Krakow eSIM
In Krakow you connect to Orange or Play, whichever is performing better where you are standing. The typical speed across the country is 68 Mbps. Your data starts working the moment you land, before you reach the immigration hall.
- Networks
- Orange and Play
- Typical speed in Poland
- 68 Mbps typical, 18 Mbps at busy times
- 5G
- yes, non standalone
- Throttle
- None on metered plans
- Tethering
- Allowed on every plan
Plans that cover Krakow
| Data | Validity | Price per GB | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | Never expires | $5.89 | $5.89 | |
| 3 GB | Never expires | $2.63 | $7.89 | |
| 5 GBMost travellers | Never expires | $1.98 | $9.89 | |
| 10 GB | Never expires | $1.49 | $14.89 | |
| 20 GB | Never expires | $1.19 | $23.89 | |
| 50 GB | Never expires | $1.52 | $75.89 |
How Poland compares across Europe
- Regional typical speed
- 71 Mbps
- Upstream networks
- 2, Orange, Play
- 5G
- Yes, non standalone
- Next fastest nearby
- Greece, 69 Mbps
- Next slowest nearby
- United Kingdom, 67 Mbps
- Cities with their own page
- 3: Warsaw, Krakow, Gdansk
Landing at Kraków John Paul II International Airport (Balice) (KRK)
- Airport
- KRK / EPKK
- Distance
- 11 km from the centre of Krakow
- Wifi on arrival
- Free wifi in the terminalKraków Airport provides a free Wi-Fi connection for passengers and names the network KRK Free Wi-Fi in its own passenger FAQ.
Getting into Krakow
- SKA1 suburban rail to Kraków Główny (KRK), about 17 minutes
- Day and night buses to Kraków Główny railway station and the ICE Congress Centre (KRK)
- City bus 300 to Kraków city centre, about 45 minutes
- Night bus 902 to Kraków city centre, about 45 minutes
- SKA1 through train to Wieliczka Rynek Kopalnia, the salt mine, about 45 minutes
Worth knowing about Krakow
- Kraków's airport rail link, the SKA1, reaches the main station in about 17 minutes; the service only resumed in September 2015.
- The airport is 11 km west of the centre at Balice and is run by its own company rather than by the national operator PPL.
- Airport buses run both day and night, so late arrivals are not dependent on the train.
- The airport railway station sits directly beside the terminal behind the multi storey car park, reached by a covered footbridge. Train tickets are sold by machine, by conductors and online, in cash or by card.
- Public transport ticket machines stand on level 0 of the passenger terminal in front of the arrivals hall. They take cards, but transport tickets are sold only in Polish zloty.
- The airport is served by two municipal bus routes, 300 by day and 902 at night, taking about 45 minutes to the centre. The airport puts the train at about 20 minutes and a taxi at about 25.
- The SKA1 line does not stop at Kraków Główny. It runs through to Wieliczka Rynek Kopalnia at the salt mine, about 45 minutes from the airport, so the mine is reachable without changing trains.
- Kraków's newest onboard ticket machines are EMV devices. You tap a contactless payment card, phone or smartwatch and they no longer print a paper ticket at all.
- Because the EMV machines bind the ticket to the payment method, an inspector reads the very same card, phone or watch used to buy it. Paying for a companion with your card ties their ticket to your card.
- MPK lists four ways to buy a ticket: the mKKM and mKK mobile apps, an online Elektroniczne Konto Pasażera, stationary KKM machines, and the mobile machines fitted inside KMK vehicles.
- The Krakowska Karta Miejska is a named electronic carrier for period tickets, not a pay as you go card. You collect it at a service point with identification and a photo, or open a passenger account online first.
- Kraków has no metro. Construction of a metro line was abandoned in 1994 in favour of the fast tram, after a single underground station had been built near the railway station between 1974 and 1990.
- The Kraków Fast Tram tunnel runs 1.4 km with two underground stops and opened in December 2008 after 34 years of construction. It is the only stretch of city transport in Kraków that is genuinely underground.
- The Dworzec Główny Tunel tram stop lies about 12 metres below ground under Pawia Street, beneath the Galeria Krakowska shopping centre and Kraków Główny station, and has lifts and escalators.
- Kraków trams date to a 2.8 km horse drawn line opened in 1882 and electrified in 1901. The network now runs about 90 km of route, so trams, not a metro, are the backbone of the city.
- Poland has required prepaid SIM registration since 25 July 2016. UKE says you register in person on presentation of an identity card or passport, and that scans, copies and photocopies are not accepted as documents.