Kraków

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Kraków
<map lat='50.05405277962895' lng='19.955291748046875' zoom='10' view='0' float='right'/>
Information
Country:
Flag of Poland
Poland
Voivodeship:
Coat of arms of Lesser Poland (Voivodeship).png
Lesser Poland (Voivodeship)
Population: 762,500
Licence plate: KR, KK
Major roads: A 4
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Kraków is a city in the south of Poland.

Hitchhiking out

West towards Katowice, Wrocław A 4 E 40

Note: Don't go towards Katowice if your destination is the Czech Republic. You risk getting stuck in Katowice's large urban agglomeration. Instead, follow the instructions below for Bielsko-Biała.


1 From Pasternik Cmentarz bus stop Get to the bus stop (roundabout) "Rondo Ofiar Katynia" (for public transformation info use www.jakdojade.pl) and from there another 2 stops to "Pasternik Cmantarz". There is a bus stop, petrol station and plenty of space for a car to pull over.


2 From first petrol station on the highway It's about 1km further than toll booths, but the spot is better than booths. You must take bus 226, 209 or 258 and get off on stop "Winna Góra". You will be already beside the motorway and the petrol station is close by. the best is to check the amazingly helpful page jakdojade.pl because the buses are running once for two hours.


3 From toll booths From main railway station (Dworzec Główny Wschód) take bus 208 or 292 direction Port Lotniczy (Airport). If you take bus 208 get off at Balice Autostrada (NŻ) (you have to press the stop button otherwise the bus won't stop). Walk back for about 30m and turn left (west). Continue walking, go over the motorway by the bridge from which you will see the toll booths. Here's the route It's a bout 1.5km walk. If you take the bus 292 you have to walk a bit more (about 3km). Get off at the airport and follow this route. There is also local train going to the airport from main railway station.

Hitching from Krakow to Ukraine


4 Take a train for about 40km to a good spot For a bit more than 10 złoty you can take a train from Krakow to the small town of Trzebinia. An even cheaper option is the minibus from the station behind the shopping mall next to the train station. Leave the train station, turn left, cross the bridge and follow road 79 direction southwest. It's just another 1.5 km to get to the motorway junction and you can try hitching with a sign "Katowice" already, because a lot of traffic goes towards the motorway and you are already outside of Trzebinia. It takes about one hour to get from Krakow main station to Trzebinia.

North towards Warszawa, Gdańsk 7 E 77

Hitchhike after the inner bypass on Opolska street - you can get there by buses number 139,132,172,105,102,207 - bus stop name is Opolska estakada


Bus stop Belwederczyków buses 257, 277, 280 from Nowy Kleparz and hitch directly from it, it's just outside the city, there is some place for a car to stop and You're visible from far away


A better option is to take the bus number 217,247,277 until the stop Kuźnicy Kołłątajowskiej. Here there is a lot of space for cars to pull over and many cars are going even all the way to Warsaw. All these buses are avaible from the station Nowy Kleparz which you reach by bus from the center or walking. It is about 2 km north of the old town. If you go there by bus you might get off at a station where only the busses to Opolska estakada stop. The bus terminal where the buses 217,247,277 leave is about 100m further north from the crossroads at Plac Nowy Kleparz. Watch out because the bus does not stop at the last stop but drives on so you want to know when to get off. There is a lot of space on deceleration lane going to the petrol station and cars are going extremely slow because there is a traffic light just ahead.

East towards Sandomierz, Rzeszów, Przemyśl, Lviv (UA) 4 E 40

Newly built highway in direction of the east. Take the bus 304 and get off at Jerzmanowskiego (old Prokocim CPN). There is a bus stop and plenty of space to stop even for a truck. You can also walk like 500m along the road and try straight from the highway entrance - there is enough space and you can be easily seen. But now (March 2016) it isn't a good place. From the northern entrance to highway there are the fence hindering drivers from seeing you and the road sign forbidding you to walk. From the southern entrance traffic is VERY poor and mostly going to Katowice, not to Rzeszów.


