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Zakopane: Gubałówka Funicular, Oscypek Cheese & Thermal Pools

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/49

Duration11h

GroupUp to 22

LanguagesEN · PL

PickupAt your hotel

Eleven hours in the Tatras: funicular, cheese, and hot springs from Krakow

You ride a funicular to views of the snow-capped Tatras, taste smoked oscypek cheese in a traditional wooden village, walk the main street of Zakopane with time for your own lunch, and finish the day soaking in thermal pools — all with hotel pickup and drop-off from Krakow included, no separate transport or entry tickets to arrange.

11h

Step-by-step itinerary

Pickup from Krakow accommodation
Visit historic wooden village in Chochołów
See traditional smoked cheese production
Taste local cheese and vodka
Ride cable car to Gubałówka mountain
Enjoy views of Tatra Mountains
Explore Krupówki street and lunch
Relax at thermal springs and pools
Drop off at original pickup location

The Experience

You wonder, halfway through the drive south from Krakow, whether you've left the city at all — the landscape shifts so gradually that the moment you're actually in the mountains sneaks up on you. The Zakopane tour runs 11 hours total, and the first real stop is Chochołów, a wooden village where the buildings look almost identical because the locals wash the walls with soap and water twice a year, keeping them pale and uniform. It's the kind of detail that makes you look twice. This is where you learn how oscypek — the smoked sheep cheese that tastes nothing like what you buy at home — actually gets made, and you taste it straight from the source, along with local vodka.

Then the funicular. The cable car up Gubałówka takes maybe ten minutes, and when you step out at the top, the High Tatras spread in front of you like someone laid out a map and forgot to roll it back up. The snow stays on the peaks until May, so depending on when you go, you might see white ridges cutting the sky. There are souvenir shops and viewing points, and the kind of quiet that only happens when you're standing above a town. After that, you walk down into Zakopane proper — Krupówki Street, the main drag, where restaurants smell like grilled meat and the storefronts sell everything from embroidered cloth to honey. You get time to eat lunch on your own here, which means you can pick the place instead of being herded into a set menu.

The thermal pools come last, and they're the part that feels like permission to stop moving. Indoor and outdoor pools, water slides, whirlpools — the water is warm because it comes from underground springs, and after hours of walking and looking, it's the kind of break that actually lands. Your admission is included, so you don't have to negotiate anything at the gate. The driver brings you back to your hotel in Krakow as the light goes, and you're tired in the way that means you actually did something.

What’s included

Hotel pickup and drop-off from your Krakow accommodation, round-trip transport in an air-conditioned vehicle, funicular ticket to the top of Gubałówka, entry to the thermal pools, tasting of oscypek cheese and local vodka, and an English-speaking driver-guide throughout the day. An information brochure in your choice of language is provided.

Good to know

Easy physical levelInfant seats availableNot for pregnant travelers

Operated by VISIT POLEN Krakau Touren & Ausflüge

Is this one for you?Pick this tour if you want the main Zakopane highlights — mountains, local food, and thermal relaxation — without arranging separate transport, entry fees, or timing the cable car yourself; the 11-hour structure fits all of it into one day from Krakow.