Poland

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.