To Ukraine you can't cross the border by foot in Korczowa, but in Medyka. At Radymno hitchhike 77 South to Przemyśl and from there hitchhike Lwowska / 28 to the border.


For Sandomierz take tram number 10 or 21 till the last stop Pleszow. From there you can start hitching along national road 79.


Another option is an unused bus stop on Tadeusza Śliwaka street, right before the road junction leading to 4 E 40 going east, the GPS coordinates are: 50°02'15.0"N 20°03'34.0"E. Use https://krakow.jakdojade.pl/ to check the buses going near that spot, preferably use a connection that will end up at bus stop Przewóz (Bus 158), as it's the nearest one to the spot. This bus stop is right behind the traffic lights, with a lot of space for even a big truck to stop and You will be easily visible. It is not the most popular road leading out of Cracow to the east however, so waiting times may vary.


If You are going to Ukraine, bear in mind that recently finished 4 E 40 highway leads to Korczowa-Krakovets border crossing, where You cannot cross the border on foot (it is permitted only Medyka-Shehyni). Also there are very, very few cars stopping at the gas stations and rest areas on highway east of Rzeszów, so before You pass it, either enter a car going straight to Korczowa border crossing (and wait a long time in the car queue), or go straight to Przemyśl, where You can easily access Medyka-Shehyni crossing, avoid rides to towns like Łańcut or Przeworsk, as most likely You will get stuck there.

South and southwest towards Rabka-Zdrój, Ružomberok (SK) 7 E 77, Zakopane 47 and Bielsko-Biała 52

Take tram no. 8, 19, 22, 23, 40 (operating only on Sundays and day offs) from the centre to the last stop Borek Fałęcki. There is a small bus station here. You can either walk south for a couple of kilometres until you go under the highway overpass, or take bus 175, 235, 245, 255, 275, 285 and get out at the stop Opatkowice immediately after the highway overpass. You can hitch from the Opatkowice bus stop.


Alternatively if you start out early in the morning, you can take the above mentioned bus 285 much farther away from the city to a much better spot. Get off at Mogilany Ośrodek Zdrowia. This is a bus stop on the highway, hitch from here. Excellent spot! (In case nobody speaks English and you don't know where to get off, if you are in the front of the bus near the driver, you will see a red bridge from the distance, this one: Mogilany Wiadukt As soon as you see the bridge in the distance, get off immediately. In case you miss it, no worries, you can get off after the bridge and walk back maybe one kilometer) WARNING: the bus operates very rarely (and doesn't go on Sundays!), so you should check the timetable here: 285 bus timetable


If you are going towards Bielsko-Biała, tell your driver immediately so that he knows to leave you at the fork in the road a few kilometres south of Krakow.


If your are heading to Slovakia, the road splits towards SK in Rabka-Zdrój. At the fork in the road itself there is a good spot to hitchhike, though there is mainly local traffic and it may require a couple of lifts to reach the Slovak border. Alternatively, if you don't want to hitchhike in Krakow or save some time, you can take a bus to this spot for 9 PLN, which is not that pricier from what would you pay for public transport in Krakow. Bus stop is called Skomielna Biała, skrzyżowanie. You can use this site to check timetables. You can also take a similar mini-bus to Jabłonka (which is right at the border) for about 20 PLN.

Public Transport

There is a very useful and simple to use website showing you how to get from one point to another by public transport in major Polish cities (in Polish and English).

Sleeping

The central station (Dworzec Główny) is open during the night, but guards patrol the station constantly and wake up anyone who tries to sleep (even people waiting for trains). Better to find a host from a hospitality exchange service or camp outside the city.

You can sleep in "student academic" which is on Czarnowiejska/Reymonta street and there are sleeping students from AGH ( Academy of Science and Technology ). It's like 30 zloty ( ~8 euro ) for one night.


Nomadwiki & Trashwiki

Check Nomadwiki for info on accommodation, showers etc. or Trashwiki for dumpsters...and share your wisdom :)