4.06/5
895 reviews
Photo by Severinus Dewantara via Unsplash

Cost of Living in Kraków

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town

krakow

small

tourist

great

krakw

stare

miasto

kazimierz

entire

tourists

gem

loved

restaurants

summer

winter

locals

stuff

walk

Kraków gets a lot of praise for being walkable and well-connected, with many reviewers noting that you rarely need more than a tram or Uber if you stay in Kazimierz, Stare Miasto, or the up-and-coming Podgórze. The city offers a wide mix of restaurants and local activities—river walks, kayaking, gyms, martial arts, parks, and nearby lakes—so residents say there’s always something to do after work.

Winter and early spring draw consistent complaints for being cold, dark, and quiet, with some finding it harder to meet people. Food opinions are mixed: a few call it bland while others highlight affordable, varied options. Tourism is another recurring note; the Old Town can feel crowded and commercial, and some reviewers warn of aggressive strip-club touts. Still, most agree the city remains practical and compact, especially as a summer base.

AI-generated summary of reviews
20 days ago

I'd argue the entire city is a tourist shithole. Even if you leave the Old Town, it's still full of tourists and shitty tourist shops. It reminds me of Osaka in how destroyed by tourists it is.

20 days ago

Touristy, but I'd still consider it a hidden gem. Small town vibes, but big enough you won't get bored.

2 years ago

We loved our time in Krakow this July and August. The city exceeded our expectations with its charm and affordability. There are so many great restaurants that are affordable, and getting around couldn’t be easier. Whether you're walking, biking, or hopping on a tram, everything is within reach and super budget-friendly.

I was worried Krakow might be overhyped, but honestly, it’s still underrated in my opinion. Yes, there’s a noticeable amount of tourism, and prices have risen like everywhere else, but it’s still a very affordable city if you’re mindful.

Winter might be a different story, but we’ve definitely found our new summer base.

2 years ago

It is cold, and dark, and sad in the winter and fall and spring. people are hard to meet and connect with. food is bland. the old town is nice, but small. not much to do. lots of locals try to convince tourist to go into seedy strip clubs where there are scams.

3 years ago

I lived in Kraków for 13 years. Before I was nomad I worked in Kraków from office, studied here. I see lots of reviews mention Stare Miasto. In fact biggest gem these days is Podgórze neighbourhood, for lots of locals and expats this is trending area now. It's close to old town an to Kazimierz and has growing numbers of restaurants and delicatessen of various cusines, besides Polish mostly Italian, Jewish, Middle-Eastern, Georgian, Ukrainian, Indian. You can see it's reflected on the neighbourhoods map. In free time after working you can do lot's stuff like go for walk by the river, party in Forum, go to tourist areas in Old Town and Kazimierz, go to gym, train martial arts like Krav Maga, Boxing, go for kayak or SUP in river, in summer spend time by lakes in Zakrzówek or Kryspinów. You can enjoy nature in Las Wolski. You can play football in Góra Parkowa or watch game of Perła Kraków, even try playing for class C football club if you like. There's also lot's of cool museums and cool stuff to do.

3 years ago

I'm Polish and after being an expat nomad for 10+ years I returned to stay in Kraków. It truly is a gem of this region and my favorite small city

4 years ago

Incredible city for nomads. In autumn/winter you'll have to deal with the cold, but there's still stuff going on.

- Using the tram and uber was rare. Stay in Kazimierz or Stare Miasto and you get anywhere interesting in

5 years ago

I studied here. Old town is too busy with tourists to live in for my tase, but there are plenty of districts to choose from. Accommodation is cheap, and you can get mobile data plan in every convenience store. It's also quite safe - local girls aren't afraid to walk alone after dawn. Just don't bother drunk people in front of the bar and you will be fine.

Also if you didn't take some 1-2 day tours to nearby places you're missing out: Wieliczka, Energylandia, Zakopane, Auschwitz. Air quality and temperature in the winter can be annoying, but in case you find yourself there when it is snowing, grab a hot beer "grzaniec".

