Traveling within Poland into my destination city - Lublin (from Warsaw airport)

So i'll spare the long story and make it short

i'm traveling to Poland this coming summer and well i'm a bit worried about how to get to my destination. I'm arriving to Okecie in Warsaw and i'm supposed to go to Centralna and from there to Lublin, by train. Well the issue is that I don't have the slighest clue about how to travel in Poland, and since i also don't know Polski then it's double trouble.

A few weeks ago I managed to find a site that lets me book train tickets online, but i was lazy to bookmark it. Now i can't find the freaking site and all I get from google is is PKP site, which is in polish and uses "google translator" as it's english site, of course it's all rubbish and completely confusing to navigate. Aside all that i'm a bit suspicious of the security of this site, even though they claim it's "World class", i wouldn't want to input my credit card information in there.

Anyway any help on how to travel it's apreciated, many options would be nice as well.

Get the airport bus 175 from there to centrum then you can see Centralna and walk to it. ZTM-put it in google.

If you take 175 stay alerted while on the bus as it's infamous for groups of professional pickpoceteers "working" it.Don't let anybody get to close to you and if possible take a seat.

I was pick pocketed on it a few years ago. Agree.

When you get to Warszawa Centralna, there are ticket machines which menu is also in english so it shouldn't be problem to buy a ticket.

Rent a car at the airport and then drive wherever

Yeah the airport part is the easy one, I rather take a cab to Centralna though. Because of...


So my problem is about trains, and cabs as well, are they safe? Can I take a cab from Warsaw Airport?


That's quite a surprise didn't know such thing existed in Poland. Though I rather book the tickets(online) prior to traveling for two reasons.

a)Once im in Centralna I might find that there aren't seats available in any train to Lublin and I need to be in Lublin at some fixed time, for the scheduled check-in in hotel.

b) I would really like to have some "hard evidence" that i'm going to Lublin, just in case the immigrations officer requests. If I have a hotel reservation in Lublin but no ticket to Lublin he might be suspicious. Since i dont live in the EU I would really like to avoid any problems...


Renting a card is tricky, first i would have to know about polish transit rules, which honestly i don't know. Then i would have to learn how to travel by route in Poland, seems harder and I have also heard that the roads are not particulary safe. On top of that my driver's license would have to be authentificated in Poland, and that looks fairly complicated.

Thanks people for the feedback, any more help is of course vastly apreciated.

From airport to city center cab is safe, just make sure you take a proper taxi, not just a random vehicle posing as a taxi... Do not exchange currency at the airport because the rate is blatant robbery. Try to exchange in advance before you travel, and if not possible, then in the city center. If you have to exchange at the airport, then reduce the amount you exchange to the bare minimum.

Immigration will not ask you for train ticket to Lublin, but they will ask you for the address of hotel in Lublin (only if you are arriving from outside Schengen), so I suggest you give them a copy of the hotel confirmation with the address highlighted.

Make sure you buy a ticket that entitles you to a specific seat, and don't be shy to ask for help at the station... There will be many people that speak Polish and English and are willing to help.

So many worries..... Just go to PL and figure them all out when problems, if any, materialize.

Ok... but how can I tell them apart?


Are you sure about this? I'm technically arriving from inside Schengen (Frankfurt) but my argentinean passport would be stamped in Argentina since i'm only connecting or in transit from Germany. My passport enables me to travel within Schengen area though. Anyway you never know what an inmigrations officer would request so I would really like to have all covered you know?


You can actually be that specific when you buy a ticket with the expender machines? Or are you suggesting that I should buy the ticket online?

If it's the later one then could you suggest me a website that offers this service?

The proper ones will have the name and phone number of the company in big letters - not just the word 'taxi'.

Farop,

It will not be as bad as you think. Bus 175 is good, or you can go to the taxi queue outside (don't accept offers inside the airport). There are many reliable companies that can get you to the main train station. If you are really uncomfortable with the whole thing, I can meet you at the ariport, take you to the train station, and get you on your way. How you get back, will be your problem. But I think you will see that it is not very difficult.

Or, just look for young people (under 30) and ask them for help as you go...

Hope you enjoy you trip.

If you're arriving via Germany, your passport will be stamped in Germany. When you arrive in Poland there wont be another immigration check.
You will collect your bags and walk out :)

So you need not worry about being stopped for not having a train ticket to Lublin. Besides, the Immigration officers are not that unreasonable, if you have a hotel booking and a return flight they will let you clear.

That's how it works, don't ask me why, but I can assure you that's how it is. I think its got to do with Schengen countries.

That might be true Shamalah. But for some reason when I landed in Germany, continued by train into Warsaw and then flew out of back to Amsterdam to make a connection back to Canada my passport never got stamped nor was I asked where I was going or for how long. But I did have a trick up my sleeve about that and I still get a chuckle out of it after all this time since I only have the airline stubs and the train ticket and a few other odds and ends from the trip to prove I was there in Europe.

Best to ask to have the passport stamped anyways to make sure there is no problems if you don't have dual citizenship with a country that is part of the EU.

The passport usually gets stamped in the first airport you land in Schengen. So in his case would be the german airport.

I've done it plenty of times in the past few years alone as a woman with an American accent without issue. Make sure you get a taxi that is in line out front and that has cab cpmany markings and a meter. Look for anything suspicious (like you would anywhere you travel, I would think that's obvious but to some it isn't). If the vast majority of the taxis are from the same company and look the same way, roughly, and one doesn't, you can go with one that looks like the rest of them, as one example of safety precautions. Again, I say this as a woman who does the same sort of safety precautions irregardless of country of travel, not because it's Poland.


