Railtrip in Poland

Merseysider · 26 Jan 2017

I'll keep it brief - I'm contemplating a trip to Poland in July and hope to:

a) spend time in Warsaw
b) spend time in Lublin
c) attend a Marilyn Manson show in Katowice
d) visit Auschwitz
e) come back to the UK not completely exhausted

I can't seem to get the Polish rail website to give me anything more than ~5 weeks ahead which rather limits my planning. Assuming I stick to Advance fares, and bring my UK student ID, how much should I expect to pay for rail fares for the above journeys?

And if anybody's visited any of the above places, please do share your experiences! Plus, of course, any recommendations on interesting stock/routes :lol:

Cheers

RailUK Forums

30907 · 26 Jan 2017

IIRC Polish tickets are only sold a month in advance. Test bookings should give you an idea of fares.
However both IC and Regio do some good rover type tickets. Can't remember the details as they keep changing so either look at the Polrail agency site or wait for our experts to arrive...

duesselmartin · 26 Jan 2017

Auschwitz is certainly a moving experience. It kept me thinking for weeks. Also arriving by train at Oswiecim station and walking the same route the first prisoners would have.

LNW-GW Joint · 26 Jan 2017

I can only tell you about the southern triangle (CZ-) Katowice-Krakow-Oswiencim-(CZ) which I visited 3 years ago.

The local trips were 10-15 PLN for 60-70 km or so.
Trains (PR) varied from brand new EMU/DMUs to bone-shaking ancient EMUs which would give Pacers a run for their money.
I was surprised how dilapidated the rail system seemed to be - long stretches of 50 km/h running, with the occasional 80 km/h spurt.
They are modernising gradually, and you can find brand new next to decrepit infrastructure.
PKP is obviously better than PR (I used them to cross the CZ border), but you pay significant supplements over the local fare.

I spent a day in Krakow which is magnificent (Wawel castle, medieval rynek glowny, fine modern station with new shopping centre attached).
I changed trains at Oswiecim (Auschwitz) station on the return leg, but didn't have time to visit the museum sites which need a lot of time.
You can do it by (infrequent) train from Katowice or Krakow, but the coach trips are heavily advertised and take you straight to the museum area.

The surreal bit was that the PR conductor from Oswiecim spotted I was British and told me he had spent 3 years working in Reading, where I once lived.
Fancy discussing the Royals right outside Auschwitz!
Small world, and very friendly.
But you can't forget you are travelling on the "line of death".

lemonic · 26 Jan 2017

It may be worth purchasing an NUS Extra card with ISIC (International Student Identity Card) if you haven't already. ISIC is widely accepted in Poland to get a student discount, but a normal student card from your university is unlikely to be accepted.

For example, with an ISIC you can get child-fare (half price) travel tickets on the public transport in Warsaw.

shredder1 · 26 Jan 2017

Love Poland, the Polish are amazing people, and the women are beautiful, Id love a Polish bride, the shed foreman are wonderful also, I love the Poles.

Railsigns · 26 Jan 2017

JakeF said:
I'll keep it brief - I'm contemplating a trip to Poland in July and hope to:

a) spend time in Warsaw
b) spend time in Lublin
c) attend a Marilyn Manson show in Katowice
d) visit Auschwitz
e) come back to the UK not completely exhausted

I've been to all the places you mention, in the course of ten visits to Poland. It's a fascinating country and the people are lovely.

Warsaw is surprisingly nice in places. The old town is beautiful and there are some wonderful parks. The railway museum is worth a look.

At Lublin, you can visit the death camp Majdanek, a smaller version of Auschwitz. It's walkable from the main station or, alternatively, the trolleybuses run right past the camp.

Katowice isn't much of a tourist city. Beware of the drug addicts that hang around the railway station. I saw U2 live at the Stadion Śląski in 2005.

I've visited Auschwitz three times now and the strength of the experience never diminishes. If you call in at the Old Jew Ramp on the way to the Birkenau camp, you'll see two restored 'cattle' wagons. The town centre of Oświęcim is quite picturesque.

Robertj21a · 26 Jan 2017

Katowice and that whole region is excellent for anybody interested in tramway systems.

anme · 26 Jan 2017

Poland is really great - I agree with all the positive comments above.

One tip from me - learn to pronounce Polish words. They can look intimidating but the language is phonetic and it's not as hard as it looks. It will help with every day tasks like asking for train tickets - English is widely spoken but it's still useful to be able to say place names in way people will understand. In my experience, Polish people are sympathetic to any attempts to speak their beautiful language.

The pronunciation guide at the top of this page is a good start - http://wikitravel.org/en/Polish_phrasebook (the pronunciations in the phrases section are a bit odd, though!).

