Car Travel

A car will not be of much use to you in Kraków and could be a hindrance, since most of the Old Town is closed to traffic and distances between major sights are short. Elsewhere in the city, traffic jams are frequent and parking space insufficient. A car will be useful if you set out to explore the region; but even then it is a good idea to consider a train or a bus first. You can approach Kraków either on the E77 highway (from Warsaw and north) or via the E40 (from the area around Katowice). On weekdays, between 10 am and 8 pm, the old town and areas around are a paid parking zone (you pay at a parking meter). It is probably best to use the parking facilities at your hotel or one of the attended municipal parking garages (try plac Szczepański or plac świętego Ducha). On the whole, parking space in Kraków is rather scarce and expensive—between zł 3 and zł 10 per hour.