Exactly.

If I recall, the last time I took the taxi from the train station to the airport in Warsaw, it cost me about 70 zloty, but I can't recall offhand. If I was going with a friend, I would have taken the autobus but alone, definitely a taxi, as I would in any country I would travel to.

70 PLN from Dworzec Centralny to the airport? That is definitely a rip-off. I live on the northern outskirts of Warsaw, and I am paying between 50-60 PLN to the airport with MPT (which is not the cheapest corporation). Bus 175 is IMO safe, and not that much slower as a taxi. They will stand in the same traffic jam on Zwirki i Figury.

Besides I I think Warsaw public transport is very safe.

You can buy PKP InterCity train tickets online on those two official PKP IC websites, both in English:
intercity.pl/en/
bilet.intercity.pl/irez/?lang=PL

Like I said, I might be wrong how much I paid the last 2 times, I just can't recall but for reason 70 zloty comes to mind. It might have been less.

I've taken 175 many times with no trouble. The express bus used to have a bad reputation but I don't know if it even exists anymore.

Just make sure the taxi has a phone number and the name of a company on it and you should be okay. Airport to Centralna shouldn't be any more than 50 zloties.

Also be careful getting on (and off) of trains with luggage. The one time I was targeted by Polish pickpockets was moving with some heavy luggage through a train corridor (in Berlin). But I became aggressive and was able to retrieve my wallet no worse for wear.

If you're staying with people you know it's not unreasonable (in Poland) to ask them to meet you at the airport and help you arrive safe and sound....

Generally Poland is much safer than anywhere in Latin America in terms of pickpockets and thieves targetting foreigners. Stay generally aware and you should have no trouble.

If it was on Sunday or a public holiday that would be right - otherwise between 40 and 50.

Don't worry, I don't really think that it's a complicated thing to travel in Warsaw, using Polish trains is pretty easy too, if you just check all the timetables in advance it will be a pure pleasure. Have a nice stay! :)

I have taken 175 over all these years very often, without any problems. As for taxis from the airport...there are three corporations officially sanctioned to operate from the airport. Outside arrivals a steward is arranging all this. Do not accept an "offer" from the gits in the arrival lounge. Sharks, all of them. Yes they have some kind of self made badge "taxi" or something like that. Gangsters.

175 to city center costs 3,60 PLN :)

Are you serious? XD I think i'm gonna take you up on your offer. By the way, where are you from?


I wouldn't be so sure about this. If for example you don't get out of the plane to the transit lounge there won't be any checkup nor stamping


Are you sure about this? Have you been in ALL PLACES of Latin America? Mind you the whole place is like the size of 6 Europes.

I should tell you that there are poorer and unsafer countries and some more developed and safer. I don't want to make generalizations like you did but Imo most metropolis have safety problems, be it New york, London, Bogota, Sao Paulo or Beijing. The thing about Poland is that it doesn't really have a "big" city, thus I would assume it's safer, but then again I heard otherwise. Althought people's feedback on this thread (specially on 175 bus) is making me realize that perhaps people are just ill intended when they write.


Thanks for this, although I already knew about these sites, I'm sure there is another site though. This one i'm talking about would let me book a train ticket 6 months in advance....

How much time do you have between when you arrive and when you need to be in Lublin? I realize if this is business related you may be getting stressed about it, but if your schedule is not tight, just take a deep breath and enjoy it. As long as you are not too uptight and can smile (but not too much or in a creepy way) you will do fine. Your English language skills will be enough to get you by. As I said, just ask young people for help if needed. Offer stands. If i am in town, and you still feel you need help, let me know. I'd be happy to show you that getting around in Poland is not that bad...

I'm not traveling for business. It's just that i'm arriving really late, around 16 (4 pm)... plus 2 hours of traveling to Lublin. I don't wanna lose valuable time which I could spend with my girlfriend.

So the sooner i'm in Lublin the better. Plus there is the check-in thing in hotel. I think the check-in schedule is over by 10 pm.

Well anyway. It's a long time til August so we'll see if you still want to escort me by then :p

I don't mean to be disrespectful by insisting but... are you native from Warszawa?

Thanks for the help !

In Poland there are 2 railway companies - PKP Intercity and Przewozy Regionalne. PKP Intercity runs TLK ("Tanie Linie Kolejowe" = "Your Railway Lines" - most of trains from Warsaw to Lublin), Express and "Express InterCity" trains. Przewozy Regionalne runs "Regio" (local trains), "InterRegio" (Inter-city trains operated with vehicles for local trains) and "RegioExpress" (standards similar to TLK).

PKP Intercity tickets you can buy at bilet.intercity.pl, Przewozy Regionalne tickets at biletyregionalne.pl. But any of them won't give you possibility to buy a ticket 6 months in advance... There is no so website. In 6 months, they can change a timetable for more than 1 time.

It's stupid - changing timetable every 6 months or even more often

Every 6 months? Try every 1-2 months! The current timetable is valid until the end of May. So for people coming for Euro, there's no way to make plans yet!

So im reviving this.

Mainly because the date of my trip is just around the corner :D

So new questions which i haven't considered before. How long would I take between the moment my plane arrives and. I get to Centralna ready to take the train. I'm asking this so I can better know at what time should I reserve the train ticket. Is Warsaw Airport busy? Will they hold me there for long?(Take into account that im coming from inside a Schengen country) Also consider that im a total noob when it comes to Poland, so finding the right streets, entrances, train platforms, etc could take me some time.

My plane arrives at 15:55. So any estimates? 1, 2 extra hours?

Thanks :p