Wawel Castle Tickets: Which Route to Choose in Kraków (and How Free November Works)

Walter Wallace — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 21:22:10 +0000

For most first visits to Wawel, buy the combined Castle ticket, which covers the first and second floors and includes an audio guide, then add the Crown Treasury and Armoury only if royal regalia and weapons are a priority. Wawel Cathedral is not on any castle ticket: it sells its own. If you are in Kraków in November 2026, the castle’s “Free November” scheme makes several routes free, so the best plan that month looks different.

Wawel Royal Castle does not charge one flat admission fee. Each exhibition has its own ticket, its own entry time and a daily limit, so the useful question is not “how much is Wawel?” but “which parts do I want to see, and when?”

Wawel Castle tickets at a glance

These are the castle’s published prices for regular visits in October and December 2026, Tuesday to Sunday (9 am to 5 pm). Prices are in Polish złoty (PLN), regular and reduced.

Ticket	What you see	Price (PLN)	Best for
Castle (1st and 2nd floors)	First-floor rooms and the Porcelain Cabinet, second-floor State Rooms with the Ottoman Turkish Tents, plus the Wawel Recovered exhibition	95 / 71, audio guide included	Most first-time visitors
Castle First Floor	First-floor rooms, the Porcelain Cabinet and Wawel Recovered	57 / 43	Shorter visits focused on the royal residence
Castle Second Floor	State Rooms and the Ottoman Turkish Tents	57 / 43	The grandest interiors in less time
Castle Underground	The Lost Wawel and the Lapidarium	47 / 35, audio guide included	Archaeology and the hill’s early history
Crown Treasury	Royal regalia and treasures	47 / 35	Crown jewels and goldsmith’s work
Armoury	Arms and armour	47 / 35	Military history
Wawel for Enthusiasts	Every exhibition open that day, plus selected areas of Pieskowa Skała Castle and Stryszów Manor House	199 / 149	A full day at Wawel
Wawel – The Most Precious	Guided tour	155 / 116	Visitors who want a guide

The Cathedral, the Royal Tombs, the Sigismund Bell and the Cathedral Museum are run separately and need a Cathedral ticket (see below).

Before you buy: how Wawel tickets work

Every castle ticket is for one day and shows an entry time, which you have to keep to. Daily limits apply, and last admission comes well before closing: two hours before for the combined Castle ticket, 50 to 60 minutes for the single floors and 30 to 40 minutes for the Treasury and Armoury.

Online: the official shop at bilety.wawel.krakow.pl sells tickets up to a month ahead, including on the day itself.
On site: the ticket offices are in the Visitors Center, open Tuesday to Sunday 8:45 am to 6:20 pm and until 4:30 pm on Mondays. If online tickets have sold out, the castle suggests trying the ticket offices.
Bags: there is security screening at the castle entrance. Backpacks, large bags, pushchairs and umbrellas are not allowed in the exhibitions and must go in the checkroom in the Arcaded Courtyard, which does not take suitcases or anything larger than hand luggage. Arrive without your luggage.
Audio guides: included with the Castle, Castle Underground and Between the Walls tickets; otherwise 14 PLN, and one device covers all the exhibitions you have tickets for. English is available.

The Renaissance Arcaded Courtyard, the hub for the castle exhibition entrances. Photo: Lloyd Tudor / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Which castle route should you choose?

First visit with half a day: the combined Castle ticket

The Castle ticket is the simplest choice. For 95 PLN you see both residential floors: the royal rooms of the first floor and the State Rooms of the second floor, where the Ottoman Turkish Tents are displayed. Wawel Recovered is included, and so is the audio guide. Two single-floor tickets would cost 114 PLN, so the combined ticket is the better deal if you want both floors.

