin, you can take the train operated by Ceske Drahy (the national railway company of the Czech Republic) all the way to Prague. There are a few direct trains, but you can also travel with the convenient change in Ostrava. 

The train trip from Cesky Tesin to Prague should take around 4-5 hours, depending on the train you take. The ticket costs around €20; you can buy it online at the Ceske Drahy website or the train station in Cesky Tesin.

This option of getting from Krakow to Prague is good for those who don’t want to spend long hours traveling and would like to break the journey somewhere along the way. As a bonus, you can see another interesting place along the way, a real gem of Central Europe. You don’t need to continue your journey right away; you might stay overnight in Cieszyn and enjoy two towns divided by the border and all their attractions to the fullest.

Until recently, there were Krakow to Prague flights operated by Ryanair, but these were suspended for the winter season. Let’s hope they will return soon, as this was the fastest way of getting from Krakow to Prague. The flight time was only 1 hour and 5 minutes. The airfare from Krakow to Prague was usually around €30 (since Ryanair is a low-cost airline, you need to pay extra for priority boarding, checking in the bag, etc.). 

Flying from Krakow to Prague 
You can still fly from Krakow to Prague, but such a journey requires a change. The best option is to use LOT Polish Airlines, with a convenient change in Warsaw. Since you will have the whole trip on one ticket, the airline will rebook you for the next available flight in case of some delays. 

There are a few daily flights from Krakow to Warsaw and Warsaw to Prague so that you can find the best connection for you. Even with the change in the Polish capital, the Krakow to Prague flight time is a bit over 3 hours; with getting to and from the airport and the security check, you can make the trip between centers of both cities in around six hours. 

The one-way Krakow to Prague plane ticket price starts at €120 if you buy in advance. You can book your trip directly at the LOT Polish Airlines website. 

Since both Krakow and Prague are popular destinations among low-cost airlines (Ryanair, Wizzair, EasyJet), you can try a combination of those when flying between the cities, with the change in one of the European airports. The Krakow to Prague airfare will be significantly lower then, even around €50, but in case of delays, you will need to buy a new ticket for your trip to Prague. 

Airports in Krakow and Prague
Krakow Airport is located some 15 km away from the center of the city. It is well-connected to the main station by train, with departures twice per hour and a journey time of only 17 minutes. A ticket for the airport train costs €4; you can purchase it online, at the train station, or on the train. 

In Prague, the best way to get from the airport to the center is by bus, either directly to the central train station (a more expensive option) or to the bus stop Nadrazi Veleslavin, where you can change for the metro green line A.

If you enjoy the freedom of traveling by car, you can drive from Krakow to Prague. The journey should take at least six hours, but the fastest way goes through some paid roads, so you must remember to purchase the Czech vignette for using the motorways (in Poland, you pay directly at the toll gates on the highways). 

Where to stop between Krakow and Prague
You can also do a few detours and stop in some interesting places along the way, making your journey a fun Krakow to Prague road trip. There is plenty to see between these two cities, both in Poland and the Czech Republic, so you can even stretch your journey to a few days. Some of the best places to visit between Krakow to Prague are Auschwitz-Birkenau (the former Nazi Concentration Camp), Bielsko-Biała (a beautiful city known as “little Vienna”), Cieszyn (a charming town divided by the Polish-Czech border), Olomouc (another stunning city with the UNESCO-listed Holy Trinity Column), or Kutna Hora (also a UNESCO place, known for its historical center and the bone chapel). These are only a few suggestions where you can stop, but there are many more interesting places in the area.

Krakow to Prague by rental car
Just a word of caution: you will be charged an extra fee when renting a car and returning it to another destination. If you can’t find a good offer for a Krakow to Prague rental car, extend your search to the airports, as those often have a better availability and selection.

A comfortable way of traveling from Krakow to Prague is by private transfer. After picking you up from your accommodation, the English-speaking driver will take you to Prague, directly to your requested place. You will be traveling in a comfortable car, but you can upgrade to the luxury option for an extra fee. 

Krakow to Prague private transfer is not the cheapest way of getting around; you can expect to pay around €500 for the trip, but the whole journey should take less than six hours and be hassle-free. 

