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We are planning a 2 week trip to Poland in summer (July or August) flying in to Krakow and are trying to work out a route including Warsaw, Wroclaw and Zakopane and having the first night on arrival in Krakow and the last 4 nights back in Krakow.

If we headed to Zakopane first, how easy is it to get to Warsaw from there? Is the bus quicker than the train between Krakow and Zakopane so would the best way be:

Krakow - Zakopane by bus
Zakopane - Krakow by bus, then train to Warsaw
Warsaw - Wroclaw train
Wroclaw - Krakow train

Thanks for any suggestions

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1

You are right, bus from Kraków to Zakopane is quicker (and cheaper) than train. On the route Zakopane - Warsaw you could however use the direct afternoon express train, which saves you a change in Kraków and takes roughly the same time as the combination bus+train. There're also direct overnight trains from Zakopane to Warsaw.

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2

In 2 weeks you could visit many of the highlights of Poland and not only Krakow, Warsaw and Wroclaw.

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3

I definitely agree with #2 - but I spent 4 days in Zakopane and didn't get bored (doing different mountain walks and just relaxing), many people would find that too much - so it depends what you like to do.

The Warsaw-Wroclaw leg is a bit of a pain by train, because the train goes via Poznan and so what should be a relatively short trip ends up taking 6 or so hours. Of course you have plenty of time, so you might not mind, or you might prefer to take a direct bus instead. Or you could take the train and stop off in Poznan (as you have time). While I didn't find Poznan all that exciting, many people love it, or you could drop by some of the attractions around Poznan like Biskupin old Bronze Age village (if you like that sort of thing).

It's very easy to get between Zakopane and Warsaw, although the direct express train only goes once a day (leaves about 3 pm, gets in about 10 pm), so it depends whether this suits you. It's slower than the 2 legs put together, but saves a transfer in Krakow so works out about the same. Otherwise buses to Krakow go all the time (every 15 mins or so), and then fast trains go to Warsaw every hour, so it's pretty straightforward - and the bus and train stations are just next to each other.

Also, there is a slower train that goes between Wroclaw and Krakow that stops at Czestochowa - this might be another interesting diversion on your trip, as it would be quite different from the other places you plan to visit.

Happy travels!

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4

Private mini-buses are the quickest and cheapest between Krakow and Zakopane...

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5

Definitely from Krakow to Zakopane and return bus is the best way. Bus cost only 20 PLN and journey takes about 2 hours, by train more than 3. From Krakow to Warsaw take a train it is fast and very comfortable of course in Polish reality ;) G

Edited by: a moderator 16-Feb-2009

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