Have a great time!

fowler9 · 26 Jan 2017

Love Poland myself and have visited Warsaw twice. Someone has already mentioned the railway museum which is pretty cool and not hard to get to. There is also the Polish Army Museum just by the bridge over the river which leads to the national stadium, if fighter planes float your boat you can walk around the outside and see a Mig-29, Mig-21 and others just parked up. A trip up the lift in the Palace Of Culture and Science is worth the effort for some cool views from the top.

Auschwitz as others have said is incredibly moving, not something you will forget in a hurry. Nearby Krakow is stunning if you have the time. Katowice I have only passed through on the way from Krakow to Katowice airport. I have a friend from nearby Tychy and am planning to have a visit with him some time this year. He is actually currently up in the Mountains in Zakopane, his photos look amazing.

Not visited Lublin yet. If you get bitten by the bug when over there and want to go again I can recommend Wroclaw, Gdansk and Sopot.

As an aside take some time to familiarise yourself with a few phrases and their pronunciation. It is appreciated and for me makes it more fun.

Who are you flying with and where to?

Merseysider · 27 Jan 2017

Many thanks for all responses! I'll look into everything that's been mentioned here once I've got WiFi, so tonight or tomorrow.

fowler9 said:
Who are you flying with and where to?

Originally I was thinking of entering via Modlin (WMI) and leaving via Krakow (KRK), Ryanair both ways, but as I'm enjoying the Czech Republic so much right now I was thinking of travelling south to Ostrava instead of back to Krakow. I'm still relatively new to all this

LNW-GW Joint · 27 Jan 2017

JakeF said:
Originally I was thinking of entering via Modlin (WMI) and leaving via Krakow (KRK), Ryanair both ways, but as I'm enjoying the Czech Republic so much right now I was thinking of travelling south to Ostrava instead of back to Krakow. I'm still relatively new to all this

By the time you get there, there will be a new through day train (TLK) from Krakow 1042 to Prague 1739 via Oswiecim 1204, Bohumin and Ostrava 1418.
https://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/q...=5&ident=8r.02892337.1485519661&rt=1&OK#focus

fowler9 · 28 Jan 2017

JakeF said:
Many thanks for all responses! I'll look into everything that's been mentioned here once I've got WiFi, so tonight or tomorrow.

Originally I was thinking of entering via Modlin (WMI) and leaving via Krakow (KRK), Ryanair both ways, but as I'm enjoying the Czech Republic so much right now I was thinking of travelling south to Ostrava instead of back to Krakow. I'm still relatively new to all this

If you can and the price is right I would consider flying Wizzair in to Chopin. It is a hell of a lot closer to Warsaw and a lot cheaper with more options to get to the city centre. Last time I flew to Warsaw was on Ryanair the pilot apologised that we were being diverted to Chopin because of fog at Modlin and me and my travelling companions cheered. Ha ha.

I personally think that if you are thinking of missing out Krakow entirely to go to Ostrava it would be a mistake.

Groningen · 28 Jan 2017

Make sure to hide your money. Especially at night and beware that keep a seat for you free with only goal is to rob you.

fowler9 · 28 Jan 2017

Groningen said:
Make sure to hide your money. Especially at night and beware that keep a seat for you free with only goal is to rob you.

Same applies everywhere, not just Poland. I got robbed twice in three days in Barcelona. Never been robbed in Poland.

Polrail · 30 Jan 2017

lemonic said:
It may be worth purchasing an NUS Extra card with ISIC (International Student Identity Card) if you haven't already. ISIC is widely accepted in Poland to get a student discount, but a normal student card from your university is unlikely to be accepted.

For example, with an ISIC you can get child-fare (half price) travel tickets on the public transport in Warsaw.

Keep in mind, however, that this does NOT qualify you for the student rate (51% discount) on trains in Poland.

The student discount is only available to:

*Polish students studying in Poland
*Foreign students studying in Poland, with an ID card from a Polish school
*Polish students studying abroad, with the ISIC card

shredder1 · 30 Jan 2017

fowler9 said:
Same applies everywhere, not just Poland. I got robbed twice in three days in Barcelona. Never been robbed in Poland.

The price of Polish rail tickets I felt like I was robbing them :lol:

Robertj21a · 30 Jan 2017

fowler9 said:
Same applies everywhere, not just Poland. I got robbed twice in three days in Barcelona. Never been robbed in Poland.

I think many people get robbed in Barcelona (and Rome) - I nearly got robbed in both places, but never in many visits to Poland.

fowler9 · 30 Jan 2017

shredder1 said:
The price of Polish rail tickets I felt like I was robbing them

Ha ha, I felt like that getting the train from Krakow to Katowice or when we bought a group travel ticket in Gdansk. I thought I had read the price wrong.

fowler9 · 30 Jan 2017

Robertj21a said:
I think many people get robbed in Barcelona (and Rome) - I nearly got robbed in both places, but never in many visits to Poland.

