Zakopane, Tatra Mountains W/ Gubalowka Funicular Tour From Krakow

I was walking through the old town in Krakow when I found a tourist office. I had already booked tours to Auschwitz and the Salt Mines on line, but also wanted to visit Zakopane so I booked a tour which included Chocołòw, a cheese tasting and a funicular trip to Gubalowka. I was told that I would be collected near my hotel but this was not the case - although my hotel was just south of the river in Krakow, near Kantor where cars and vans are allowed, they made the collection point Starowislna 65, which was a 25 minute walk from my hotel. Not that great as I have osteoarthritis. Anyway I was collected on time in a small white van with about 6 other people in the van, all British as the tour was in English. Our driver / guide was a really nice bloke called Andrew who was a very careful driver. I was collected on time, in fact about 5 minutes early and was the only one waiting for my particular tour. We set off to Zakopane, stopping to take photos in a very quaint town with wooden houses called Cocholow, and also stopping for a cheese tasting. This was by a small wooden hut at the side of the road and Andrew put the cheese pieces on smoking fire in the hut. Apparently this is a traditional Polish sheep’s cheese. I really liked it, it tasted a bit like halloumi but saltier. We continued on into Zakopane where we were given tickets to the funicular up to Gubalowka. There were several ski lifts on the side of the mountain but not enough snow to ski, although it is obviously a popular ski resort. The views from the top of the funicular were spectacular, I did not stop for a coffee in the cafe up the top as it looked too busy. Once back at the bottom of the funicular I wondered through the wooden stalls selling tourist souvenirs and into the main street which was pedestrianised. There were some of the usual high street shops you would find in any European city, including Tiger, Tiger and TK Maxx alongside some more traditional shops. It was a very pretty town and we had a couple of hours to explore it as well as find some lunch. I stopped in a cafe and had some excellent goulash soup which was more of a stew, very filling, for under £6 before heading back to the van and back to Krakow. We went a different route for the first half of the journey back which made it more interesting, it was about a 2 hour drive in each direction. All in all I would recommend this trip to anyone wanting to visit Zakopane although it is easy to do this trip yourself on a train, but you would not visit Cocholow or the cheese hut!

It was worth doing it's very long day but stunning scenery 😁

This trip was amazing in its self but was spoilt by the driver from start to finish. Driver gave the impression he did not want to be there,car allegedly broke down then miraculously was fixed but nothing was done to fix it?? Arrived at our first place of visit no information given whilst other trips around us were getting told about the subject off their guide we got told to read the boards, other trips got to sample cherry vodka and the local cheese we got the cheese but he didn't have any vodka left? As i say the trip was amazing and the places were better than we expected but on our return journey the driver was driving fast excessively fast i.e 160kph with 4 passengers on board and snow outside i asked the driver to be a bit more cautious and was told it was fine the roads are ok i then informed him we weren't comfortable with his speeds and he asked.us what speed we wanted him to do in a sarcastic tone, not a nice situation to be in. Overall a great trip but hopefully your driver will be way better.

ZAKOPANE Tatra Mountains Thermal Baths was amazing. Booked with SeeKrakow driver and vehicle were amazing. A little bit of history of the area was given on route. The pools and saunas were lovely. Couples, families and children all catered for. Food was very reasonably prices. Big thank you to Pawel for help with changing our pick up location due to construction work outside our hotel. Great trip.

Amazing day trip. Could not fault our guide, Alex. Zakopane is simply stunning. The funicular to the top was breathtaking. So much to see and do. We visited the thermal baths, not quite what we expected and very busy but still great. Would recommend this day trip to anyone. It’s a long day, 11 hours in total but so worth it. Make sure you have a wonder around Zakopane itself after you descend from the mountain.

Museum was impressive headphones used were easy to hear and understand, weather perfect, mountains beautiful. especially when you took the funicular ride too the top. We had booked an English speaking guide but our driver spoke no English at all so we missed out on some vital information regarding the area which was disappointing.He was very pleasant though.

My favourite day in Poland. We had a great trip up to Zakopane and the views at the top of the Funicular were incredible. The high street was lovely but the shops and stalls are all the same, that said, it was a great experience.

We were collected from Krakow in a nice minibus, and only one other couple joined the 4 of us on the trip, so a nice small party. We had a lovely day, and saw some fantastic scenery in the mountains, the location for the main stop in Zakopane/Gubalowka Ski Resort was beautiful, one not to be left out of your tour. The driver was a nice guy, and drove well, but spoke very little English. Sadly we speak even less Polish, so it was difficult to know what was happening next, and what was happening at each stop. Examples were a stop for cheese tasting, and a museum stop, where it was a case of follow me, rather than any explanation. The lack of a common language also meant we were not given any sort of information as we went through the regions. We felt that the driver had been put in an awkward situation, and he definitely did his best to ensure we had a good day. We would do this trip again, but would need to find one with an English speaking guide.

