How To Travel From Kraków To Szczecin

Close to the border with Germany, Szczecin is off the beaten track for most tourists. Visiting is a great opportunity to get to know Polish food and to engage with the culture.

Rayskiego Street in Szczecin – image © Szczecinolog / CC BY-SA 4.0

Very close to the coast and the border with Germany, Szczecin (pronounced “sh-che-shin”) is a port, which is off the beaten track for most tourists, despite it being one of the largest cities in the country. Although still a little rough round the edges, the relative lack of tourists might actually be one of the best reasons for visiting, as you’ll get an insight into modern Polish life. The Old Town is pretty and there are a handful of attractions to see. But, mainly, visiting Szczecin is a great opportunity to get to know Polish food and to engage with the culture – there is a fine Philharmonic building and the grand Ducal Castle is now an arts centre.

Here’s the current overview of things to do in Szczecin at Get Your Guide.

Flying is the fastest and cheapest way to reach Szczecin from Kraków. The train and bus are roughly equivalent in terms of convenience, although the train is likely to be the cheaper option.

How To Get From Kraków To Szczecin By Train

There is no direct route to Szczecin and a number of different ways of getting there. One of the fastest, at just over nine hours, involves changing at Wrocław and then Zielona. There are less complicated routes, changing at Warsaw, for example. But these take 10-11 hours in total.

Your best bet is to search the PKP portal for the best trade-off of time and price. Use Kraków Główny as the point of departure and Szczecin Główny as the destination. The train station at Szczecin sits close to the river Oder, fairly close to the centre of the city. Once you’ve chosen a route, click BUY A TICKET and you’ll be taken through to the Intercity booking site. Expect to pay somewhere around 95zł (21€), regardless of the route.

How To Get From Kraków To Szczecin By Coach

FlixBus runs services from Kraków’s Dworzec Autobusowy, which take just over nine hours, and drop you off at Szczecin Główny, the main train station. Direct routes are not daily, so check with a service like 12go for the latest timetables. A one-way ticket costs, at time of writing, 111zł (24€).

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Check-in date

Mon 26 Sep 2022

Check-out date

Tue 27 Sep 2022

How To Fly To Szczecin From Kraków

Ryanair currently runs a service 2-3 days per week from John Paul II Airport in Kraków to Solidarity Szczecin–Goleniów Airport. LOT will cost considerably more. Flight times are roughly 1h 15m. Add time for getting to and from the airport, and pre-departure, for roughly 4.5 hours in total. Expect one-way costs of roughly 50zł (11€). Check 12go for timetables and availability. It takes about 50 minutes from Szczecin–Goleniów Airport to Szczecin city centre by public transport.

It’s also worth considering a private transfer from your accommodation to Kraków Airport.

Other Polish Cities You Can Visit From Kraków

You will find a general overview of the transport network on our page How To Travel From Kraków To Other Polish Cities. This gives information on how to use trains, coaches, planes, and private vehicles in Poland, and where each type of service departs in Kraków.

• Kraków To Białystok: In the north east of Poland, Białystok has a lively cultural scene and a handful of tourist attractions, and is close to the UNESCO-listed Białowieski National Park and the oldest forests in Europe.
• Kraków To Gdańsk: On the Baltic coast, Gdańsk is friendly and great for food, and one of Poland’s biggest tourist destinations.
• Kraków To Gdynia: Gdynia is also a port city with some lovely sandy beaches, and also makes a great day trip from neighbouring Gdańsk.
• Kraków To Katowice: For something a bit different, Katowice is very post-industrial. It’s airport and proximity to Kraków make it worth consideration for travellers who want a future-facing (and very green) Poland, with dramatic, modern architecture.
• Kraków To Łódź: Set in the very heart of Poland, Łódź is coming into its own as a creative city. The city is alive with murals and street art. There’s a great food scene and a nice mix of architectural styles. Right now, Łódź has that exciting feel of the future.
• Kraków To Lublin: On the eastern side of Poland, Lublin is best known as a cultural and academic city. It has a rich Jewish heritage and was apparently referred to as the ‘Jewish Oxford’ in the Jagiellonian era. There is a nice mix of medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque, with some atmospheric cobbled streets.
• Kraków To Olsztyn: Up in the north, Olsztyn is often overlooked by tourists keen to reach the more famous Gdańsk. It does, however, have a pretty Old Town and ranks very highly for quality of life. What’s more, the city provides a gateway to some gorgeous wild countryside of lakes and forests.
• Kraków To Poznań: 300km to the west of Warsaw, youthful Poznań has a lively, friendly nightlife, with plenty of restaurants and bars. The Old Town is brightly coloured and quirkily decorated with bold styles similar to Southern Germany. There’s plenty here to keep you occupied for a long weekend, with a museums, a cathedral, and historical buildings, but the city also makes a great base for exploring Poland’s countryside.
• Kraków To Sopot: Another seaside resort, between Gdynia and Gdańsk, Sopot is a playground for the rich. With sandy beaches and a pier, as well as the shops, bars, and clubs of Bohaterów Monte Cassino, it can be very busy at the height of the season. Even more than Gdynia, Sopot might be best sampled first as an afternoon out, rounded off with a meal in one of the excellent fish restaurants.
• Kraków To Toruń: Largely untouched by the Second World War, Toruń is a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the Vistula River to the north west of Warsaw. The architectural highlights are dominated by the huge Gothic cathedral and the city feels less hectic than more famous tourist destinations.
• Kraków To Warsaw: Poland’s capital city is easy to reach from Kraków and makes a good weekend destination. Much of Warsaw was built after 1945. Even the pretty Old Town is mostly reconstruction. But there are excellent museums and places to eat. It’s also one of Europe’s great cities to go out drinking!
• Kraków To Wrocław: Wrocław is a charming city in the western part of Poland, with islands and bridges criss-crossing the water and a strong Gothic flavour to the architecture. Built out from the 10th century Ostrów Tumski (Cathedral Island), Wrocław also has a stunning market square, much of which is listed within a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Kraków To Zakopane: 110km from Kraków, Poland’s outdoor capital and winter resort, Zakopane is nestled at the root of the High Tatra mountains. The area is excellent for hiking, skiing, and a range of other activities. However, there is also unique folk architecture and plenty of more spectacular attractions.