How to Visit Zalipie from Krakow: Painted Village Day Trip

If you are looking for unique places to visit in Poland, the charming village of Zalipie might be right up your alley. Located in the Małopolska province, or Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Zalipie is known for its cute painted houses dotting this small village.

Considered one of the most colorful and beautiful villages in Poland, Zalipie became famous for beautifying houses, wells, storage units, barns, fences, furniture, and basically everything with traditional folk flower patterns.

On my second trip to Krakow, I made it my mission to research as much as possible and figure out how to visit Zalipie from Krakow by public transport. Renting a car and joining a tour is the easiest, but not everyone likes driving in a foreign country or joining tours.

Therefore, this detailed guide provides information on how to get there and what to do in Zalipie.

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Zalipie at a Glance

• 🚗 By car: Zalipie is about 80 km from Krakow and takes around 1:30 hours each way. This is the easiest option if you want flexibility. If you need to rent a car, I recommend checking LocalRent or DiscoverCars.
• 🚌 By public transport: Take a train from Krakow to Tarnów, then a local bus from Tarnów to Zalipie. The journey takes longer and requires planning around the bus schedule.
• 🎟️ By tour: An organized tour is the easiest option if you don’t want to deal with the limited public transport connections. Book your spot here.
• ⏰ Time needed: Plan a full day from Krakow, especially if you’re visiting by public transport.
• 🌸 Best time: Late spring and summer, when the painted houses and gardens are at their best. June is particularly nice.
• 🏠 What to see: Visit Felicja Curyłowa’s Painted Cottage, the House of Malarek, St Joseph’s Church, and walk around the village to spot its painted houses and other decorated buildings.

Why is Zalipie worth visiting?   

The tradition of decorating these small wooden cottages with folk floral patterns started in the 19th century. Every house in Zalipie had a wood stove but no chimney. Therefore, the interior and exterior were covered in black marks from the smoke. A local female resident began painting over these black marks with white paint and flowers.  

Soon, the custom spread among other women who joined her, doing the same to their homes. As women didn’t have professional equipment back then, they made brushes from cow tail hair, while the color came from powdered dye and milk.

Over time, the custom was passed on from generation to generation. It grew even bigger as youngsters found inspiration in local folklore and nature, producing more colorful, larger paintings.

Felicja Curyłowa (1904 – 1974), a local Zalipie resident and artist, became obsessed with the tradition and decorated every surface, furniture, and item in her three-bedroom cottage. After she passed away, her house was turned into a museum that is now open to the public.

While there is no problem with soot today, art has become Zalipie’s identity, of which the village is very proud. Even during wartime, women never stopped the tradition.

To encourage these practices to continue, the Ethnographic Museum of Tarnów organizes an annual competition, Malowana Chata (Painted Cottage), in June, in which locals enter their decorated homes. The cash prizes are awarded to the participants based on artistic flair and originality.

Currently, around 30 houses are either entirely or partially covered with flower patterns, making the village worth visiting. Moreover, due to the slightly complicated public transportation options, only a few people make an effort to visit Zalipie.

No two places mimic or copy one another, so patterns and paintings are unique, creating an even more authentic and endearing vibe as you walk past them.

Looking at them slightly reminded me of the village of Gorelovka and the orphanage in Georgia’s Samtskhe-Javakheti region. But unlike Zalipie, we only have one colorfully painted building with floral decorations, and I wish Gorelovka was on such an extensive scale today.

Best time to visit Zalipie

The best time to visit Zalipie is spring or summer when the paintings are more vivid in natural sunshine with a backdrop of blooming real-life flowers. The competition held in June is also the best time to experience the local life and community spirit.

We visited at the beginning of November and luckily had a sunny day to walk around, even though it was pretty windy and cold. Unfortunately, as it was off-season, the village looked deserted, and because it was Monday, the museums were closed. However, it didn’t stop us from exploring and still enjoying one of the beautiful and unique places in Poland that I finally managed to see.

