Poland

Top destinations in Poland

Warsaw Krakow See a full list of places

Currency and money

The Polish currency is the zloty (pronounced zwotay). It is usually abbreviated to Zl (or PLN in in international circles). Each Zloty is divided into 100 grosze. As a rule of thumb the exchange rates as at December 2005 are as follows:

• 1 Euro = PLN 4
• 1 Pound Sterling = just under PLN 6
• 1 US Dollar = PLN 3
• 1 Canadian Dollar = PLN 2.50
• 1 Australian Dollar = PLN 2.50

Coins range from 1 Grosze to 5 Zloty, and notes from 10 Zloty to several hundred. The largest note you are likely to see in general circulation is the 100 Zloty, which at 25 Euros is not too large even in a cheap country. You will only have trouble changing these for very cheap items such as bus tickets.

Exchanging money.

Warsaw, and other major towns have a large number of Kantors (currency exchanges) located around main streets and stations which tend to offer a better exchange rate and lower charges than banks - feel free to shop around for the best rate. These are not exclusively aimed at the tourist market, so they are not the rip-off that they are in some other countries.

ATMs

. Cash machines are located at banks and public building such as railway stations. They do not generally make a charge for withdrawals in addition to the charge made by your card issuer. The usual range of Mastercard, Visa, Maestro and Plus cards are accepted.

Travellers Cheques

. There is little point in getting travellers cheques in Zloty, as they are not generally accepted for payment. Cheques in other currencies can be exchanged at banks and exchange offices, though the comission is usually much higher than for cash, and the rate may be worse as well.

Credit Cards

. Credit cards are widely accepted in shops, hotels, restaurants, and even hostels in Poland. They cannot be used to pay for local or regional travel however.

Language

The official language in Poland is Polish, and this is the main language spoken by almost the entire population. Polish is a Western Slavonic language, which means that unless you have studied Russian or some other Slavonic language you don't know it. The first issue is pronounciation. Slavonic languages use nasal sounds (which also exist in to a less extent in French and Portuguese), and palatal sounds. English speakers generally find these sounds impossible to make and very difficult to differentiate from the equivalent non-nasal or non-palatal sounds. This means for example that prosze (the word for please) comes out exactly the same as prosie (the word for piglet). To compound this sounds are combined in a way which is quite alien to English speakers: if there is a whole row of consonants with no vowels they are just read out very quickly as very clipped syllables. Non-Polish speakers attempting to emulate this have been known to have to spend weeks in hospital recovering normal use of their tongues.

If you are still keen to try to speak some Polish however, there is something you should know about spelling. Learn it quick before you embarass yourself trying to ask for a train ticket to Wroclaw. Polish spelling is nothing like English spelling. On the upside it is more or less consistent, so if you know the rules and see something written down you will know how it is pronounced. Here are a couple of key rules that might get you understood in an emergency:

• sz, s with an accent and si are both pronounced a bit like sh in English. Actually one is palatal and the other dental, but an English sh is more or less halfway between.
• cz, c with an accent and ci are both pronounced like ch in English, on the same basis.
• w is a v.
• c is ts (except in ci and cz).
• dz with an accent on the z and dzi is j.
• rz is like a really soft j.
• Consonants are not otherwise usually combined.
• Vowels are usually very clipped and are not combined. For example eat would be pronounced more like e-at

So you see, if you'd gone to the counter and asked for a ticket to Wroclaw and said rocklaw, nobody would have understood a word - you should have said vratslav. To be fair though you probably want to give Wroclaw a miss - not only is it difficult to say, there's nothing there either.

Getting by in English.

In the tourist areas such as Krakow and Warsaw, English is reasonably widely-spoken - particularly by younger people. Any establishment that ever has any tourists will have somebody on the staff who can talk something that sounds like English. You may find some trouble in these cities in dealing with workers such as bus drivers and officials such as the police. You are never far from an English speaker however, and most are more than willing to help translate. Bear in mind that Polish is a phonetically-spelled lanuage with somewhat different sounds to those normally found in English, so Polish English speakers often pronounce words strangely, and may have a little trouble understanding suprisingly common words when you speak. Just concentrate as you listen and try a range of different words and pronunciations.

Outside of tourist areas you will run into English speakers, particularly amongst the under-thirties. They will be less common amongst shop staff and public service workers however, and you will be much less likely to run into native English speakers. The worst problem here may well be finding accomodation

Getting by in other languages.

German is an increasingly-popular option in Polish schools, and there is a very small rump of Poles with German roots in the west of the country (though not so many, as ethnic Germans were strongly encouraged to move to Germany at the end of the second world war). If German is your native language or you cannot find an English speaker it may be worth a try. Russian was also more commonly taught in schools prior to 1989, and is particularly common in the east of the country. Bear in mind that both of these languages may provoke a little hostility thanks to habit both countries have had historically of occupying Poland.

