DRIVING TO POLAND THIS THURSDAY ANY TIPS?

HI,

On thursday this week i leave to drive to poland and wondered if anyone had any advice for this time of year?

I am driving in my Ford Focus W Reg (2000).

This is the first time i will have driven to poland.... Im not alone on the journey as my Fiancee will be with me but she hsnt got a licence so i will be doing all the driving.

Thanks
Jon

But from where? what border crossing?

Sorry, should have realy put where im coming from....

Im driving from England to Poland.

just in my opinion be carefull switching from right hand drive to left hand drive and in Poland get ready to the practice of overtaking which is a sport in poland in my opinion they come right shooting at you head on stay on the right and let them show the control of the road.

Always keep an eye on your rearview mirror, they will be coming and they will be coming fast. You are expected to drive a bit on the shoulder to help with them overtaking you. And be prepered for the same procedure for oncoming traffic. After driving myself to Poland I found that the talk about the "crazy polish drivers" was a bit exaggerated, but there are some, so don't sleep behind the wheel.

And try your best not to fill up on petrol in Germany, only get as much as you need to cross the polish border since the price is much lower in Poland.

id take emergency brake down numbers for the countries you will be passing through, im sure you'll be fine but an old Ford like that is not the most reliable especially when doing such distances at speed.

When youre on the motorways its virtually impossible to drive on the wrong side of the road so dont worry about that.

it's gonna rain in northern Germany on Thursday - so you should expect less then perfect conditions on their otherwise brilliant motorways - there are anough Raststaette (rest places) for travellers to stop, have a meal, use a toilet (bring some euro with you) and refuel (it's around 1.5 euro per litre in Germany in case you need to refuel - it's cheaper in Poland around 1.2 E/ltr)

Where from in England and where to in Poland? There are massive differences depending on this.

7.9$ a gallon? you are not serious are you?

yes if southern Poland it's almost all motorways all along - central and especialy northern Poland is different

From oxford in england to grodzisk mazowiecki poland.

Is the drive fairly good or are the roads busy and congested?

Thats a big one, about 8 hours in Poland i reckon.


Compared to the M25 it will be a breeze. The worst section (apart from the UK) will be Holland, theres usually congestion there depending on the time of day of course.

• 
  The Polish leg
  

half of the route in Poland is still motorway here - but a paid one in part

I have driven several time and its not all that bad.Just do a few basic checks on your car before you go.Water,oil,screen wash,tyre pressures including spare.Its also worth checking your exhuast rubber mountings nothing like sat on the side of a motorway for the sake of a few pound.You should have a first aid kit,warning triangle and spare bulb kit and a hi viz.A supply of redbull and a pack of pro+ will help ;-) Dont buy beam deflectors black insulation tape works just fine and easier to remove when you get home.Have a safe journey

I bought them once and took them off after a few weeks, since then i never bothered and didnt have any issues with dazzling oncoming cars. I think most cars these days are universal.


Also a fire extinguisher, the list for German roads is pretty silly really, but having been stopped and fined there a couple of times i under the impression that once they stop you they'll find something. The germans are right bastads for that.

Do i need a green card from my insurance or something???

I am covered to drive in europe and have a european certificate but just wanted to make sure this is enough...

Havnt read anywhere that i need a green card from the insurance just wanted to double check.

No, but I believe it is required that you bring proof of registration of your car, and it is generally recommended that you bring proof of insurance. Another tip is to go to your insurance company and get the standard form to fill in if you happen to be in any incident. Just to make things easier.

I have always found it useful to get off the motorways and get fuel in the nearby towns/villages when driving through Germany. The fuel is quite cheaper and you get to see the country side. Please avoid during rush hours!

Forgot to mention that you have to have your lights on all time in Poland whilst driving.