Beautiful place very pretty and picturesque. The driver wasn’t very good scared us a few times as he was using his mobile phone a lot whilst driving didn’t get out of his seat to help us get out. The trip should have been 08.30-18.30 but we was back at 16.15 only spent 3 hours at Zakopane so spent more time travelling then time there. Very disappointing

We were a bit nervous before travelling due to heavy snowfall. But our driver, Chris, was a careful driver and got us to Zakopane and back very safely. On the way we stopped for some smoked cheese which Chris smoked for us on a fire and told us some interesting facts about the history of the area. Once in Zakopane, Chris collected our tickets for the funicular and gave us a clear time to meet up at the end. We had around 3 hours in Zakopane which was enough for us to see everything there. We were back in Kraków at approx 5:30pm.

Chris was fab. He gave us ownership of our day, allowed the trip to be flexible which is what we really wanted. He was kind, friendly and informative. He was a great driver and informed us of toilet stops as and when appropriate, he ensured that he continuously checked on us and that we were comfortable. The trip itself was lovely, long car journey though, about 2 hours 30 minutes there - but we knew that when booking.

Despite seeing online that transportation to Zakopane from Krakow was possible via train or bus, we decided to go on this tour to save time and energy in planning this trip. The tour guide was excellent! He was friendly from the very moment we met him and talked about the history of Krakow and Zakopane along the way. It was a 2 hour journey, and we made our way to the traditional wooden house where we met a wood sculptor and saw the interior of this amazing structure. Then, we went to the Zakopane museum which went into depth into the architecture and stylistic motifs of its woodwork (which was a really cool experience btw. We were given audio headsets and the narrator would change its information based on the room you walked into. There was plenty of info to take in). Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side that day, cloudy which later turned into heavy rains and a thunderstorm once we went up to Gubalowka by the funicular! Had it been clear skies, the Zakopane museum had some amazing views already even though we hadn't climbed in altitude yet, when we looked outside the windows you could see the beautiful forest with little wooden houses scattered all over and (what I think was) a glimpse of the mountains' peak too. We also went for the traditional cheese tasting, with our tour guide paying for our cheese and giving what he recommended. Finally, we made it to the funicular, going up what was actually only a 5 minute ride! At the top was supposed to be the breathtaking view across the balcony, which we were unable to see because of the rain and thick clouds. We settled in a cafe instead and shortly went back down to look through the many market stalls offering traditional leather, cheese, jams, wooden sculptures and other souvenirs native not only just to Poland, but to the highland culture of Zakopane itself. It genuinely was such a shame that the weather wasn't on our side, but that was beyond our control so I can't reduce my stars on this review for something that was out of their hands. All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed the multitude of places and activities we went to that day. I'd definitely recommend keeping track of the weather before you plan a trip here, if possible. Although the skies did clear up once we made our way back... So we got to see the beauty of the mountains from the road at least. I plan to return to Zakopane one day to see that view hopefully!

Driver and guide was very pleasant and helpful, Zakopane was very busy. The driver got us back in good time

We were not able to take the ride on the Gubalowka Funiular which was one of the main reasons that we booked the tour

The trip itself was lovely,nice views and guide was very informative. The only letdown was that the as was a bit misleading because the zipline is NOT included in the trip. Overall the experience was very pleasant

The trip was the best day of the visit. The views are beautiful. Defo recommend anyone going to Krakow goes to Zakopane! You get picked up between 8-9am and you are out til around 6pm.

Experience was amazing. The driver waited for us near the pickup point and was on time . Very excellent driver and driver very safely with very good collections of music . Stopped to have cheese and then museum and then the train ride to the mountains. Amazing experience and highly recommended

Must visit place.Absolutely stunning views.Our Driver was quite knowledgeable about the place.Just a recommendation, the driver was telling a lot of information but only front couple of seats can hear them. Others couldn’t hear anything. It would be helpful if everyone can hear.Also this trip can be run more professionally but overall the place was beautiful.

Couldn't recommend this more! The day we were scheduled to go was rainy so we ended up with a private tour. The rain held off and we had an incredible day in Zakopane! Our driver Dawid took care of everything and shared some great information about all our stops along the way. The highlight of the day (aside from the delicious oscypek) was our time in the downtown area where we had time to take the funicular up to Gubałówka, shop and have lunch. Thanks for a great day!

The drive once we got into the mountains was beautiful! The chalets were breathtaking. The driver was very friendly, informative and engaging.

