How to find short-term accommodation in Kraków

Before Chris and I left Vietnam for Poland we started looking for short-term accommodation in Kraków. We quickly found out that finding one for a good price is not as easy as we previously had thought. I had never rented a flat for such a short period of time in Europe. I was convinced that it wouldn’t be hard, but I didn’t realise that agencies and landlords prefer to rent their properties for a whole year instead for just a few months.

So while in Vietnam we searched websites, called our friends and joined Facebook groups. The agencies I contacted told us that they could find us something, but the rent would be around 2,500 – 3,000 Złotych (!!). To us it was very expensive.

We almost rented a flat in Zabłocie for a good price, but the landlord found someone who was willing to stay there for a year. Then, after a few days, a young student contacted us with an offer. He was just renovating his flat and was going away for the Summer. He offered us a good deal with only 500 Złotych deposit and all bills included. We took it straight away.

During this short period of time, when we were looking for a short term accommodation in Kraków, we learned enough to know where to look for it and what the average prices are. Here is some useful information.

Before you start looking

Before you move, you need to be well prepared. Search the internet, compare the prices and talk to people. This way you will find out which areas are the best and what the average cost of rent is.

What’s your budget?

Kraków is not a cheap place. Thanks to universities, schools and big, foreign corporations that have their base here, accommodation is always in demand. Agencies and landlords often lift their prices because they know they will always find a client.

Before you start looking, think of what your budget is. Prices of one bedroom, short – term accommodation vary depending on the location, where you look and how big the flat is. Be prepare to spend around 2,000 Złotych per month, cover any additional bills and pay the administration fee if you’re renting from an agency.

Many apartments have their set rent for the month, but there might be an additional cost of around 200-500 Złotych for trash collection and the maintenance of the building. However, this is more common with long-term accommodation. Bills are sometimes included, but often you need to pay for the electricity, or for your wi-fi.

Where to stay?

Those, who come to Krakow for only a few months choose to stay near the Old Town, or near Kazimierz, where you will find lots of bars and restaurants. It all depends on what you want to do in the city.

Kraków has a well developed transport system and trams and buses go to almost every corner of the city. Check where your nearest bus, or tram, stop is – you don’t want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere.

We live on Królowej Jadwigi Street, which is an area with old and new buildings and which is well connected to the city. Our one bedroom flat costs 1,800 Złotych per month.

It is worth checking Nowa Huta – it is a bit further from the city centre, but it has a very good transport system. For quite a while it didn’t have a good reputation, but now it is becoming very popular with students, families and older people and it’s quite a nice part of the city to live in.

Where to find your short-term accommodation in Kraków?

If you start looking for your short – term accommodation in Krakow from the agencies, you will quickly learn that they only offer luxury apartments for a high price. The flats that are cheaper are usually rented to students and those working in Kraków. Below list includes sites where you can find your short – term accommodation in Kraków for a good price.

Gumtree

In my opinion Gumtree is the best when it comes to looking for a cheap accommodation. However, the site is in Polish so you need someone to help you out or you need to use Goolge translate. If you want to find short- term apartments then you should put ‘mieszkanie’ in ‘czego szukasz’ then choose ‘nieruchomości’ under ‘kategorie’ and from the drop down list choose ‘krótki termin i domki letniskowe’ and in the third box put ‘Kraków’.

The prices here vary and quite often the owners charge per day (40-170 Złotych), but if you want to rent for a month or longer then it is easy to negotiate. The rent might be as high as 2,000 – 2,500 Złotych for a one bedroom apartment in the city centre. Sometimes, if you negotiate well enough, you can lower the price even more. Bills are usually included.

To contact the owner you need to send them a message, but most of them speak English and there’s no problem with communicating.

Facebook Groups

I found my apartment by joining a Facebook group and posting an ad saying I was looking for a place to stay.

A great advantage of Facebook groups is that you contact the owner directly and you can negotiate prices, conditions and your deposit. I was really lucky because the owner was looking for someone to look after his flat and he only asked for 500 Złotych deposit.

Best groups: Kraków Expats (English language), Kraków Pokój/Mieszkanie/Szukam/Wynajmę , Zapytaj Kraków (Polish language, but you can post in English, too).

Oto Dom

This site was recommended to me by my friend. Here you will find long-term accommodation, but you can try and negotiate with owners and agencies.

It’s worth checking it out as Oto Dom out shows prices of flats in different areas.

Here prices for 2-bedroom flats vary from 1,300 Złotych and 3,000 Złotych, but remember that most of the time you need to pay a fee for the maintenance, bills and cover additional costs for internet and other media. Most of the apartments here are rented via agencies and you will have to cover admin costs and high deposits.

Airbnb

Once a site where you could find a cheap flat to stay, but today it offers more expensive accommodation. If you have a few more Złotych to spend, then it’s a good site to check out.

One bedroom flat in the centre costs around 2,500 Złotych.

Not only for businessmen

Kraków is very popular among expats that come here for work. There are a lot of agencies that rent flats to those with a little bit more money. These apartments are new, modern and offer all of the conveniences that a working person would require.

More information on: Hamilton May, Sublet.com, Red Apple Apartments

In case everything else fails

Finding a short-term accommodation in Kraków is not easy nor cheap. I heard a gossip that you can rent a flat for a year, sign a contract and then give notice a month or two before you leave. I am not sure if that’s true (I have never done this), but if so, then maybe it’s worth trying in case everything else fails.