Are speed limits in Poland, both the motorways and in built up areas and, also in Germany on the Autobahn, sign posted well? Or not?

in Germany there is no speed limit on the Autobahns unless there are those overhead sings lighted showing you the speed limit - in good conditions these are visible from about a mile

there is a general 140 kmph limit on Polish motorways and thus there are much fewer of those overhead electronic displays that can warn you about a local speed limit so you should be careful and watch the road and the signage - as for other roads and built up areas - there is signage present in Poland - you just need to watch it (also because there is a lot of roads with speed limits below the general limit for the type of the road (mainly because the roads are in bad condition) - standard speed limits are here:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limits_by_country

On entering Poland make sure you have a pack of XL pampers ready. Not for faint-hearted motorists I,m afraid. Good luck.

Yes, Poland is fantastic at signing speed limits. No hassle here - after every junction, the speed limit (if different from the normal limit for that type of road) will be signed. When you enter/leave a town, it's also very clearly marked. The speed limit signs are the least of your problems ;)


Not always, I can think of the A12 from Swiecko to the Berliner Ring - there's only about 4-5 signs the whole way, warning you that it's 120km/h for the entire motorway. Ridiculous.


Ah, it's not that bad. Either that, or I'm just used to it.

(driving in Germany the other day was mind-numbingly tedious)

Thanks :)

Also can anyone tell me the difference between carriageways and carriage expressways in Poland? and how will i know which one im on.

My Fiancee is polish so if they are written in Polish no worries.

you're kidding yes ? I'm sorry but the majority of the time you have to guess or try and interpret what the limit is from the kind of road you're on.

this is your least worry - there is not so many expressways in the first place - especially along your route - if not sure just stay below the limit for the normal road

All i can add is: If it says 50KPH then all the cars will be doing 70-80, 70KPH cars will be doing 100.
When i first moved to Poland in my English car i was sticking to the speed limits. I had everything overstake me, Fiat 125p, Lovely old Polish cars and so on. It took me a few days to understand what the speed limit says and what you will drive at.

Expressways are signed with S numbers - S11, S5, etc. You'll also see a picture of a car upon entering them.


Why would you have to guess? It's all pretty simple - from crossing the border - every limit that isn't "normal" for that class of road is signed, unless you're in a town - in which case, you already know that the default of 50km/h applies unless signed to the contrary.

No need to guess at all in Poland - I don't know if you passed your test here, but the theory clearly states that *every* speed limit that isn't 'normal' for that class of road must be signed. And if there's no limit signed, a simple look at the road will tell you the limit.

Inside a town (marked with the very obvious 'town' sign) - 50km/h.
Single carriageway? 90km/h.
Dual carriageway, divided? 100km/h.
Expressway? 120km/h
Motorway? 140km/h.

Anything to the contrary will be signed after every single junction with another road. No need to guess.

do you actually drive here? Bear in mind this thread is for a stranger driving in Poland. As there are very few speed limit signs when driving in Poland I think they'll be guessing quite a lot.

I even passed my test here. There are certainly not "few signs" - every single speed limit change from the norm is signed.

What you're referring to, I think, is the way that Poland doesn't sign every single change explicitly - but that's because you can safely assume that the limit is the national limit for that road in the absence of signs to the contrary. Less sign clutter is good ;)

For instance, you drive from Swiecko to Poznan. You'll cross the border - and due to roadworks, there's a 70 limit to Rzepin. Okay, that's fine - after every junction, the 70 is posted. We get to Rzepin, and we pass the "miasto" sign - so we know the limit is 50km/h there. After getting through Rzepin, we pass the "end of city" sign - so we now know that the limit is 90km/h. So, we drive - and we see a 60km/h sign. That applies until the next junction - after that, the limit goes back to 90km/h in the absence of any signs to the contrary.

Likewise, we enter the motorway. The limit is automatically 140km/h - but approaching the tolls, the limit goes down to 40km/h. After the tolls, there's a junction to a small MOP - so the limit automatically goes back to 140km/h in the absence of signs to the contrary.

Everywhere in Poland is like that. It's the law.