Daily life

centres, at railway stations, airports, in some hotels and in places with a higher numbers of tourists. Official current exchange rates are set by the National Bank of Poland (NBP).

Banking services

Banks are open from Monday till Friday, some of them also work on Saturday. All banks are closed on Sundays and public holidays. Large banks have their own cash machines and there are also independent cash machine networks (Euronet, Planet Cash). If you have a card of a given bank, you may use its cash machines free of charge, whereas other card holders may pay a commission.

Payment cards (Visa, Maestro, MasterCard etc.) can be used in most bigger and medium-size shops as well as restaurants (where you can usually see card logos on the entrance door). In some bigger supermarkets or chain shops, designated cash desks accept payments in euro (apart from zloty, the national currency) at an exchange rate given there.

Cheque transactions are far less common in Poland. This is because the market of e-banking services and charge cards is well-developed. Traveller's cheques are accepted by banks, but virtually are never used as a method of payment in trade. They may be cashed in some bigger banks. You should also remember that banks may charge a commission (ca 1.5%) on the cheque transaction.

Bank account

If you plan to open a bank account in Poland you should remember that individual banks may have different requirements regarding the documents to be submitted. Generally, you might be asked to present the following documents:

• valid passport or ID,
• residence card or temporary residence card.

Train (PL pociąg)

Rail services in Poland are provided by a number of public and private operators. Yet, the dominant carrier is the Polish State Railways (Polskie Koleje Państwowe, PKP) which brings together several companies providing domestic and international transport services. The fastest and most comfortable travel is offered by the PKP Intercity company. The Polish railway industry has been modernizing its infrastructure in order to constantly improve travel duration, conditions and comfort of passengers.

Today, you can choose from ca 100 trains running daily between popular tourist centres, the biggest cities in Poland (Intercity and Express trains) and beyond its borders. Poland has railway connections with many European cities including Prague, Vienna, Bratislava, Berlin, Budapest, Moscow and Minsk.

Train tickets (PL bilety kolejowe)

May be purchased online, from ticket offices at all railway stations, in some travel agencies, as well as from ticket machines at some railway stations. You can also buy a ticket from the train conductor, paying in cash or – in all PKP Intercity trains – with a charge card; in this case, the price includes a small extra charge. Children of up to 4 years of age (of any nationality) travel by train in Poland for free. School and university students in Poland of up to 26 years of age as well as PhD students of up to 35 years are entitled to a 51% reduction off the full fare, provided that they hold a valid pupil or student identity card issued in Poland (to be shown at the train conductor’s request). Cheaper family tickets are another available and frequently chosen option, particularly attractive during the summer holiday season.

Bus (PL autobus)

In Poland public transport services are provided by a number of companies. They provide long-distance cross-country journeys as well as suburban and local services. Tickets may be purchased at bus stations or sometimes directly from bus drivers before the journey. Timetables and ticket prices are available at PKS companies websites of each region/city or at private company’s websites.

Useful links (EN)

Train timetable and ticket prices 

Connection Finder

Timetables are displayed at each bus stop and may also be found at websites of each public urban transport provider. All means of public transport in a given city or town use the same type of tickets which can be purchased from news-stands, ticket machines or in some shops and post-offices. All cities and towns have full-fare tickets (PL biletnormalny) and reduced-fare tickets (PL biletulgowy), the latter for persons entitled to discounts (e.g. Polish pupils and university students up to 26 years old, PhD students and pensioners).

Here you can find the schedules for most of the cities in Poland. Using this website you can simply indicate the address where you want to go to and it will show you the possible routes.

Translation agencies (PL agencja tłumaczeń or biuro tłumaczeń)

Numerous translation agencies offer interpreting and translation from and into many languages. You may also need a sworn (certified) translator, because documents translated and certified by them are recognised for official purposes.

Here you can find an official list of sworn translators in Poland - you have to choose the language (PL język).

It is also worth visiting the Adam Mickiewicz Institute website, where you can find information about Polish artistic projects. You can also buy the "Polish Culture Magazine", bilingual (Polish/English) quarterly which aims at promoting Polish culture abroad and focuses on its most modern - as well as vital - artistic achievements.

Traditional Polish lunch or dinner would not go without tomato soup (PL zupapomidorowa) with noodles or rice, beetroot soup (PL barszcz, also known as borscht) served with a kind of ravioli (small meat or cabbage and mushroom dumplings) or the oldest Polish dish which is rye-flour soup (PL żur or żurek) served with a sausage and a boiled egg.

During your stay in Poland, you should also try dumplings (PL pierogi) stuffed with meat, white cheese or fruit and traditional Polish cakes such as cheesecake (PL sernik), apple pie (PL jabłecznik), poppy-seed cake (PL makowiec) or gingerbread (PL piernik). Beer (PL piwo) lovers will not be disappointed with Polish trademark brews made for centuries, some of them winning awards in international contests.

Poland has plenty of restaurants, bars and inns which offer national dishes and regional specialities, and whose owners try to outdo one another in making the style of the interior as original as possible. In most cities and towns you will find a wide choice of restaurants offering Italian, French, Jewish or Chinese but also Arabic or Mexican cuisine. Moreover, Warsaw is chosen as a one of the most vegan friendly cities in the world, according to happycow.com

Restaurants are open from Monday to Sunday, usually between 10 a.m. and 11 p.m. or late night, and Polish pubs only close once the last client leaves. In smaller towns, except for tourist resorts, they open later and close earlier. Bills may include a service charge if you come with a group of people. In restaurants where you are served by a waiter, tips usually range between 5 and 10%, depending on the standard of the place.

Those who are tired of the hustle and bustle of city life may rest in botanical or zoological gardens, or numerous urban and landscape parks.

In each region, city or town, you will find an enormous variety of places worth visiting and events worth attending. Information about such places and events is available on town’s websites and in local newspapers.

In Poland you will find almost anything you like in this regard: from rocky mountains, wide beaches, clean lakes and vast forests to world-class monuments. The greatest attraction of the country is its varied, unspoilt and unrestrictedly accessible nature. In Poland there is a large number of landscape parks and protected areas, including 23 national parks, 7 of which are on the UNESCO List of Biosphere Reserves.

This is why Poland is a paradise for active tourists who can travel around on foot, by canoe, on horseback or by bicycle. The best season for this type of holiday in terms of weather conditions is between May and September but Polish summer, usually dry and warm, also invites for trips in October.

Ideal places for all-year-round holiday are numerous seaside and mountain resorts, and – for those who prefer less active rest – spa resorts which have therapeutic springs and spring pools open to the general public.

The choice of accommodation facilities offered is very wide: from standard hotels of worldwide chains in every bigger city, modern hotel complexes, including tennis courts and swimming pools, to small boarding houses or pensions and little cosy hotels, mountain hostels, camping sites and rural agro-tourist farms.

• General emergency number: 112 (information in Polish, English, German, Russian, Slovak, Czech, Ukrainian, Belorussian, Lithuanian or Italian, depending on the call centres)
• Police: 997
• Municipal Guard: 986
• Ambulance Service: 999
• Fire Rescue Brigade: 998