Zakopane Tours from Krakow, Compared

For a first day in the mountains, book the Zakopane, Gubałówka Funicular and Chochołów Thermal Baths day. Thousand Miles collects you from your Krakow address, stops in the wooden village of Chochołów for a cheese and spirits tasting, hands you a Gubałówka funicular ticket, leaves about two hours for Krupówki and ends with three hours at Chochołowskie Termy. It costs from about $114 per person and is rated 4.9 from 13,368 reviews on Viator, the most-reviewed tour on this site. The same operator sells the day on GetYourGuide from $102, with 4.8 from 11,112 GetYourGuide reviews, so check both for your date.

That pick suits most first visits, but it is a long day of 11 to 12 hours and only part of it is spent in Zakopane. The most useful choice comes first: if you want more time in the town, pick a sightseeing-only tour; if you want a broader day, pick Zakopane plus the thermal baths, which spends about three hours in the pools and correspondingly less on Krupówki. Six kinds of day leave Krakow:

• Classic Zakopane and Gubałówka: the town, the funicular and a cheese tasting, no pools. See Zakopane day trips from Krakow.
• Zakopane plus thermal baths: the same morning, then three hours in the water. See Zakopane and thermal baths tours.
• Zakopane and the Tatra Mountains: the mountain view from town and the ridge. See Tatra Mountains tours from Krakow.
• Snowmobile and baths: a guided ride near Zakopane, a bonfire and the pools. See Zakopane snowmobile tours.
• Private: your own car and driver, priced by party size. See private Zakopane tours.
• Morskie Oko: a walk of about 8 km each way to the lake. See Morskie Oko tours from Krakow.

More of Zakopane: the sightseeing days

Without the baths, a Zakopane day runs 8 to 10 hours and gives you three hours or more in town. The Zakopane and Tatra Mountains Door-to-Door Day Tour picks everyone up from their own address, caps groups at 15 and includes the Gubałówka ticket and a cheese tasting near Chochołów. It runs 8 to 9 hours from about $81 per person, rated 4.8 from 1,194 reviews on Viator. The Cracow Top Tours day with funicular adds Jaszczurówka Chapel and a photo stop at the ski jumps, from about $81 with 4.8 from 493 reviews on Viator. On GetYourGuide, Zakopane, Gubałówka and Wielka Krokiew is from $74 with 4.7 from 1,737 GetYourGuide reviews.

All three ride the Gubałówka funicular, which PKL runs over 1,301 m and which climbs about 300 m in roughly three and a half minutes to the ridge north of town. The tasting, the market at the bottom station and the ridge itself make up the Gubałówka cable car tours page, which also covers the tours that pair the funicular with vodka tastings or snowmobiles.

A broader day: Zakopane plus the thermal baths

The baths days follow the same morning, then trade an hour or more of town for three hours in the pools. Chochołowskie Termy keeps its pools at 32 to 38°C, indoors and out, so the outdoor pools work in winter too. Beyond the Thousand Miles flagship, the ExploreCracow baths day with tasting is from $96 from a meeting point, about $102 with hotel pickup, rated 4.9 from 4,526 GetYourGuide reviews. The Cracow Top Tours baths day costs the same and has 4.8 from 5,755 GetYourGuide reviews. If you want Terma Bania in Białka Tatrzańska, the Best Krakow Terma Bania day is from $75 with 4.9 from 2,267 GetYourGuide reviews.

The lowest from-price comes with a catch. The Discover Cracow pay-on-the-day tour is from about $46, but the funicular and baths tickets are bought on site: in the low season a Gubałówka return costs 37 PLN online or 42 PLN at the ticket office, and a baths ticket about 95 to 115 PLN for 3 hours. If you only want the pools, the Chochołów thermal baths trips skip Zakopane altogether; the HelloCracow evening trip takes about 7 hours from $63, rated 4.6 from 574 GetYourGuide reviews.

Seeing the Tatras or walking into them

Most tours show you the Tatras from Gubałówka, a ridge across the valley from the range that you reach by funicular with no hiking. The valleys and peaks themselves are inside Tatra National Park and are reached on foot. The Zakopane and Tatra Mountains Tour with Gubałówka Cable Car is the viewpoint version: about 8 hours, from $80, rated 4.8 from 970 GetYourGuide reviews.

Morskie Oko is the walking version. The park service describes the route from Palenica Białczańska as about 8 km on an asphalt road, about 2.5 hours each way, and suggests allowing at least 7 hours for the whole outing. Since 1 September 2026 the horse carriages go only to Wodogrzmoty Mickiewicza, about 2.9 km up, so everyone walks the rest. The Morskie Oko Lake and Zakopane Day Tour adds Gubałówka and Krupówki to the lake in 12 hours. It is rated 5.0 from 88 reviews on Viator and priced by party size: about $265 each for two, falling to €81 each for eight.

Snow, quads and the winter days

The Zakopane Snowmobiles, Bonfire and Hot Springs Tour is the most-reviewed snowmobile day on this site, rated 4.8 from 1,300 GetYourGuide reviews and from $108 per person. Budget for the machine on top: 400 PLN in cash per vehicle, which carries up to two people. Snow is not guaranteed, the listing sells dates from early October, and when the trails are bare the ride switches to a quad. Snowmobiles and quads may not run inside Tatra National Park, so every ride is on land outside it. For autumn and summer, Zakopane quad bike tours compares the quad and buggy days, where rental runs 300 to 500 PLN per vehicle.

Your own car and driver

Private tours charge per person, and the rate falls as your party grows. The Private Zakopane and Thermal Springs Tour costs about £299 for one traveller, about $215 each for two, £139 each for three and £99 each for seven to 15, with the funicular, a cheese tasting and about 2.5 hours in the pools included. It is rated 5.0 from 32 reviews on Viator.

Tour, bus or train

Zakopane is 108 km from Krakow by road. The fastest train, the EIP Pendolino, takes 1 hour 57 minutes, and FlixBus runs from about 1 hour 44 minutes. Going on your own works for a slow day in town; a tour saves you buying the funicular and baths tickets separately and covers the transfers to Chochołów, which sits about 20 km beyond Zakopane. Krakow to Zakopane sets out the bus, train and tour options.

Viator or GetYourGuide

Many Zakopane tours are sold on both networks by the same operator, with separate prices and separate reviews. The Thousand Miles day is about $114 on Viator and $102 on GetYourGuide. The ExploreCracow baths day runs the other way: $96 on GetYourGuide against about $108 for its Viator listing. Prices here are from-prices per person, checked in October 2026. Viator’s review counts include Tripadvisor reviews.

Before you book

Chochołowskie Termy is closed from 19 to 30 October 2026 for building work, and some operators move those dates to Terma Bania, so check which baths your date uses. The Kasprowy Wierch cable car is a different lift from Gubałówka, is in none of these tours, and is closed for maintenance from 19 October to 6 November 2026. Genuine oscypek cheese is made only from May to September, so a winter tasting is smoked sheep’s-milk cheese of the same style. Bring a swimsuit, towel and flip-flops on any baths day, and some cash in złoty for extras.

Where to go next: for a first visit, the Thousand Miles baths day at the top of this page is the one we would book, and you can check availability now. To compare every tour by need, read the best Zakopane tours from Krakow, or use which Zakopane tour from Krakow is right for you, which puts all 34 tours in one table.