Zalipie travel tips

• 🚌 If you’re using public transport: Start your journey early and check the local bus schedule carefully. Connections to Zalipie are limited.
• 💵 Bring cash: You’ll need it for the local bus, museum tickets, and possibly souvenirs.
• 🥪 Bring food and water: There are no restaurants or cafes in Zalipie, and I didn’t see a grocery store during my visit. Pack a snack or a light lunch, or pick something up in Tarnów before heading to Zalipie.
• 🥐 Stop in Tarnów: If you’re traveling via Tarnów, you can grab a pastry or something to eat before continuing to Zalipie.
• 👟 Wear comfortable shoes: You’ll spend much of your time walking between the attractions and painted houses.

How to get to Zalipie from Krakow

As mentioned earlier, Zalipie is in Lesser Poland province. The closest cities are Tarnów, Krakow, Katowice, Czestochowa, and Sandomierz.

Visiting Zalipie is easiest as a day trip from Krakow with public transport or joining an organized tour. However, if you plan to drive, you can also travel from other Polish cities.

We traveled from Krakow to Zalipie by public transport, and this post provides a detailed overview of how to do so. Although I understand that comfort and time are priorities for some of you, I have also included other options.

Driving a car from Krakow to Zalipie

Having your own car gives you flexibility in timing, visiting other places along the way, or adding Zalipie as a detour on your way to your final destination. It is the quickest, easiest, and most comfortable way to travel from Krakow to Zalipie.

The colorful village is around 100 km from Krakow. Depending on which road you take, it will take between 1:30 and 1:40 minutes.

If you need to rent a car, I suggest checking LocalRent first for its reasonable prices and selection from local dealers. If you can’t find the vehicle you’re looking for, compare options from international providers through DiscoverCars

Joining an organized tour from Krakow

If you prefer to join a tour, a few companies offer guided visits with transportation. Most of these tours last 6 to 8 hours, where you have a set time to wander freely and independently through the village at your own pace.

Some of these tours offer only guided transportation, while others include museum visits, so I suggest carefully reading each tour’s description.

Here are a few I recommend:

🌸 Best for visiting Zalipie: Zalipie Village Day Tour: Visit Zalipie with a local guide and explore its painted houses, fences, wells, and other floral decorations. The tour includes visits to the House of the Female Painters, Felicja Curyłowa’s Cottage, and St. Joseph’s Church, making it a good option if you want to see the village’s main sights without having to figure out transport yourself. → Book this tour

⛏️ Best combined day trip: Bochnia Salt Mine, Zalipie & Tarnów: Combine Zalipie’s painted village with Bochnia Salt Mine and the historic town of Tarnów in one full-day trip from Krakow. It’s a good choice if you’d rather see several of the region’s highlights than dedicate an entire day to Zalipie. → Book this tour

🏡 Best relaxed tour: Guided Tour of Zalipie: Explore Zalipie at a relaxed pace with a guide who shares the village’s history and floral-painting tradition. Hotel pickup and drop-off, plus museum tickets, are included, making this the most convenient option if you don’t want to worry about getting to Zalipie independently. → Book this tour

Using public transport from Krakow to Zalipie

For those who don’t know how to drive or find the organized tours expensive, your best option is to use a train-and-bus combination.

This is where logistics and planning come in handy, as traveling by public transport is slightly challenging, but it’s absolutely doable. That said, because it is relatively time-consuming, set aside a whole day for your Zalipie visit, and if you have enough time and energy, you can also wander the streets of the charming village of Tarnów.

The best time to visit Zalipie using public transport is on weekdays, as the local bus doesn’t run on weekends or public holidays. Moreover, note that museums in Zalipie are also closed on Mondays.

To get from Krakow to Zalipie by public transport, you first need to reach the city of Tarnów. Trains between Krakow and Tarnów run very often. You can check the timetable and book the tickets on Omio.

Take one of the morning trains that run between 8:30 and 9:30 am. The journey takes an average of 60 minutes, giving you time to catch the local bus from Tarnów to Bieniaszowice, which passes through Zalipie.

You need to coordinate your train tickets with the local bus schedule. Here is the online schedule in Polish, which was relevant during our visit in November. You can always pop inside the Tourist Information Center in Tarnow Old Town and ask them about the timetable.

