Zakopane cable car price, timing and tips for both lines

Ask about the Zakopane cable car price and you will get two answers, as the town has two lines with nothing in common but the operator, Polish Cableways (PKL). The Gubalowka funicular climbs from the top of Krupowki to a ridge above town in 3.5 minutes, reaching 1122 m and carrying about 2,000 people an hour, all year round.¹ It is a short, cheap ride you can make on a whim, with views of the whole Tatra wall from the top.

The cable car to Kasprowy Wierch is a high-mountain line inside Tatra National Park. Its route is 4291.59 m long with a 936 m height difference, and its cars take up to 60 people.⁷ The City of Zakopane calls it the only high-altitude ropeway in Poland.⁸ Kasprowy Wierch itself stands at 1987 m, and the ride involves a change of car halfway.⁹ It needs a timed ticket, a trip to Kuznice and warm clothes.

Which one you pick depends on your day. Gubalowka fits into any visit, including a guided day from Krakow: the site's tour includes a 10-minute cable car ride and 30 minutes on Gubalowka Hill. Kasprowy Wierch is a half-day plan of its own, best on a clear morning, and it brings you to the ridge on the Slovak border without the hike that otherwise takes most of a day. If your stay allows it, ride both lines, but give each its own part of the day rather than rushing one after the other.

The route is 1301 m long with a 300 m climb, and you can also walk up beside the track in about 1 hour.^26,27 At the bottom you pass a regional open-air market where you can taste oscypek, bundz and redykolka and look at folk crafts.²⁸ The funicular opened on 20 December 1938, and its modern cars have glass roofs, so you see the mountains rising behind you on the way up.^29,30 Sit facing downhill for the best view of the range as you rise.

From the southern slope the view takes in Zakopane and the Tatras, including Czerwone Wierchy, Giewont, Kasprowy Wierch and Swinica.³¹ Beside the upper station a gravity slide runs for some 700 m.²⁶ In summer PKL puts out deckchairs on what it calls the highest beach in Poland, with telescopes and the slide open all season.³² In winter the same ridge turns into a small ski area, and the stalls switch to hot drinks and grilled cheese with cranberry jam.

For a longer outing, walk west along the ridge towards Butorowy Wierch, about 40 minutes through stalls and then forest.³³ From there a two-seat chairlift of 1619 m runs down in about 18 minutes, with views of the Western Tatras.³⁴ It lands in Koscielisko, just outside Zakopane, so allow a little time to get back to the centre. Anyone without a return ticket can buy a ride down at the upper station.³⁵

Here is how to get to Kasprowy Wierch from Zakopane: go to Kuznice, at the southern edge of town, where the lower station stands. You cannot drive there, since the road is closed to traffic, but city buses stop right by the cable car, and the walk from the John Paul II roundabout takes about 40 minutes.⁶ PKL suggests leaving the car in Zakopane; the nearest car park is on Karlowicza Street.⁶⁴ Tatra National Park adds minibuses and taxis as options.⁶⁵

Be at the departure entrance 20 minutes before the time printed on your Tourpass.¹¹ The ride up takes about 20 minutes with one change at Myslenickie Turnie, according to PKL's fare page, while its FAQ puts it at about 15 minutes.^4,9 In season a car leaves every 10 minutes, or every 30 minutes in poorer weather and low demand.²³ The cars are small and full, so stand by the downhill windows on the way up for the view into the valleys.

With a return Tourpass you get 1 hour 40 minutes at the top.¹³ The system sets your return time automatically and you cannot change it.⁶⁶ If you plan to walk down instead, buy a one-way ticket: a ride down can be bought only at the upper station ticket office.⁶⁷ Return ticket sales always end 2 hours before the last car.⁶⁸ In July and August the last ride up is at 19:00, for the sunset.⁶⁹

The Kasprowy Wierch cable car was built at a record pace of 7 months, and the first passengers rode it on 15 March 1936.^74,75 In more than 70 years it carried over 38 million passengers.⁷⁶ The Gubalowka funicular followed on 20 December 1938, and its last full modernisation was finished on 15 December 2001.^29,77 The art deco details at the Kasprowy stations are worth a look while you wait for your car.

Both lines were built when Zakopane was becoming a ski resort, and both still shape how the town works. Gubalowka is the easy outing for an afternoon, a view and a slice of grilled cheese. Kasprowy Wierch is the gateway to the high Tatras for people who would rather not climb 936 m on foot.⁷ Think of them as two different tools, and do not try to squeeze both into the last hours of a day trip.

If you only have one day from Krakow, take Gubalowka and leave Kasprowy for a return trip. If you are staying in Zakopane, ride Kasprowy on the first truly clear morning you get, and save Gubalowka for late afternoon, when the light falls on the whole range from the north side. Either way, buy online, dress warmly and let the weather have the final word. A cloudy summit shows you the inside of a cloud and little else, while the funicular ridge stays below most of the weather.