5 years ago

Krakow is a brilliant city to live and work from. Friendly, easy to get around (usually able to walk everywhere), great internet and busy nightlife. Really pretty city, too. Kazimierz, the old Jewish district, is the obvious place to live. Loads of great cafes and other digital nomads there.
I was there during the summer when it was between 24 and 30 degrees each day, which is perfect. No doubt a different experience in the winter, though!

6 years ago

Enjoyed Krakow. I was only there for 4 days which I think was perfect. It's a small big city with a beautiful old town square, great restaurants, fun sites, and good history. But if I stayed for a month or longer I believe it would have become a tad too small and boring for myself. Personally, enjoy Warsaw (where I have been for a month) more than Krakow if you're debating between the two Polish cities.

7 years ago

Really enjoyed Krakow, it is the perfect 'small city'. Will definitely be returning!

7 years ago

I visited Krakow 10 years ago and it was one of my favorite cities. This recent trip destroyed that memory. Very hard to find good wifi. Small city.

7 years ago

Krakow is my favorite city !
Cheap - you can buy a lunch in around 4$, and rent apartments in the center in around 600EUR. take an uber in less than 3 EUR

Friendly - The locals are very friendly and cool and easy to connect with. there is a lot of expats there so there is enough things to do. also i never had problem with language.. they all know english well

Beautiful - its one of the most beautiful cities i've been at - even more than prague.. everything here maintained like hundreds years ago and be in the old town is magical

Clean - the city is extremely clean

8 years ago

I lived in Stare Miasto for a year and loved it. As an American who doesn't speak the language I had no problem getting anywhere, felt safe the entire time and genuinely loved my time spent here.

Internet was faster than anywhere I've seen in the US, the food was delicious, the nightclubs don't close until daylight and the entire City is inexpensive.

Since I left it seems that racial tensions are growing and I'm hearing from Asian friends that they are being harassed more than ever before. I don't think is much of an issue if you're in the old town tourist area (Stare Miasto) as opposed to the more rural areas of Krakow...but for this reason I'm not going to move back anytime soon.

8 years ago

✅ Great food

✅ Easy to get around

✅ Walkable

✅ Good mix of neighborhoods

✅ Lots of activities (sports, nature, culture)

✅ Pretty safe

✅ Fast internet

✅ Good air quality usually

✅ Nomads.com members liked going here

✅ Many Nomads.com members here all year round

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Very easy to do business

✅ High quality of education

✅ Great hospitals

✅ Roads are pretty safe

✅ Great freedom of speech

✅ Democratic

✅ People can speak basic English

✅ Very safe for women

✅ Family friendly

❌ Cold and dark in winter

❌ Hard to meet people

❌ Bland food

❌ Small old town

❌ Very touristy

❌ Expensive

❌ Not much to do

❌ Cold now

❌ Gets cold in the winter

❌ Very damp now

❌ Difficult to make friends

❌ Hostile towards LGBTQ+

❌ Many people smoke tobacco

❌ High alcohol consumption

❌ Marijuana is illegal

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

-130°
freezing

-228°
freezing

541°
cold

948°
cold

1763°
cool

2272°
mild

2577°
warm

2170°
mild

1864°
cool

1355°
cool

643°
cold

-130°
freezing

Real (median)

134°
very cold

133°
very cold

643°
very cold

1049°
cold

1661°
cool

2272°
mild

2577°
warm

2068°
mild

1864°
cool

1355°
cool

744°
cold

134°
very cold

Humidity

damp
85%

damp
83%

damp
76%

damp
74%

damp
75%

nice
72%

nice
74%

nice
71%

damp
74%

damp
82%

damp
84%

Most common

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

Rain

rainy
53mm

rainy
54mm

dry
42mm

rainy
74mm

rainy
105mm

dry
49mm

rainy
106mm

rainy
80mm

rainy
74mm

dry
17mm

dry
49mm

dry
47mm

Cloud

cloudy
85%

cloudy
82%

cloudy
70%

cloudy
69%

cloudy
72%

cloudy
52%

cloudy
66%

cloudy
59%

cloudy
68%

cloudy
77%

cloudy
86%

Air quality

okay
71 US AQI

okay
96 US AQI

okay
71 US AQI

Sun

safe
1 UVI

safe
2 UVI

seek shade
3 UVI

seek shade
4 UVI

seek shade
6 UVI

seek shade
5 UVI

seek shade
4 UVI

safe
3 UVI

safe
2 UVI

safe
1 UVI

Remote workers

3,480 people

3,462 people

4,550 people

3,767 people

5,229 people

4,429 people

6,200 people

5,850 people

6,000 people

6,160 people

3,600 people

4,800 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

Current weather data from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0)

