Cheap flights from Cologne to Krakow

January is the cheapest month to fly this route, and the price calendar runs from September through to July. Winter is quiet at both ends: Cologne is cold and grey, Krakow is colder still, and the fares drop with the crowds. Spring fills up around Easter, early summer around the May holidays, and the run-up to Christmas is the busiest stretch, with visitors heading for the Krakow Christmas market and families flying home. Midweek departures and returns usually cost less than Friday and Sunday flights, and booking a few weeks ahead beats leaving it to the last days.

Nothing flies non-stop between Cologne/Bonn and Krakow, so the airline you choose decides where you change planes. Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cityline, Lufthansa City Airlines and Austrian are the full-service names, with more included in the fare. Eurowings and Eurowings Europe Malta, Pegasus, Jet2 and Sun Express sell on a low-cost model, where the ticket covers the seat and the rest is added at checkout. Air Baltic sits between the two. On a connecting trip, check whether the whole journey is on one ticket: if it is, the airline looks after you when a flight runs late; if you booked the legs separately, it does not.

You land at Balice, Krakow's airport, which sits outside the city rather than in the middle of it. The centre is a short ride away: an airport train and city buses connect the terminal with the main station area, and taxis and ride-hailing cars wait outside arrivals. Late landings are the thing to watch, because if your connection is the last of the day the buses and trains may already have stopped, so have a taxi in mind as a fallback. If you are travelling on to the mountains or another Polish city, note that the bus and rail stations sit in the centre, not at the airport, so you will cross town first.

Currency

PLZ (zł)

Power sockets

Type C, E · 230 V

Language

Polish

Emergency number

112, 986, 997

Driving side

right

Calling code

+48

Internet domain

.pl

EU / Schengen

EU member, Schengen area

Population of Krakow

804 k (2023)

Time zone

UTC+02 (Europe/Warsaw)

Country facts: Wikidata

• Check the connection time before you book, because a tight change is where connecting trips go wrong.
• Book the whole journey on one ticket if you can, so a missed connection is the airline's problem, not yours.
• Compare what the low-cost fares include, since baggage and seat choice cost extra on Eurowings, Pegasus, Jet2 and Sun Express.
• Carry a passport or identity card Poland accepts, and check the entry rules for the country where you change planes.
• Fly in January if the fare decides your dates, and check the price calendar before you fix anything.
• Plan for winter weather at both ends, since snow in Krakow and de-icing in Cologne can push a connection out.