Indeed. And I am a very careful traveller.

bradford758 · 31 Jan 2017

fowler9 said:
Ha ha, I felt like that getting the train from Krakow to Katowice or when we bought a group travel ticket in Gdansk. I thought I had read the price wrong.

Looking at the intercity.pl site, some fares have actually gone down!
Around £20 or 109 zł. (PLN) for a three-hour train ride is reasonable, but that is for first class intercity booked in advance, the 2nd class is less (varies according to train type) with 30% off for over-60s.

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bradford758 · 31 Jan 2017

Robertj21a said:
Katowice and that whole region is excellent for anybody interested in tramway systems.

Katowice is not really a tourist area with few English speaking residents, so a basic knowledge of Polish does help

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bradford758 · 31 Jan 2017

Have done a few trips to Poland, and hope to get there soon, though will still be winter when I'm there, rather than the summer trip planned by the o.p.
Anyway, hope to make use of some of the above suggested trips.

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bradford758 · 31 Jan 2017

duesselmartin said:
Auschwitz is certainly a moving experience. It kept me thinking for weeks. Also arriving by train at Oswiecim station and walking the same route the first prisoners would have.

There are two sites, (think there is a bus link) only had time to visit one site as in the morning had visited the Wieliczka Salt Mine (it's much better than it sounds!) but some coach trips cover both the salt mine and the camp.

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Robertj21a · 1 Feb 2017

bradford758 said:
Katowice is not really a tourist area with few English speaking residents, so a basic knowledge of Polish does help

Sent from my 4009X using Tapatalk

Been there 3 times, totalling 15 days. I don't speak any Polish (apart from the very basics) but have never had any problems. The schools do English as a second language and most people under, say, 40 can speak/understand English.

fowler9 · 1 Feb 2017

bradford758 said:
There are two sites, (think there is a bus link) only had time to visit one site as in the morning had visited the Wieliczka Salt Mine (it's much better than it sounds!) but some coach trips cover both the salt mine and the camp.

Sent from my 4009X using Tapatalk

The first time I went to Krakow we just did a visit to Auschwitz. When I returned with my girlfriend we did a combined trip to Auschwitz and the Wieliczka Salt Mine which was worth the effort, a very interesting place although obviously not as emotional as Auschwitz.

fowler9 · 1 Feb 2017

Robertj21a said:
Been there 3 times, totalling 15 days. I don't speak any Polish (apart from the very basics) but have never had any problems. The schools do English as a second language and most people under, say, 40 can speak/understand English.

I agree but being able to speak the basics is appreciated and in some cases useful, using public transport for example.

Merseysider · 28 Apr 2017

It's me again

I'm off next week. I've got almost all the trips and hotels sorted, thanks to everyone on here.

Just one journey left to sort out. Oswiecim -> Wroclaw on Thursday 4th May. I'm thinking of taking the 0846 Oswiecim -> Katowice 0938 followed by 1010 Katowice - Wroclaw 1226. Do I have to split at Katowice or can I buy a (cheap) through ticket? If this goes well, I might be back in July or August.

Thanks

LNW-GW Joint · 28 Apr 2017

JakeF said:
Just one journey left to sort out. Oswiecim -> Wroclaw on Thursday 4th May. I'm thinking of taking the 0846 Oswiecim -> Katowice 0938 followed by 1010 Katowice - Wroclaw 1226. Do I have to split at Katowice or can I buy a (cheap) through ticket? If this goes well, I might be back in July or August.

I don't think the direct route works on a single ticket, as Oswiecim-Katowice is local (PR) and Katowice-Wroclaw is long-distance (TLK).
The PKP site sends you on a wild-goose chase on the only inter-city train (1204 to Prague) via Czechowice-Dziedzice to Katowice.
So it would be 2 tickets I think, but you should be able to book them online.
Katowice-Wroclaw appears to be PLZ 39.

Merseysider · 28 Apr 2017

LNW-GW Joint said:
I don't think the direct route works on a single ticket, as Oswiecim-Katowice is local (PR) and Katowice-Wroclaw is long-distance (TLK).
The PKP site sends you on a wild-goose chase on the only inter-city train (1204 to Prague) via Czechowice-Dziedzice to Katowice.
So it would be 2 tickets I think, but you should be able to book them online.
Katowice-Wroclaw appears to be PLZ 39.

Thanks, yep the PKP site threw up some odd results for me as well :lol:

£8 for a two-hour intercity journey is incredibly good value.

shredder1 said:
The price of Polish rail tickets I felt like I was robbing them

^This!

Last time I had tickets this cheap was in Morocco :lol:

Railtrip in Poland

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