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$3,588 / mo

22 Mbps

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 14° 57° 13° 56° AQI 59 😷

✈️3h

$5,463 / mo

🌇 Also went here276 people

Lisbon

Portugal

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 16° 61° 16° 62° AQI 2

✈️3h

$4,758 / mo

🌇 Also went here413 people

New York City, NY

United States

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 20° 68° 20° 68° AQI 26

✈️9h

$8,874 / mo

🌇 Also went here290 people

Bangkok

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 45° 113° 32° 90° Has AC AQI 71 😷

✈️11h

$1,709 / mo

🌇 Also went here380 people

5,400 remote workers in Kraków now, of which 9+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

🎒 Nomad Score™	4.06/5 (Rank #17) 895 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍16 liked it 👎2 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Good
👶 Family score	Good
🎒 Community score	Okay
🤯 Overcrowding score	1% is nomad here
💵 Cost	🙂 Okay: $2,527 / mo
📡 Internet	🚀 Super fast: 140 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Okay
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥶 Too cold: 4°C39°F (feels 2°C36°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	💦 Damp: 93%
❄️ % of buildings with AC	🥵 Very low: 5%
💨 Air quality (now)	😐 Moderate: 98 US AQI
💨 Air quality (annual)	🌱 Good: 71 US AQI
👌 Safety	Good
👩 Safe for women	Great
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Bad
🤮 Food safety*	Great
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Great
🤝 Lack of racism*	Bad
🎓 Education level*	High
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Resilience to climate change	Good
💰 Income level*	Rich: $2,103 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Good
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Okay
✈️ Airline scores*	Great
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
🏥 Hospitals	Great
😄 Happiness*	Good
🍸 Nightlife	Okay
📶 Free WiFi in city	Okay
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Okay
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Okay
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Good
🎅 Startup Score	Okay

🌍 Continent	Europe
🚩 Country	Poland
🗓️ Average trip length	6 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	140 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌥 4°C 39°F + 💦 Damp (93%) = feels 2°C 36°F
💨 Air quality (now)	👎😷 98 US AQI = 🚬 / day
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	👎😷 71 US AQI
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🚀 Upcoming neighborhood	Podgórze
🚕 Best taxi app*	Uber
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 10 PLN in USD	USD 2.55
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	PLN 1,000 = USD 255
💸 Tipping	Yes, 10%
💳 Cashless	💳 Yes, cards OK almost everywhere
💻 Best coworking space	CoLabs
💻 Best alt. coworking space	HubRaum
🚰 Tap water	👌 Yes, safe to drink
🦷 Fluoride added	🚫 No fluoride added
🪨 Water hardness	Hard · 139 mg/L
♻️ Return rate	👍11% of visitors return
📸 Visitors per year	2,550,000 visitors
📸 Tourists now	48,871 tourists
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	700,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$25,237 / year
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 43% 👱‍♀️ 57%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 52% 👱‍♀️ 48%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 86% 👱‍♀️ 14%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Saturn
🏠 Apartment listings	OLX
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Wizzair
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Lufthansa

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$2,527 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$1,893 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$1,961 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$560 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$1,295 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$5,006 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$1,430 / month
🏠 Median home price	$209,128
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$61 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$164 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$51 / month
🍛 Dinner	$5
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$3
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$2
💰 Estimated tax on $50,000	$12,660
💰 Estimated tax on $100,000	$28,660
💰 Estimated tax on $250,000	$76,660

Cost of Living in Kraków

5,400 remote workers in Kraków now, of which 9+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

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