Krakow in 7 Days on a Budget (Daily Costs)

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A full week in Krakow, closing on the cheapest day of the trip

Days 1-6 here are the exact plan in the 6-day itinerary : Rynek Główny and Wawel Hill, Kazimierz and Podgórze, Wieliczka, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Zakopane, and Nowa Huta with the Rynek Underground Museum. Day 7 is a deliberately slow, near-free day: Stary Kleparz market, the free Piłsudski Mound, and the Vistula Boulevards. If a week is more than you need, the 5-day itinerary covers the core plus all three day trips. Most days run 160-350 PLN a person; Day 7 is the cheapest of the week.

Book these before you go

Day 1: Rynek Główny and Wawel Hill

Rynek Główny is free to stand in; the hejnał plays live every hour from St Mary’s taller tower. The Cloth Hall’s ground floor is free, upper gallery 35 PLN (free Tuesdays). Budget the Wawel Castle State Rooms (57 PLN) and Cathedral (26 PLN) as two separate tickets. Lunch at a milk bar, 20-35 PLN.

Day 1 cost (PLN, per person) Low Higher
Bed 80 150
Breakfast 8 20
Milk bar lunch 20 35
Wawel Cathedral / Castle + Cathedral 26 83
Dinner 25 50
Transit 0 6
Day 1 total 159 344

Day 2: Kazimierz and Podgórze

Kazimierz was the pre-war Jewish quarter for around 500 years; Podgórze, across the river, was the separate WWII ghetto after March 1941. Szeroka Street is free; Remuh Synagogue and cemetery run about 10 PLN combined. Lunch is a zapiekanka at Plac Nowy (6-10 PLN). Schindler’s Factory runs about 60 PLN.

Day 2 cost (PLN, per person) Low Higher
Bed 80 150
Breakfast 8 20
Remuh Synagogue + cemetery 10 10
Zapiekanka lunch 6 10
Schindler’s Factory (skip / visit) 0 60
Dinner 25 50
Transit 8 12
Day 2 total 137 312

Day 3: Wieliczka Salt Mine

Wieliczka, one of the original 12 UNESCO sites (1978), sits about 30 minutes out. Tourist Route and Miners’ Route both run 143 PLN (121 reduced), ending at St Kinga’s Chapel, carved entirely from rock salt.

Day 3 cost (PLN, per person) Low Higher
Bed 80 150
Breakfast 8 20
Wieliczka Salt Mine (reduced / regular) 121 143
Lunch 15 25
Dinner 25 50
Transit to/from Wieliczka + around city 15 25
Day 3 total 264 413

Day 4: Auschwitz-Birkenau

Auschwitz Birkenau German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945) is a memorial and mass-murder site; treat it as the day’s only activity. Book only at visit.auschwitz.org : free self-guided visits run afternoon and evening, book up to 7 days ahead; the daytime window is paid guide-educator tours only, roughly 150 PLN. On-site sales ended March 2026. Not recommended for children under 14.

Day 4 cost (PLN, per person) Low Higher
Bed 80 150
Breakfast 8 20
Auschwitz-Birkenau entry (free self-guided) 0 0
Guide-educator tour (if visiting the peak daytime window) 0 150
Transport to Oświęcim and back 40 80
Quiet dinner back in Krakow 20 40
Day 4 total 148 440

Day 5: Zakopane and the Tatra Mountains

Zakopane sits roughly 2-2.5 hours south by bus (around 30-55 PLN each way). Krupówki Street is free to walk. The Gubałówka funicular runs about 37-44 PLN round trip, cheaper than the Kasprowy Wierch cable car at roughly 130 PLN. Morskie Oko (about 8km each way, mostly paved, Tatra NP entry 10 PLN) is the classic hike if you’d rather skip both lifts.

Day 5 cost (PLN, per person) Low Higher
Bed 80 150
Breakfast 8 20
Bus to/from Zakopane (round trip) 60 110
Gubałówka funicular (skip / round trip) 0 44
Lunch in Zakopane 20 35
Dinner back in Krakow 25 45
Local transit 0 10
Day 5 total 193 414

Day 6: Nowa Huta and the Rynek Underground Museum

Nowa Huta, a Soviet-style planned town built from 1949, is inside city limits, reached by tram lines 4, 10, or 22 (about 30 minutes, a single ticket around 6 PLN each way). Plac Centralny and the Lord’s Ark Church exterior cost nothing. Back in the Old Town, the Rynek Underground Museum runs 36 PLN (32 reduced), timed-entry, book ahead.

Day 6 cost (PLN, per person) Low Higher
Bed 80 150
Breakfast 8 20
Tram to Nowa Huta and back 12 12
Lunch 20 35
Rynek Underground Museum (reduced / regular) 32 36
Craft beer + dinner 30 55
Transit 0 6
Day 6 total 182 314

Day 7: Stary Kleparz market and a free-day farewell

After six days that mix free sights with three paid day trips, close the week on the cheapest day of the whole plan. Stary Kleparz, Krakow’s traditional market just north of the Old Town, is free to browse; pick up oscypek, the smoked sheep’s-milk cheese from the Tatra region, for a few złoty. Climb Piłsudski Mound instead of the paid Kościuszko Mound, it’s free, unstaffed, inside Las Wolski forest, and gives the same kind of city panorama the paid mound sells. Walk the Vistula Boulevards below Wawel for a last free look at the castle from the river. If your dates land on a Thursday, MOCAK’s permanent collection is free; any other day, skip it and spend the afternoon in Kazimierz instead. Close with a farewell meal at Miód Malina or Restauracja Starka, both named, mid-range, traditional Polish kitchens rather than a tourist-menu spot on the square.

Day 7 cost (PLN, per person) Low Higher
Bed 80 150
Breakfast 8 20
Stary Kleparz market snacks 10 20
Piłsudski Mound (free) 0 0
Lunch 20 35
Farewell dinner 30 55
Transit 0 8
Day 7 total 148 288

Getting around on 7 days: what needs booking ahead

Days 1, 2, 6, and 7 are mostly walkable plus one or two tram rides; a 24-hour MPK pass (20 PLN) helps on your busiest transit days. Days 3, 4, and 5 all need transport out of the city, none covered by the city transit pass. Full fare details are in the main Krakow guide .

Book Auschwitz-Birkenau, Wieliczka, and the Rynek Underground Museum ahead of arrival, all three run on timed slots that sell out in summer. Save your slowest, cheapest day for last, it’s a better way to end a week than trying to cram in one more paid sight.