It was a nice and exciting trip! The group was small, we had enough time to visit everything and the guide was friendly and easy going. Totally worth the money!

A very nice tour to Zakopane and the breathtaking view from Gubalowa. On the way we also got to taste smoked goat cheese prepared in a very typical way in a hut. We also visited a museum Villa Koliba, incl. audio guide , where you can see the real Zakopane furniture and carving style. It was a beautiful experience which has left a lot of nice memories.

A great trip to a stunning place. Everything well organized and on-time. Top class coach and good guide. It was a superb experience, I would recommend it to everyone.

We took the tour to Zakopane and highly recommend it. The tour is well planned. We were picked up punctually at the agreed point and left for Zakopane. The guide was very friendly, explained us curiosities and took care of everything during the visit. During the visit there is free time of approx. 2.30h to visit Gubalowka. The van was brand new, comfortable and spacious. We would definitely repeat again. Outstanding!

Honestly couldn’t recommend this tour more. We had such an amazing time and our guide (Machi, mostly spelt wrong so apologies) was just so sweet and accommodating. The trip is well planned and you’re given more than enough time to explore everything. The drive itself is a big long but if you’re happy to just take in the scenery while driving, you’ll love it.

This was an excellent day with our very proficient and extremely pleasant guide Adam. The experiences throughout the day were all very enjoyable and well organised from the shepherds hut and cheese tasting to the funicular journey and the fantastic views of the Tetra mountains ( even though the very high peaks were hidden in the clouds) We would highly recommend this tour AND Adam as a guide

We did this day trip on our last full day in Krakow and it was brilliant. Our tour guide was informative and friendly and made the trip- the views on the mountains are amazing and we were lucky enough to have a clear day.

I really felt I made a good choice going for this tour. At first I was concerned because I was in the meeting point early and there is no van. I didn’t know the starting time changed but it was sorted out. The tour guide Eva is just great and extremely helpful. I rarely experience such great customer service and it’s refreshing. It was a small group tour so in the end all four of us were chatting happily despite the traffic going back to Krakow. The tour includes a short stop to the cheese farm and to the choholiwe. Highly recommended!

Excellent experience scenery was amazing and the tour guide and driver were brilliant would recommend using this company for future guided tours.

We booked this trip wanting to see the mountains but we got so much more. We were part of a small group totaling 7. Our guide was Ana and she was wonderful. Friendly, professional and informative. If you asked her something she didn't know she made a point of finding out and coming back to you. We visited a wooden house museum and were given an interesting insight into the way life used to be by the local curator. She did a brilliant job all translated by Ana. We also went to a place where they smoked cheese in the traditional way and had chance to sample and buy the products. Zakopane and the Tatra mountains were obviously the highlight of the day. Absolutely stunning. I should also say our driver was brilliant. I felt safe and relaxed, beautiful scenic drive.

What a lovely experience. Very comfortable and pleasant journey with wonderful scenery. A stop on the way to a beautiful traditional wooden home was very special. The cheese tasting stop was amazing. The driver Zeszek was very helpful, careful,kind and informative. The whole trip was a delight and our Guise Damian was kind, clear, informative organised and happy. We travelled on a busy bank holiday, Damian was organised and helpful. I would definitely recommend this trip and we had plenty of time to explore and had also some free time in Zakopane which was such a lovely place and I will definitely be returning. We managed to get to the last bit of snow with a wonderful view .... x heaven. thank you

friendly driver, small group, nice to be outside the big city

Belle journée dans les Tatras. On a vu beaucoup mieux niveau guide et ambiance globale mais pour une journée semi guidée hors de la ville c'est plutôt satisfaisant.

Intéressant, mais la vue était gâchée par un fort brouillard et beaucoup de pluie…. Dommage , par beau temps la vue doit être exceptionnelle

Very friendly experience. Being in a small group was fun and our guide was great. Price quality ratio is really good considering the different places visited in one day. Having a free time of 3 hours was also nice.

Very good day with our driver and guide. He drove us into Zakopane and showed us around the place. Very attentive and patient guide because it was my son who made me the translations into French which took a little time. The landscapes are beautiful and varied. Pleasant outing in addition to 3 days in Krakow and visit the salt mines.

We had a great visit to Zakopane and the surrounding area. On the program small village typical of southern Poland, stop in a cheese factory to taste the local specialty and finally Zakopane with a ride by funicular. On the negative side I would put the fact that we are too supervised in Zakopane and only 2 hours of free time alone in the city. Adding lunch during this free time, it passes far too fast! Our driver was great as well as the guide who was a bit too mommy bear and had some difficulty with fluency in English in my opinion. Otherwise it was beautiful, we were not disappointed!