Parking in Kraków: zones, rates and Park & Ride

In short

• Paid street parking: the city calls it Obszar Płatnego Parkowania (OPP). It has three subzones. The first hour costs 9 zł in A, 8 zł in B and 7 zł in C.
• When you pay: 9:00–22:00. Subzone A is paid every day. Subzones B and C are free on Sundays. Everything is free on public holidays.
• No ticket: ZDMK, the city roads authority, issues a 400 zł additional fee. Pay within 7 days and it drops to 200 zł.
• Foreign phone number: use anypark, CityParkApp, electronicparking or mobilet. They are on the official ZDMK list and accept foreign numbers.
• All day for less: a Park & Ride (P+R) ticket costs 10 zł and includes public transport in zone I until the end of the parking day.
• Old Town: the area inside the Planty ring is a restricted traffic zone. Paying for parking does not give you the right to drive in.

As of September 2026. Rates are from the ZDMK price list valid since 30 April 2026. P+R rules are from the ZTP terms of use.

The paid parking zone: A, B, C

The zone covers the centre and the districts around it. It starts at a D-44 sign, which still uses the older name "strefa płatnego parkowania", and ends at a D-45 sign. Subzone A is the centre around the Old Town and Kazimierz; B and C lie further out. Map: zdmk.krakow.pl.

An A ticket is also valid in B and C. You get 10 minutes of slack: pay within 10 minutes of parking and extend within 10 minutes of the paid time ending. After that the car counts as unpaid.

When parking is free

• Before 9:00 and after 22:00 in every subzone.
• Sundays in B and C.
• Sundays in A only if it is a trading Sunday (niedziela handlowa, when shops open). On other Sundays A is paid.
• Public holidays in all subzones, including Easter Monday, Corpus Christi, 15 August, 1 and 11 November and 24–26 December.

How to pay

Parking meters have an English menu. Type your plate, pay by coins or contactless card, and put the printed ticket behind the windscreen as a backup.

Apps. ZDMK lists eight: mKraków, anypark, CityParkApp, electronicparking, Flowbird, MKA (mka.malopolska.pl), mobilet and SkyCash. With a non-Polish phone number, ZDMK points you to anypark, CityParkApp, electronicparking and mobilet. The last one lets you register with an email address. In any app, check the plate, the city and the subzone letter: a wrong subzone means you did not pay for where you stand. No note behind the windscreen is needed. The official list: zdmk.krakow.pl.

The 400 zł penalty fee

The notice under your wiper is an additional fee (opłata dodatkowa) from ZDMK. It is not a police fine.

For the 7-day rate, the money must reach the ZDMK account in time; the day you send the transfer does not count. Pay to the account on the notice or at the zone office, ul. Reymonta 20. ZDMK cancels a notice only if you prove you had paid for that time.

Living in Kraków: Karta Krakowska and the resident permit

If you pay your income tax (PIT) in Kraków or are registered at a Kraków address, you can get the Karta Krakowska (Kraków Card). Add your plate to it and street parking gets cheaper:

Card holders also park free on Sundays in subzone A. The discount works at meters and in most listed apps, but not in banking apps. The PIN is the last four digits of your PESEL.

Living inside the paid zone, you can buy a resident permit, type "KR", for 10 zł a month. You need a registered address (zameldowanie) inside the zone plus PIT paid in Kraków or an active Kraków Card; renting a flat there without registration does not count. One permit per person, valid only in your own sector. Buy it at ul. Reymonta 20 on the spot, or at eabonament.zdmk.pl, where it starts on the sixth working day at the earliest.

Old Town and Kazimierz: no-entry zones

There are two restricted traffic zones (strefa ograniczonego ruchu). One is the Old Town inside the Planty ring, plus the streets around Wawel: św. Idziego, Droga do Zamku and part of Podzamcze. The other is Kazimierz around Plac Nowy and Szeroka. At the entrances stands a round "no vehicles" sign (B-1) with plates listing the exceptions.

You may drive in if you have a subzone A1 resident permit, a parking space or garage on private property inside, or a ZDMK permit. Deliveries may drive in at the hours shown on the signs, and so may taxis. Paying at a meter in subzone A gives you no right of entry.

If your hotel is inside the ring, ask the hotel before you arrive whether it has its own parking and how guests get in. Rules on the city's page: krakow.pl.

Park & Ride: the cheaper way into the centre

Kraków has 10 P+R car parks run by ZTP, the public transport authority:

P+R is for the daytime. The ticket lasts until the end of the parking day. At most barrier car parks that is 4:30 to 2:30 the next morning; at Górka Narodowa it is 4:00 to midnight. Leaving the car longer costs an extra 250 zł per day. For several nights, use a hotel or commercial car park.

Free spaces are shown live on ztp.krakow.pl. In summer 2026 ZTP was replacing the payment equipment at four southern car parks, so check its news before you go.

Driving in from the A4 or S7 in an older car? Kraków also has a Clean Transport Zone. The approaches to Górka Narodowa and Mydlniki Wapiennik are outside it. Details: Clean Transport Zone.

Frequently asked questions