For an extra fee, you can add sightseeing stops along the way. The most popular places you can visit are Auschwitz-Birkenau, the historical town Stramberk, Zbrasov Caves, Olomouc, and Kutna Hora.

A popular alternative to usual modes of transportation is carpooling. You can find drivers who travel the same route as you and join them on the trip. This way, you can save a bit on the travel costs and have a company to chat with during a long journey. 

The most popular website to look for car-sharing rides is BlaBlaCar. You can browse through offers without registering, but you must be logged in to contact the driver. BlaBlaCar is a safe platform with a rating system and driver’s profile to learn more about the person you would be traveling with. 

Before deciding on the ride, check the fine print, especially pick-up and drop-off points, as those can be away from the center, and you need to add the hassle of getting to and back from the place. 

The price for a Krakow to Prague carpool ride varies, depending on the driver who sets it, but in general, you should expect to pay around €20-30 for the trip.

Those who enjoy the thrill of unexpected travel and the joy of adventure can try hitchhiking from Krakow to Prague. You need to be warned, though, as this might be a challenging journey considering the distance of over 500 km between the cities. Moreover, both places are connected by a network of roads, not one direct motorway, so finding the ride all the way from Krakow to Prague will be rather difficult (but not impossible). 

While the fastest way to get from Krakow to Prague is via Katowice, it’s not smart to hitchhike there as you might get stuck there. Instead, aim for Bielsko-Biała; from there, it’s a short drive across the border to the Czech Republic and Prague. 

The best hitchhiking spot for your trip is near the Opatkowice bus stop in the southern part of the city. The best way to get there is by tram no 8, 19, 22, or 50 to the final stop, Borek Fałęcki, where you can change for the bus to Opatkowice stop. Once there, you can start your hitchhiking already at the bus stop. When you find the ride, tell the driver immediately that you want to go to Bielsko-Biała, as the road divides a few kilometers further.

If you are looking for an active way to spend your holidays and want to see more than just Krakow and Prague, you can get between the two cities by bike. You will need around two weeks to cover the distance of approximately 650 km, but you will see so many amazing places along the way, and you will be able to get to know Central Europe in depth. 

It’s up to you which places you decide to visit, but some real gems await you, including numerous charming towns, historical sites, and a few UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Just remember that parts of the Krakow to Prague bike trip go through hilly areas, so cycling can get a bit more demanding at some points.

Those who would like to go by bike from Krakow to Prague but don’t want to deal with planning and organizing the itinerary and all the practicalities can join the tour. There are a few Krakow to Prague bike tour options, but no matter which one you choose, you are in for unforgettable holidays in Central Europe.

A more challenging (but still doable) way of getting from Krakow to Prague is on foot. The shortest distance between the cities is around 450 km, so you need about a month to cover this route. 

If you decide to do that, there are many wonderful places to stop, do some sightseeing, and learn more about the region. There is no better way to get to know Central Europe, its culture, and its habits than exploring the area at a slow pace that walking provides.

If you are traveling with your motorhome, you can take your RV for a road trip from Krakow to Prague. Just keep in mind that camping in the wild is not allowed in the Czech Republic. In Poland, you can do it, but only in designated spots. 

There is no need to worry, though, as there are plenty of campsites along the way from Krakow to Prague, where you can spend the night.

Another way of thrilling and independent travel from Krakow to Prague is by motorcycle. You can use fast motorways and get from one city to another smoothly and quickly. 

But you can also choose less busy winding roads through small, charming towns and picturesque landscapes to enjoy your trip to the fullest. This is a somewhat underrated part of Europe, and you might be surprised how many unique places you will stumble across during your trip.

The fastest (and the most expensive) way to get from Krakow to Prague is by private jet. Prices for chartering the plane for this journey start at around €7,500, but no doubt you would be able to enjoy a luxurious trip in style. 

The overall travel time between the centers of the cities should be around 3-4 hours, beating every other mode of transportation on this route.

The least popular way of traveling these days is on horseback, giving you a feel of the old times and how traveling used to look back then. This is also how you can get from Krakow to Prague, although it will be a long and not very comfortable journey. 

You need to plan at least seven days to get from Krakow to Prague on horseback, but the trip would take you through some beautiful, remote locations and picturesque landscapes of Central Europe.