Short-term rentals are breaking records. Kraków has almost caught up with Warsaw

The popularity of short stays in Poland is not slowing down. The latest Eurostat data show that tourists are increasingly willing to use flats and apartments offered by online booking platforms. In some parts of the country, the number of overnight stays counted by the EU statistical office is growing by double digits.

The biggest beneficiaries of this trend are Kraków, Warsaw and Tricity. Near Wawel, the number of accommodations booked via platforms such as Booking, Airbnb and Expedia increased by as much as 15% during the year. An even greater growth rate can be seen in smaller cities that are just building their position on the tourism market.

Eurostat shows the scale of short-term rentals in Poland

In July 2025, Eurostat published detailed data on accommodation booked via online platforms. The statistics have been prepared divided into NUTS 3 subregions, so you can check more precisely which parts of Poland attract the most tourists using short-term rentals.

According to data from the EU office, the number of such overnight stays in Poland increased by almost 14% in 2025. In 2024, there were 39.02 million of them, while a year later it was 44.39 million.

However, experts from the RynekPierwotny.pl portal point out that the data require appropriate interpretation.

– The presented information does not allow for the separation of different accommodation places (apartments, commercial premises, etc.). However, we know that traditional hotels and campsites have been excluded from the statistics. Naturally, the type of accommodation chosen under short-term rental depends on the specifics of a given location. In large cities it will more often be a local venue. Before presenting the results for 2025, it should be emphasized that they do not take into account stays booked outside three online platforms (Airbnb, Booking and Expedia) – explains Andrzej Prajsnar, expert of the RynekPierwotny.pl portal.

Warsaw is the leader, but Krakow is hot on its heels

The largest number of short-term rental accommodations in Poland was recorded in the largest urban centers. Warsaw remains the leader, but Kraków is almost equal to the capital.

In 2025, the results of the six analyzed cities were as follows:

• Warsaw – 5.41 million overnight stays, an increase of 9%. year to year,

• Kraków – 5.12 million overnight stays, an increase of 15%,

• Tricity – 4.80 million overnight stays, an increase of 8%,

• Wrocław – 2.31 million overnight stays, an increase of 15%,

• Poznań – 1.01 million overnight stays, an increase of 18%,

• Łódź – 0.89 million overnight stays, an increase of 23%.

Łódź stands out in particular, having increased the number of overnight stays by as much as 582% in five years. Experts from the RynekPierwotny.pl portal indicate that all analyzed cities have strongly rebuilt the market after the pandemic collapse. The increases compared to the pandemic minimum amounted to 173%. in the case of Tricity, up to 314 percent. in Krakow.

Polish regions high on the map of Europe

Eurostat data also show that not only the largest cities, but also popular tourist regions are of great importance. The list of approximately 1,200 European NUTS 3 subregions includes:

• Warsaw – 40th place in the EU (5.41 million overnight stays),

• Kraków – 42nd place (5.12 million),

• Tricity – 43rd place (4.80 million),

• Nowy Targ subregion – 45th place (4.70 million),

• Szczecin subregion – 99th place (2.56 million),

• Wrocław – 111th place (2.31 million),

• Koszalin subregion – 123rd place (2.08 million),

• Jelenia Góra subregion – 132nd place (1.91 million overnight stays),

• Gdańsk subregion – 148th place (1.59 million overnight stays),

• Bielsko subregion – 206th place (1.06 million overnight stays),

• Poznań – 212th place (1.01 million overnight stays),

• Wałbrzych subregion – 234th place (0.93 million overnight stays),

• Łódź – 239th place (0.89 million overnight stays).

It is worth remembering that the administrative division of Eurostat does not always correspond to the common understanding of the names of the regions. For example, the Nowy Targ subregion includes, among others, Tatra County, including the Zakopane area. In turn, Szczecin is counted separately from the Szczecin subregion.

– That is why it is worth looking at the new Eurostat data from a broader perspective. The map below provides such an expanded point of view. We can see that Poland is very diverse in terms of the popularity of short-term rentals – notes Andrzej Prajsnar.

Krakow, Prague and Budapest

Polish cities are increasingly marking their presence on the European short-stay market. Warsaw took 17th place among large European Union cities in terms of the number of overnight stays from online platforms, and Krakow took 18th place.

Experts from the RynekPierwotny.pl website emphasize, however, that the number of overnight stays alone does not show the full picture. The number of inhabitants and the scale of the housing market are also important.

– Of course, the population of a given city also matters. Example: both Budapest (7th place, 9.33 million overnight stays in 2025) and Prague (14th place, 6.09 million) are characterized by a higher short-term rental intensity relative to the number of inhabitants than Warsaw. However, when comparing Budapest, Krakow and Prague, the situation is more similar. The high intensity of short-term rentals is also evidenced by, for example, the results from the Tricity and the Nowy Targ subregion – Prajsnar sums up.