Zakopane tour, peaks and pools.

The Zakopane tour this site books fills 11 hours with a guide, starting from one of 6 pickup points in Krakow and ending at one of 6 drop-off points. Your guide speaks English and Polish, and travelers who book another language get a printed booklet with the instructions. The plan suits a first visit: it touches the countryside, the town, a viewpoint and the pools in one long loop.

The coach heads south for roughly 1.5 hours before a stop in a traditional village, followed by 30 minutes of cheese, spirits and regional food in Chocholow. Zakopane follows, with 2 hours to roam around Krupowki Street, then the funicular up Gubalowka Hill for 30 minutes on the summit. The day closes with 3 hours at the Chocholowskie thermal baths before the drive home.

As a Zakopane tour from Krakow, it starts from €23 per person; you pay nothing upfront, and cancelling stays free of charge up to 24 hours ahead. The funicular and the bath ticket are handled for you, while lunch is optional and extra. Elsewhere on the site you will find prices, a comparison of the tours, the pools, an hour-by-hour plan and the mountains.

Zakopane is worth a visit at any time of year, summer or winter, according to the Polish Tourism Organisation. The regional portal adds that the Tatras make the tourist season last all year round. The day trip runs through the seasons, and each one changes its mood. Each time of year has its own appeal, and any of them works for a first visit.

At Poprad-Tatry in Slovakia, the weather station this site uses, 33 km from Zakopane across the Tatras, July afternoons average 23.4 °C and January afternoons just 0.5 °C. The Tatra National Park notes that the air cools by about 0.5° C for every 100 m of height, so the top of Gubalowka feels colder than the street.

Winter brings snow on the wooden roofs and steam rising off the outdoor pools. Summer brings green meadows and long evenings, and the thermal complex opens a sandy beach outside. The listing itself warns that it may be cooler in the mountains than in Krakow, so pack a layer in any month. Steam over a hot pool on a frosty afternoon is one of the classic Podhale pictures.

The funicular up Gubalowka Hill takes 10 minutes, and the tour gives you 30 minutes at the top. Gubalowka rises to 1123 m and closes the Zakopane basin, with Giewont and the Tatra wall across the valley. It is one of the classic viewpoints over the town and the range. On a clear day the view reaches across the town to the whole Tatra wall.

Tickets come with the day, and the group passes through an express security lane rather than the main queue. On a winter weekend, when queues at the lower station grow, that matters. Walk a little way along the ridge from the upper station for a quieter view. Small stalls near the top sell coffee, oscypek and souvenirs if you want a snack before the ride down.

Check the date if you travel in late autumn: PKL, the funicular operator, lists an inspection of the Gubalowka line from 16 to 27 November 2026, with replacement transport. Your guide will know the plan for your day. Outside those dates, PKL publishes its own opening hours for the line, so check them for your own date before you travel.