Poland maintains regular connections with almost all the capital cities of Europe. LOT, the country's main airline, offers the only non-stop flights to Warsaw from its North American gateways: JFK, Newark, Chicago, Toronto and Montreal. It flies aircraft exclusively such as Boeing, ATR and Embrayer. Once in Poland, LOT can quickly transport passengers to seven other Polish cities and an additional 50-plus destination in 36 countries world-wide.

Krakow-Balice (John Paul II) International Airport (KRK)
Tel: +48 12 639 3000.
Official website: www.lotnisko-balice.pl

Cracow’s airport is 11km (7 miles) west of the city centre (journey time – 20 minutes). This is Poland’s second largest international airport, and in 2005 it handled a record 1.5 million passengers.

Major airlines: LOT Polish Airlines (tel: +48 12 285 5070 or 0 800 300 952/3 (tolken free from Poland); website: www.lot.com) is the national carrier, with services to some 40 countries and domestic flights to other Polish cities. Other airlines  include British Airways, Lufthansa, Swissair, Alitalia and growing number of budget operators like Ryanair, WizzAir, GermanWings, Centralwings and Sky Europe.

Approximate flight times to Cracow: From London is 2 hours 35 minutes; from Paris 2 hours 10 minutes, from New York is 8 hours 40 minutes; from Los Angeles is 13 hours (plus transfer); from Toronto is 8 hours 25 minutes and from Sydney is 25 hours (plus stopover and transfer).

Airport facilities: These include a bar, a restaurant and cafe, bureaux de change, banks, ATMs, 24-hour first aid and duty-free shops, a post office and an information desk. Car hire is available from Avis, Budget, Europcar and Hertz. There is a executive lounge for business-class passengers and traveller-club members.

Transport to the city: The MPK (website: www.mpk.krakow.pl) buses 192 and 208 go to the Main Railway Station (regular departures; journey time – 25 minutes). Taxis are available too (journey time – 15-20 minutes). Since May 2006 also operates direct rail shuttle to the Main Railway Station (appx. journey time 15 min)

Polskie Koleje Panstwowe (PKP) (Polish Railways) (website: www.pkp.com.pl) operates increasingly clean and efficient trains on the Polish rail network. The best are the InterCity and EuroCity (EC) trains. Tickets can be purchased at the station or through Orbis tourist offices. Information (in Polish) can be obtained from national rail enquiries (tel: +48 22 9436).

The Dworzec Glowny (Main Railway Station; tel: +48 12 624 5439) is located at plac Dworcowy 1. The station has 24-hour left-luggage facilities.

Rail services: EuroCity and InterCity trains arrive from Warsaw (journey time – 2 hours 30 minutes), Vienna (7 hours 30 minutes), Prague (8 hours), Berlin (8 hours 30 minutes) and Budapest (10 hours).

Transport to the city: The station is a short walk northeast of the Old Town. Taxis are available on the upper level above the platforms and in front of the station.

Poland uses standard international traffic signs. Major routes have the prefix ‘E’ and motorways ‘A’. Speed limits are 130kph (81mph) on the motorways, 100-110km/h (62-68mph) on main roads and 60kph (37mph) in built-up areas. Traffic drives on the right. Seat belts must be worn. Vehicles should be equipped with a first-aid kit, fire extinguisher and warning triangle, and headlights must be on at all times from 1 October to 1 March. The legal maximum alcohol to blood ratio for driving is 0.02%.

The legal driving age in Poland is 17 years. International Driving Permits and European and US national driving licences are accepted for the first six months in Poland. Drivers should carry their vehicle registration documents and Green Card insurance.

Information about road travel can be obtained at border crossings and from the Polish Motoring Association (PZM), ulica Jozefa Dietla 67 (tel: +48 12 849 9361/2; website: www.pzm.pl).

Emergency breakdown service:
The emergency number for ambulance and the police is 112.
Garages with 24 hour breakdown service include Ascan (tel: +48 12 640 9022 or 648 8025); Dobrzynski Andrzej (tel: +48 12 421 5861) and Pomoc Drogowa (tel: +48 12 981).

Routes to the city: The north-south E77 links Cracow with Warsaw and Gdansk in the north and Zakopane and the Slovak border in the south. The east-west E40 arrives from Lviv in Ukraine in the east and then goes west through Wroclaw and Katowice to Dresden in Germany (partly the A4 motorway). To the southwest, the Czech Republic is easily reached via the E75.

Approximate driving times to Cracow: From Wroclaw – 4 hours 30 minutes; Warsaw – 5 hours 15 minutes; and Prague – 9 hours.

Coach services: The Dworzec PKS (Central Bus Station; tel: +48 12 300 300 150) www.rda.krakow.pl is on the eastern side of the main railway station, northeast of the Old Town. The main carrier is PKS (tel: +48 12 449 7500 or 411 7022; website: www.pks.krakow.pl) and Polski-Express (tel: +48 22 844 5555; website: www.polskiexpress.pl). Services by different companies are available throughout Poland and from numerous European destinations, such as Berlin, Kiev, Lviv, Paris, Prague, Rome and Vienna