Arriving by Plane.

The largest airport in Poland is Warsaw. This is located half an hour from the city centre by bus. Scheduled flights arrive here from all over the europe, with a few intercontinental flights for good measure. Generally speaking, economy flights arrive at Warsaw Etudia Terminal, which is about five minutes walk from the main terminal (from the main terminal walk past the domestic terminal and keep walking. It is not particularly well signposted). Etudia is an appalling travesty of a building with almost nothing in the way of facilities either before or after security, so you might want to hang around the main terminal for a while if you are early for check-in.

Other airports likely to be of interest include Krakow (25 minutes from the city centre by normal transit bus), Katowice, and Gdansk. These are served by three eastern-european budget airlines - Central Wings, Sky Europe and Wizz Air. In addition Easyjet run a few flights into Warsaw. Ryanair also run flights to some out-of-the-way places which might well be in Poland.

Arriving By Train.

Several international routes into Poland. The most important of these are the following:

• PKP (the Polish national railway) run the Berlin-Warsaw express three times a day from Berlin to Warsaw. This takes approximately 6 hours, and costs just 35 euros.
• Through trains run from Brussels to Moscow through Warsaw (although these are more expensive for getting from Berlin than the express).
• PKP run trains to Kaliningrad from Warsaw and Gdansk.
• Trains run from Warsaw to Lithuania
• PKP run trains from Warsaw via Katowice to Bratislava and Budapest (1 day 1 night, 8 hours to Bratislava, 11 hours to Budapest). This train passes through the east of the Czech republic, with connections to Prague.
• Day and night Eurocity trains run from Warsaw to Prague (2 day, 2 night, 8 hours) and Vienna (2 day, 2 night, 6.5 hours)
• A night train runs from Krakow and Katowice to Prague
• A day and a night train link Krakow and Katowice to Berlin
• Services run over the border from Krakow to Slovakia
Other local services run over the various borders, such as the Szczecin to Germany service. The best summary of international train services across Europe is the Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable. Alternatively timetable and price information for most of Europe is available on the Deutsche Bahn website. Generally, the main station in a city is called Glowny (pronounced something like gwovny and meaning main). The main station in Warsaw however is Warszawa Centralna.

Arriving By Coach.

Eurolines run coaches to Warsaw from as far away as Edinburgh, and as close as Munich.

Getting around by public transport

Trains.

Polands's rail network is run by PKP, a large state-owned company. It is much the same as rail networks throughout Eastern Europe. They are cheap, but not generally particularly quick. They can also be pretty uncomfortable in second class, and the quality of small local trains is very patchy indeed. Probably the worst aspect of trains in Poland is the lack of information. There is rarely more than one sign on the platform of a station, and no announcements are made on most trains, meaning that you can become completely lost if the train starts running late. They are starting to improve however - brand new local trains are appearing, as well as catering trolleys on long distance trains (although these seem to be badly converted shopping trolleys, and whether they are really better than the enterprising people who hop on and off at stations offering various goods is open to question).

Intercity services are slightly limited. The fastest services run along a route from Krakow and Katowice in the south, through Warsaw and on to Gdansk and Gdynia in the north (incidentally taking in almost all of the likely tourist destinations). There are also a few every day running east to west. They often cost nearly twice as much as the equivalent regional train, but this is still cheaper than the equivalent service in Western Europe, and for your money you are likely to get there in half the time, with comfortable seats, announcements and a proper catering service. Here are some tips on how to get the best out of the train service:

• Some local routes have a pretty irregular service, and if you would need to change trains to complete the journey it may prove faster and cheaper to do the journey by bus. This applies particularly on tourist routes such as that from Krakow to Auschwitz.
• Lists of departures and arrivals are posted at every station. You are likely to need to refer to these as few staff apart from those at international counters speak english. Departures are listed in yellow.
• Intercity tickets are usually bought from different windows than regional and local services. Intercity windows will accept credit cards.

Write down the details of the service you want to catch and hand it to the cashier. This way you are more likely to get the correct ticket. This is especially important if you want to catch a cheap train, since cashiers are often quite keen to offer a quality intercity service to foreigners

Last minute tickets are available for Intercity trains at substantial discount. If you are confident enough, it is well worth trying to buy these. There is also a weekend travel pass, allowing unlimited travel for a bargain price of around 100 zloty

Train times and prices for domestic services are available online from the PKP website.

Coaches.

Since the train network in Poland is fairly extensive and cheap, long distance coach travel is not really particularly popular. The coaches are also pretty uncomfortable which is quite unsuitable for more than an hour or so. For shorter journeys, the state-owned operator PKS runs irregular but reasonably comfortable buses in competition with a whole host of minibus operators. The minibuses are usually a little cheaper, or often more regular, but they will also often start and end at a separate private bus station, making them a little difficult to find. Minibus also means just that, so don't expect any legroom.

