Kraków public transport for visitors: ZTP tickets, zones, the 70-minute train ticket and where to buy

💡 The Short Version: A single trip or 30-minute ticket is PLN 6 (£1.15), the 90-minute ticket PLN 9, the 24-hour ticket PLN 20 in zone I or PLN 25 in zones I to III, the 48-hour ticket PLN 40 and the 72-hour ticket PLN 55. A 70-minute combined ticket at PLN 10 covers city trams and buses and the Koleje Małopolskie trains in the Kraków area, including the train to Wieliczka, but not the airport station. Validate a paper ticket on boarding; in an app, you buy and validate as you board, and a ticket bought after an inspector boards is invalid. Or book ahead: the Kraków Card includes buses and trams in zones I to III but not the railway; see the Kraków Card for when it pays back. For a ride that needs no ticket, GetYourGuide’s electric golf cart tourad is rated 4.6 from 4,482 reviews and takes 1.5 hours (GetYourGuide).

Tickets and fares, compared

ZTP, the city’s transport authority, sets the fares for the public transport network, known as KMK (ZTP). Pounds are rounded. Reduced fares are half price and apply only to eligible customers.

The weekend family ticket is valid on Saturdays and Sundays for 2 to 7 people: one or two parents and children up to 16.

• Which to buy. Three single trips cost PLN 18 and four cost PLN 24, so the 24-hour zone I ticket at PLN 20 pays from the fourth ride. Two 24-hour tickets for zones I to III cost PLN 50 against PLN 40 for 48 hours, and three cost PLN 75 against PLN 55 for 72 hours.
• Zones. Use zone I for the city, and buy zones I to III for a day that includes Wieliczka or the airport. The 15, 30, 60 and 90-minute tickets already cover all three zones.
• The 70-minute ticket. It is valid on KMK vehicles in zones I to III, on Koleje Małopolskie trains between Wieliczka Bogucice and Wieliczka Rynek-Kopalnia, and in the area of every station with “Kraków” in its name, but not Kraków Airport. It runs for 70 minutes from validation, and it is the ticket for a trip to the Wieliczka Salt Mine: PLN 20 for the return.

Where to buy, and where to validate

• Shops and newsagents, and the stationary KMK ticket machines.
• On board. Machines in the vehicles take bank cards; vehicles with an EMV bank-card machine are marked with a pictogram on the door.
• Apps. mPay, iMKA, moBiLET, SkyCash, Jakdojade and zbiletem.pl, and the apps of partner banks including PKO BP, ING, Santander and Revolut.
• Validating. Tickets marked “to be validated” are validated in the vehicle. Short-term tickets in an app are bought on boarding and validated at the moment of purchase, using the vehicle’s code (two letters and three digits, or a QR code). A ticket bought after an inspector boards is invalid.
• Help. The ZTP helpline, +48 12 616 86 69, is open at all hours (ZTP).

A ticket machine at the Rondo Mogilskie tram stop. Photo: Travelarz, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Trams and buses to know

Most of Kraków’s sights are inside the Old Town and walkable. The routes a visitor uses:

A tram on ul. Basztowa, at the edge of the Old Town. Photo: Mach240390, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

• To Kazimierz. Trams 3, 9, 19, 24 or 50 run from the city centre to the Miodowa stop, then a walk down ul. Dajwór to the Galicia Jewish Museum (galiciajewishmuseum.org). See Kazimierz and the Jewish Quarter.
• To Wieliczka. The SKA1 train from Kraków Główny, 23 minutes, or bus 304 from Dworzec Główny Zachód, near Galeria Krakowska, to the stop Wieliczka Kopalnia Soli.
• To the airport. The SKA1 train, 17 minutes, on its own PLN 20 ticket; bus 300 and night bus 902 are on the airport page.
• To the day trips. Coaches to Zakopane and Oświęcim leave from the MDA bus station, which sits beside Kraków Główny. See day trips from Kraków.

Trains

Koleje Małopolskie’s SKA lines serve the airport, Wieliczka, Oświęcim and Zator, and the K5 “Luxtorpeda” runs to Zakopane at weekends and on public holidays. The current timetable runs to 24 October 2026; check kolejemalopolskie.com.pl for later dates. Only the 70-minute combined ticket works in the city and on the Wieliczka line, and neither the airport nor the other long lines are covered by a city ticket.

Taxis and apps

Bolt operates in Kraków (Bolt). From the airport, the official Kraków Airport Taxi has fixed prices by distance; see Kraków airport to the city centre.

The Kraków Card

The official card, from the Kraków Tourism Alliance, includes unlimited buses and trams in zones I, II and III, including the routes to the Wieliczka Salt Mine and the airport; it is not valid on the railway. It costs PLN 170 for 24 hours, PLN 255 for 48 hours and PLN 295 for 72 hours, against PLN 25, 40 and 55 for the equivalent transport ticket. As a transport pass it does not pay back; it pays only with museums. The Kraków Card page does the sums.

The tourist tax

Kraków charges no tourist tax or local fee in 2026. Until now Poland has had no legal provision for a tourist tax; only the local fee and the spa fee exist, and both need climate conditions. Kraków collected the local fee from 2004 to 2015, and stopped when it no longer met the environmental criteria (Magiczny Kraków, 26 May 2026). A law passed by the Sejm in September 2026, with the Senate’s vote pending, would let cities charge up to PLN 5 a night from 2027 (Dziennik Polski, 18 September 2026).

For the way in from the airport, see Kraków airport to the city centre. For where to sleep, where to stay in Kraków compares the areas, and hotels near the Main Market Square lists the Old Town hotels. For what to book before you go, see what to book before you go to Kraków. 3 days in Kraków and Kraków in one day plan the days, and day trips from Kraków compares the trips by train and bus.