Best Zakopane Tours from Krakow

If you can take only one Zakopane tour from Krakow, book Thousand Miles’ Zakopane, Gubałówka Funicular and Chochołów Thermal Baths day on Viator. It costs from about $114 per person, collects you from your Krakow address, and fits in Chochołów village, a cheese and spirits tasting, the Gubałówka funicular, about two hours on Krupówki and three hours at Chochołowskie Termy. It holds 4.9 from 13,368 reviews on Viator, the most-reviewed Zakopane tour on this site (prices checked October 2026). The same operator sells the same day on GetYourGuide as Krakow–Zakopane: Cable Car, Chocholow Baths, Cheese & Vodka, from $102 with 4.8 from 11,112 GetYourGuide reviews, so check both for your date.

Zakopane is 108 km south of Krakow by road, and almost every tour builds the same skeleton around that drive: a stop in a wooden highland village, a smoked-cheese tasting, the funicular up Gubałówka and free time in town. What really separates them is whether the day ends in thermal pools, what the price leaves out, and who collects you. Below is one pick for each kind of traveller.

Quick picks by need

• Best overall: the Thousand Miles baths day, from about $114 on Viator, funicular and three-hour baths ticket included.
• Best without the baths: the Zakopane and Tatra Mountains Door-to-Door Day Tour, from about $81, 8 to 9 hours, groups of up to 15.
• Best baths day on GetYourGuide: the Zakopane, Gubałówka and Chochołów Hot Springs Day Trip, from $96, 4.9 from 4,526 GetYourGuide reviews.
• Cheapest honest option: the pay-on-the-day Zakopane trip, from about $46, with the funicular and baths tickets bought on site.
• Best winter day: the Zakopane Snowmobiles, Bonfire and Hot Springs Tour, from $108 plus 400 PLN cash per two-seat machine.
• Best private day: the Private Zakopane and Thermal Springs Tour, about $215 each for two.
• Morskie Oko: the Morskie Oko Lake and Zakopane Day Tour, about $265 each for two, with a 16 km walk.

Best overall: the Thousand Miles baths day

The Thousand Miles day earns its place by including everything most visitors want. The driver collects you between about 07:30 and 09:00, with the exact time phoned through around 8 pm the evening before. You get about 15 minutes among the log houses of Chochołów, a half-hour tasting of smoked sheep’s-milk cheese with regional spirits, then the funicular ticket in your guide’s hand. The ride climbs about 300 m to the ridge in roughly three and a half minutes, and the plan allows about an hour up there before around two hours on Krupówki, where lunch is at your own cost.

The last three hours belong to Chochołowskie Termy, whose pools are kept at 32 to 38°C. The ticket covers most zones but not the sauna area, and you bring your own towel, swimsuit and flip-flops. The trade-offs are size and length: shared groups can reach 53 travellers and you are back in Krakow after 11 to 12 hours. Read our breakdown of the Thousand Miles day, and compare every baths combination on our Zakopane and thermal baths page.

Best without the baths

Want more time in Zakopane? Pick a sightseeing-only tour. VISIT POLEN’s Door-to-Door Day Tour picks up every traveller at their accommodation, caps groups at 15 and keeps the day to 8 to 9 hours. You taste smoked cheese near Chochołów, ride the funicular with about an hour at the top, then have around two hours on Krupówki plus a short stop at the ski jump. It costs from about $81 per person and holds 4.8 from 1,194 reviews on Viator.

Cracow Top Tours’ Zakopane and Tatra Mountains Day Tour with Funicular costs the same from-price, about $81, adds stops at Jaszczurówka Chapel and the Wielka Krokiew ski jumps, and runs 9 to 10 hours with groups of up to 30. It holds 4.8 from 493 reviews on Viator, and its GetYourGuide twin, Zakopane Tatra Mountains, Cable Car, Local Tasting, is from $80. Every sightseeing-only option is on our Zakopane day trip page.

