The Ultimate Guide on Travelling from Manchester to Krakow

If you’re looking for ways to get from Manchester to Krakow, then you’ve come to the right place. This guide aims at explaining all the possible transport options between these two distant cities. From planes to trains and buses, we’ve listed the pros and cons of each option you have to choose from.

It’s over 2,000 miles by road between Manchester and Krakow, but this Polish city is well worth a visit. From bustling nightlife to historical sights and a fantastic food scene on top, there is no shortage of reasons to go to Krakow. Luckily, you can easily get there from Manchester by both air and land, so read on to find out more…

Time: 2h25 – 2h40m

Cost: From £18 (≈ 100 PLN)

Comfort: 5/5

Airlines: Ryanair/EasyJet/Jet2

Whether you want to visit Krakow for a weekend or planning a longer stay, the most convenient way to get there from Manchester is by plane. It’s by far the quickest option and usually also the cheapest. Three low-cost airlines are flying on this route, so you shouldn’t have much trouble finding your way to some of the most vibrant cities in Eastern Europe.

Ryanair flies from Manchester to Krakow on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays and their tickets that don’t include baggage start from around £18 one way. The prices are similar if you fly with EasyJet, but they usually only do trips twice a week, on Tuesdays and Sundays. The third option is Jet2, which flies on Mondays and Fridays.

The flights from Manchester to Krakow usually take around two and a half hours, which is why we’ve rated the comfort as high, even though the low-cost airlines aren’t exactly known for a lot of legroom. That said, there is no other mode of transport that can get you to Krakow so quickly, so overall flying is the most comfortable.

Time: 32h+

Cost: £127+

Comfort: 3/5

Getting from Manchester to Krakow by train isn’t easy, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. In fact, it’s not much harder than it is to get there overland from London. You only need to get one extra train and then follow the same route east. However, we’re not going to lie, it’s not a short journey, so if you’re only thinking about visiting Krakow for a weekend, forget about the railway and take a flight.

There are different routes across Europe you could take to reach Krakow, but whichever you choose you should start your journey on a train from Manchester to London (from £26.20/2-3h) before hopping on a Eurostar to Brussels (from £52/≈2h). From there, you could either head east towards Berlin or Vienna. Both cities have direct train connections to Krakow. Here’s a little info on how to do it:

• Trains via Berlin – Once you reach Brussels Midi on a Eurostar from London, change for a train to Cologne (≈1h50m). There are many direct trains to Berlin from there that take between 4h20m and around 5h. You can book that leg together at DB website from €27.90. There is only one direct train from Berlin to Krakow at 10:39 am (from €27.90/7h31m), which means you can’t avoid staying in the German capital overnight.
• Trains via Vienna – If you arrive in Brussels on a mid-afternoon train from London, you can take advantage of an overnight sleeper to the Austrian capital that goes three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (from €49.90/≈14h). You have three different options from Vienna to Krakow, a night train (from €39.90/≈7h30), a daytime train via Katowice, which leaves at 2.10 pm (from €32.90/≈6h), or a direct one the next day at 8.10 am (from €32.90/≈5h40).

Time: 31h20m

Cost: £145 (direct)/ From £70 (2+ stops)

Comfort: 1.5/5

Company: Sindbad

You can also get to Krakow from Manchester by direct bus, but it’s not something we would recommend doing. The reason for that is that the journey is very long and quite uncomfortable, plus it’s not the cheapest way to travel to Poland from northwest England.

There is only one company that provides direct bus connections from Manchester to Krakow, Sindbad. You can get that coach once a week on Wednesdays for around £145 one way. The journey is over 31 hours long. However, you will get more coach options if you travel to London first. You can easily travel to Victoria station for as little as £6 with Megabus or National Express. You can catch an indirect Flixbus from the capital starting at around £65.

Time: 22h+

Comfort: 2/5

Driving from Manchester to Krakow isn’t very popular, and there is a good reason for it – it’s a very long journey. It’s also not the cheapest way to travel, because apart from the cost of fuel and tolls you have to add the price of getting across the English Channel, which can cost over £100 on its own.

However, if you decide to cover over 1,200 miles in a car, you should be able to do that in around 22 – 24 hours without any major stops. That said, we’d recommend splitting up the drive, especially if you’re doing it on your own. You will pass France, Belgium, Germany and possibly the Netherlands on your way from England to Poland, so there is no shortage of interesting places for stopovers.

Manchester is nearly 1,000 miles away from Poland, which means the average time of a flight is around 2 hours and 30 minutes.

There is only one airport in Krakow – Balice on the western outskirts of the city, and that’s where EasyJet flies. Katowice airport is also within easy reach from Krakow, but there are no EasyJet flights there.

You can fly to most major UK airports from Krakow, which includes London Stansted, Heathrow, Gatwick, Bristol, Manchester, Glasgow, and Birmingham.