We are going to leave Krakow and head for Frankfurt or Cologne. Party of 4 traveling in August. The trains just take too darn long for this part of our trip. We would rather drive. I am thinking of getting out of Poland to some point in Germany closest to Krakow to rent a car. Any ideas out there on how best to do this or any better ideas? Thanks this Forum has always helped me so much in the past! Yes I also put this post in the Germany and Poland forum.
Posted by
Green Bay
20977 posts
Ryanair flies Krakow to Dortmund 4 days a week, at least currently. Holzwickede station is about a kilometer from the terminal, with direct trains every hour to Cologne.
Doesn't really do much good to post an identical question on 3 different Forums. Your answers get spread out at 3 separate places and we see all of them. Why don't you just delete the other 2 and then this one is where all the answers will be.
Posted by
San Francisco
14792 posts
Traveling with others entails complying their wishes with yours. In your case here it is very easy to do this route by train, especially in the summer. There is night train from Poland to Cologne, the terminus, which used to be Amsterdam, or doing it by day, go from Krakow to Berlin, then Hbf, then Berlin Hbf to Cologne. No problems for me as a solo traveler doing this route on a night train or by day. Yes, you could drive. I know of a French couple who drove from Dortmund to Krakow.
Posted by
Washington DC
27644 posts
I have no experience driving in Europe and don't know anything about rental-car availability, but what appears to be the fastest road route from Krakow to Frankfurt is via Dresden. Before you reach Dresden, you cross the border very near Görlitz, which is stunningly preserved and would make a great stop. I think it has over 1000 half-timbered buildings, plus some scattered art nouveau structures. It's used for location filming because of its beauty.
There are several rail connections a day between Krakow and Görlitz, taking from 6 to 7-1/2 hours. You would change at Wroclaw and possibly also at a second city.
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
Have you considered the potential drop off charges if you return a car to a different country?
I would fly.
Posted by
Colorado Springs
2957 posts
There are non-stop flights between Krakow and Dusseldorf via Eurowings, costing less than $50 and taking an hour and 40 minutes. From there it's 30 minutes to Cologne via train or rental car. Would seem to be the most efficient and cost-effective way to go.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
Most of the fastest train connections change at Poznan and Berlin, so those are also logical stopover cities. Travel via Vienna or Prague doesn't require much more total train time, if you wanted to stop there. But any of these big cities deserves at least three nights and two full days to visit. Otherwise, you're better off flying.