Self-catering

Large supermarkets such as Tesco and Carrefour exist in most towns, and have a reasonable range of produce, though as this is not an expensive country you should be able to afford to go to corner shops and local supermarkets. A good selection of bread, meat (particularly sausage of various kinds), pierogi (a kind of pasta parcel containing cheese and potato, or some kind of meat) and dried goods such as pasta is available. In some areas of the country fish of various kinds are popular. Fresh fruit and vegetables are a little seasonal, and can be pretty expensive out of season. Often the cheapest way thing to buy is frozen or pickled vegetables such as spinach and gherkins, with potatoes and onions.

Cheap eats

If you try, you can spend a fortune in Warsaw on food. If you are in smaller towns, or you shop around a little though, you should be able to find something in your price range. Kebab shops prevail all over the country, and while these vary in price, they are generally pretty cheap. In addition canteen-style restaurants can be found in most towns, where you can pick foods like casseroles and salads, which are sold by weight. You should be able to get a decent portion of something interesting with cheese and bread for a good price.

Restaurants

Most Polish restaurants are either based around one or another ethnic theme, such as Chinese or Italian, or offer a combination of traditional Polish food and various other options. Polish food will include delicacies such as pierogi and cutlets of meat served with potato and some form of salad. Other options will include things like pasta dishes. Vegetarian options are often a little more limited.

The expensive restaurants in Warsaw thrive on American-style tips - serving staff are otherwise paid a pittance, and may well effectively have money stolen from them by unsrupulous management. Outside of this bubble, a small amount (less than 10%), or rounding up the change is an acceptable tip for a meal. Over-generous tipping is a disease which benefits nobody - don't let it spread!

Drinks

Beer.

Polish beer may all be brewed by large multinational companies (Zywiec, the largest brand is owned by Carlsberg), but they are still brewed in the country, and to much the same quality as German and Czech beers. There seems to be less dark beers and other interesting variants unfortunately, and the gap there is being filled by the usual international rubbish like Guiness. Overall though you will get a half litre of fairly decent lager for between 3 and 8 zloty (ie. between extremely cheap and just fairly cheap compared to Western Europe). In the winter it is often possible to buy warm beer, which is basically just normal lager spiced and warmed up like mulled wine - definately an acquired taste.

Wine.

Don't. Not in bars anyway. You will most likely get a tiny glass of cheap bulgarian plonk which has been open next to the radiator for a month. This doesn't apply to whole bottles or reasonable restaurants of course, but even there wine is hardly a Polish obsession so the range could be a little limited.

Coffee.

The cheapest coffee served in cafes and bars in Poland is usually "turkish-style" - ie. the grains are in the cup, and the stuff shouldn't be drunk until they have had a few minutes to settle to the bottom. Sadly the premium option is often Nescafe (signs are proudly put outside cafes advertising this). Most towns will have proper coffee shops serving espresso-style coffee (sometimes "in paper cups, New York style" which is by all accounts "now very fashionable"). Suprisingly McDonalds in Poland serve espresso-style coffee, which means that if you just want filter coffee you are totally out of luck.

Vodka and other spirits.

Poland is famous for its vodka, and most places will serve a range of different vodkas, and often vodka-based cocktails. Prices range from dirt cheap to reassuringly expensive, with the average being well below what you would pay in western Europe. You do get what you pay for however, and some of the cheapest brands are probably not even fit for stripping paint. Imported spirits are quite expensive, and Polish-distilled whisky for example is not going to win any awards in the near future, so try developing a taste for vodka.

Pubs and bars

You can go for just drinks in all but the smartest of restaurants in Poland, but clubs and bars generally dominate the drinking scene. Most of these have table service, but it is perfectly normal to fetch your own drinks at the bar and sit at a table. You will normally pay upfront at the bar, or build up a tab for table service. In either case a tip is not expected but will be welcome - just give a few zlotys every few rounds or when you settle the bill for table service. As mentioned in the Food and Drink section, the range of beer can be quite limited and wine is best avoided. There will always be a range of vodka as well.

In larger towns there is likely to be one or two bars open more or less 24 hours, otherwise they will typically open until between midnight and 3am, depending on their expected clientele.

Nightclubs

Anybody used to clubs in the UK should feel perfectly at home in Poland. They range from cheesy student clubs and nights with cheap entry and even cheaper drinks, to expensive palaces full of beautiful people with brand-name DJs churning out bland rubbish for people who think they are classy. In-between, bigger cities such as Warsaw and Krakow have comfortable trendy hangouts and rough and ready clubs that people only go to for the specialist music.

Most clubs are open until late - often dawn, and as with bars a few are open 24 hours.