When looking at the Tarnów-Zalipie bus schedule, find the TARNÓW (Krakowska St. – Planty) ➔ DĄBROWA T. ➔ GRĘBOSZÓW ➔ BIENIASZOWICE section. Then, you’ll notice letters next to the time slots. While the legend is provided at the bottom of the page, you need the times with S next to them, for example, 7:30 S, 8:35 S, 11:15 S, 12:35 S, etc.

S, in this case, means that the bus runs at this time during school days only. In other cases, look at the times with H; these are the times the bus runs from Monday to Friday during school holidays.

You need the Euro Plawecki Trans bus that stops at Krakowska-Planty Street almost in front of the big red brick Church of the Holy Family. The bus stop is only a few minutes from the train station; the exact location is here. On our visit, the bus stop had ads promoting Zalipie, so you are in the right place if it’s still there. Have cash with you to pay for your ticket.

There might be another Euro Plawecki Trans bus that might come first, so you can always ask the driver if he goes to Zalipie and wait for another.

The journey takes around 30-45 minutes, depending on the traffic. The driver will drop you off on the main highway at the village entrance. There is a sign, but monitoring your bus via Google Maps is always convenient.

From here, you’ll need to walk to the village’s center and wander through its colorful cottage houses.

On your way back to Tarnow, you must return to the same spot the driver dropped you off and wait for the same Euro Plawecki Trans bus to Tarnow.

As for the Zalipie-Tarnow schedule, follow the same steps in reverse: look at the timetable above labeled BIENIASZOWICE ➔ DĄBROWA T. ➔ TARNÓW , and mark down the times with S (school days) or H (no school days) next to them.

Note!! Schedule and the direction of the public transport might change. I recommend contacting Tarnow Tourist Information Center.

What to do in Zalipie

When visiting the painted village of Zalipie, you can walk around and admire the charming folk art. Remember that it isn’t a museum and people live in these houses.

Be respectful of local residential areas; don’t just walk inside someone’s courtyard, and don’t take pictures outside their homes. Instead, you can take photos inside the buildings open to the public or with decorative walls along the road without disturbing locals.

There is little to do in Zalipie besides visiting a few museums and just walking around the village. Some of the places are pinned on Google Maps, making it easy to navigate. Here are venues open to the public:

House of Malarek (Painter’s House): a museum where you can learn about the history of the village’s folk art and buy souvenirs. Besides entering the building, walk around its courtyard to see the similarly decorated sun clock, flower pots, a bicycle, and bee houses. See their website for opening hours, as it has a seasonal schedule.

Felicja Curylo’s Farm House: another museum that once housed a local artist. She was the head of the village painters and became famous and respected within the community, keeping the tradition alive for many decades. The house is well preserved in its original state from when she lived here, and every surface has a floral pattern, including the oven.

St Joseph’s Church: you wouldn’t think of a church having flower patterns, which makes Zalipie unique. You’ll find art everywhere in St. Joseph’s Church, including the altar, walls, and tablecloth.

Where to stay in Zalipie

Zalipie is a small village with no accommodation options. Therefore, if you are visiting it independently, your best option is to find a hotel in Krakow or Tarnów. As mentioned above, we did a day trip from Krakow, which was perfectly doable.

Visit Tarnów before or after

The small town of Tarnow is worth visiting as you are already here. We wandered the streets as we got pretty early from Krakow and had an hour to spare before the bus to Zalipie arrived.

After visiting the painted village, we had a few hours before heading back to Krakow. Therefore, if you plan accordingly, it’s perfectly doable to pack in two places in one day, even during the off-season when the days are shorter.

This mid-size city has an almost untouched layout since the Middle Ages. The main square features a gorgeous town hall and museums representing the city’s history. There is a remnant of a synagogue bima, an enormous Jewish cemetery, and an old bathhouse if you are interested in Jewish history.

It is also a town with a dark past. Being one of the first conquered cities during the Second World War, it was from here that many prisoners were transported to the Auschwitz concentration camp.

If you like beautiful architecture, the main street, Krakowska, has stunning Art Nouveau buildings.

Tarnów is a fully functioning town with shops, bakeries, and a few restaurants and cafes where you can grab dinner or lunch when you get hungry.