Poland Travel

In Poland Travel is more difficult that Western Europe or North America but the costs are generally much lower. People use taxis more readily due to the low cost. For further information on any of the transport, methods click on the links below.

Polish Roads

In Poland travel is not as easy as most European Countries; the roads are generally not large enough for the traffic upon them due to the rapid increase in car ownership since the fall of communism. The exceptions are the one continuous motorway in Poland, the E40 running from South East Poland to Berlin, There is also a motorway section, the A2 between Lodz and Poznan. Many of the pleasant driving roads are off the beaten track but very picturesque, these are some of the very nice mountain and country roads. For more information and maps, please follow this link..

Rail Transport

The Rail network (PKP) is well used in Poland and offers frequent trains covering the country. The cleanliness and timekeeping of the trains vary considerably please follow this link for full information. The best trains are very good standard, particularly those stating in Germany, poland travel is less luxurious, although some of the long distance trains are quite nice.

Polish Airports

The major airline of Poland (LOT) is an adequate carrier within Europe, but as LOT is part of the star alliance with Lufthansa, who also have many frequent flights to most regional airports. There are also many cut-price airlines such as Ryanair and Easyjet, making reaching European capitals from Poland inexpensive.

Public Transport

In the past 10 years, the public transport system has improved drastically and now most regionally operated bus companies have modern buses. The cost is very low at around one to two Zloty, (35 to 70 U.S. cents), for a trip within a city area.

One of the unusual things about the buses is their use of curtains, although many of the city fleets are in the process of being modernised.

Trams are also a very good way of traveling; although the information for tourists is often scant, they are a good way of getting around the larger cities. I suggest using the tram out of rush hour, or when the weather is fine, otherwise expect cramped conditions. The pricing is slightly higher than buses but still good value.

Taxis

Try not to use the rank taxi's in main city areas and certainly not at Warsaw Airport, all major cities and towns have Taxi services that can be reached by phone, usually these taxis are everywhere. Pick a number and phone, the fare is much lower than the rank taxi's and the service is fast and efficient. It is worth hiring a taxi for half a day to have a look around any particular city it will cost between 100 and 400 Zloty, (20 – 80 US$), but will give you a memorable tour of the best places in the city.

The phone up services that follow are usually trustworthy and give good service. Wawa Taxi 9644, ELE Taxi 8111111, Warsaw City Taxi 9459, Taxi Partner 9669, Sawa Taxi 6444444, Trans Taxi 9629, Radio Taxi Merc 6777777, Super Taxi 9622, OK Taxi 9628, Express Taxi 9663, Maxi Taxi 9456.

Hire Cars

All the major International car rental agencies are present in Poland travel agents and airports, the rates are very low compared to other areas of Europe. Driving is more stressful and less polite that you may be accustomed to. This is partly due to the Driving Schools and qualification of Driving Instructors.

In most cities you may see Driving Instruction cars full of people, these people may be family of the student or waiting for the next lesson. A new development is that now many driving instruction cars have internal cameras, it is hoped this will reduce the corruption regarding driving tests.