Best baths day on GetYourGuide

ExploreCracow’s Zakopane, Gubałówka and Chochołów Hot Springs Day Trip runs the same shape as the Thousand Miles day for less: from $96 per person from a central meeting point, or about $102 with hotel pickup. It allows about 2.5 hours in Zakopane and three hours at the baths, and holds 4.9 from 4,526 GetYourGuide reviews. On Viator the same day is Zakopane & Hot Springs Tour with Cable Car, from about $108 with hotel pickup.

Cracow Top Tours’ Zakopane Day Trip with Thermal Springs, Funicular and Local Tasting is the other strong GetYourGuide pick, from $96 with 4.8 from 5,755 GetYourGuide reviews. From 19 to 30 October 2026 it goes to Terma Bania for the same three hours while Chochołowskie Termy is closed. If you want the pools without a day of sightseeing, HelloCracow’s Chochołów Thermal Baths Evening Trip takes about 7 hours from $63; see our Chochołów thermal baths page.

Cheapest honest option: do the maths

Discover Cracow’s Zakopane Day Trip with Pay-on-the-Day Funicular and Baths starts from about $46 per person from Krakow’s central bus station, or about $63 with hotel pickup, and holds 4.9 from 1,976 reviews on Viator. The price covers transport, an English-speaking guide and a cheese and vodka tasting. It does not cover the Gubałówka funicular (a low-season return is 37 PLN online or 42 PLN at the ticket office) or the baths (about 95 to 115 PLN for 3 hours in the low season), and locker hire is extra.

Add both tickets and you pay roughly 132 to 157 PLN more, about $35 to $42, so the full day lands near $81 to $88 per person from the bus station. That is close to the all-inclusive GetYourGuide baths days at $96. The real saving comes if you skip the pools or the funicular. Bring złoty in cash, expect groups of up to 50, and note that the bus drives through Chochołów without stopping. Its GetYourGuide twin, Zakopane and Tatra Mountains Day Trip, is from $39 on the same terms.

Best winter day: snowmobiles and hot springs

Krakowdirect’s Zakopane Snowmobiles, Bonfire and Hot Springs Tour costs from $108 from the meeting point or about $120 with hotel pickup, and holds 4.8 from 1,300 GetYourGuide reviews. On top of that you pay 400 PLN in cash per machine, which carries up to two riders, so 200 PLN each when shared. The ride lasts about an hour on land outside Tatra National Park, where motor vehicles are banned, followed by a bonfire and three hours at Chochołowskie Termy. Snow is not guaranteed: the listing sells dates from early October, and quads replace the snowmobiles when snow is thin.

Fun Tours Cracow’s Snowmobile, Zakopane and Chochołów Baths Day Trip is pricier, from $170, and holds 4.9 from 670 GetYourGuide reviews; its rental desk takes cash only. More winter options are on our Zakopane snowmobile tours page.

Best private day

Cracow Top Tours’ Private Zakopane and Thermal Springs Tour prices each person by party size: about £299 for a solo traveller, about $215 (£159) each for two, £139 each for three and £99 each for groups of seven to 15. The car is yours from 08:30, and the day covers about two hours in Zakopane, the funicular, a cheese tasting near Chochołów and about 2.5 hours in a thermal complex the listing does not name, so ask which one. It holds 5.0 from 32 reviews on Viator. Other private cars are compared on our private Zakopane tours page.

Morskie Oko: a walking day

Morskie Oko is a lake you walk to. Tatra National Park describes the route from Palenica Białczańska as about 8 km each way on an asphalt road, about 2.5 hours each way, and suggests allowing at least 7 hours in all. Since 1 September 2026 horse carriages run only as far as Wodogrzmoty Mickiewicza, about 2.9 km up. Legendary Krakow’s Morskie Oko Lake and Zakopane Day Tour includes the park ticket, the funicular and tastings over about 12 hours, priced by party size: €398 for one, about $265 (€230) each for two, falling to €81 each for eight. It holds 5.0 from 88 reviews on Viator. Skip it if you cannot walk about 16 km in a day; our Morskie Oko tours page has the details.

Where to go next

If you are still torn, the guide to which Zakopane tour from Krakow is right for you sets every tour on this site in one table, and our Krakow to Zakopane page compares a tour with the bus and the train. When you have chosen your day, check availability.