The Senators’ Hall, part of the second-floor State Rooms route. Photo: Ken Eckert / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Short on time: one floor

If you only have an hour or so, pick one floor. The Second Floor ticket shows the State Rooms, the most ceremonial interiors. The First Floor ticket focuses on the royal living quarters and includes Wawel Recovered. Either costs 57 PLN.

Treasury, Armoury or Underground: add-ons

The Crown Treasury and the Armoury are separate tickets at 47 PLN each and need their own entry times, so leave space between bookings. Castle Underground, which covers The Lost Wawel and the Lapidarium, suits visitors interested in archaeology and the hill’s medieval past, and its audio guide is included.

A full day: Wawel for Enthusiasts

At 199 PLN, the Enthusiasts ticket covers every exhibition open on the day. It is good value only if you plan to see most of the routes. The Castle, Treasury, Armoury and Underground bought separately come to 236 PLN, but you need a long day to fit them in.

Outdoor extras end in October

The Dragon’s Den, the Viewing Tower and the Sandomierska Tower are seasonal. The castle lists them until 31 October; from 3 November to 30 December the Between the Walls route (29 PLN) is the seasonal option. Wawel Hill itself is open until 5:30 pm from November to March.

Free entry: Mondays and Free November 2026

On Mondays in October and December, the castle opens selected exhibitions free of charge from 10 am to 4 pm: the Castle Second Floor and the Crown Treasury. The number of free tickets is limited.

In November 2026 the castle runs its Free November scheme:

Tuesday to Sunday: free entry to the Castle Second Floor (State Rooms and Ottoman Turkish Tents), Castle Underground and Between the Walls, with free audio guides for these routes.
Mondays: free entry to the Castle First Floor (the Royal Private Apartments and Wawel Recovered) and Between the Walls.
Still paid: the Castle First Floor from Tuesday to Sunday (57 PLN), the Crown Treasury (47 PLN) and the Armoury (47 PLN).
How to get free tickets: at the ticket offices on the day (8:45 am to 4 pm), or online up to one week ahead. On Mondays they are only available at the ticket offices. One person can collect tickets for up to five people, and availability is limited.
Exceptions: the castle is closed on 1 November. On 11 November only the Castle Second Floor and the Armoury open, the ticket offices are closed and free tickets are online only.

For a November visit, a practical plan is to book free online tickets a week ahead for the Second Floor and Underground, then decide whether the Treasury is worth 47 PLN. If you can visit on a Monday, you can see the First Floor free as well.

Wawel Cathedral is a separate ticket

The castle does not sell tickets to the Cathedral, the Royal Tombs, the Sigismund Bell or the Cathedral Museum. One Cathedral ticket covers all of these and the Archdiocesan Museum: 26 PLN regular or 18 PLN reduced for individual visitors. It is sold by the Cathedral, not at the castle ticket offices.

From November to March the Cathedral is open Monday to Saturday 9 am to 4 pm and Sunday 12:30 pm to 4 pm, with ticket sales ending at 3:30 pm. The Cathedral Museum is closed on Sundays and public holidays. The Cathedral’s audio-guide tour gives a sense of the time needed: about 40 minutes for the Cathedral and the Sigismund Bell, 10 minutes for the Royal Tombs and 20 minutes for the museum.

Wawel Cathedral, which is ticketed separately from the castle museum. Photo: Ingo Mehling / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

How to decide

First visit, half a day: the combined Castle ticket, plus the Cathedral.
One hour only: the Castle Second Floor for the State Rooms.
Royal treasures: add the Crown Treasury, booked with a gap after your castle entry time.
History and archaeology: add Castle Underground.
Seeing almost everything: Wawel for Enthusiasts.
Visiting in November 2026: book free tickets for the Second Floor and Underground online a week ahead, and pay only for the routes outside the scheme.
On a budget in October or December: go on a Monday for the free Second Floor and Treasury tickets, which are limited.

Official sources

Prices, opening hours and ticket rules were checked on 27 October 2026 and can change, especially after December. Check the official pages before you visit.

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