Warsaw

History

Before becoming the capital

There are records of human settlements and economic activity in the area of what is now Warsaw from the 9th century onwards, but it wasn't until the 13th century that Warsaw was founded by the Dukes of Mazovia. While developing as an administrative and economic centre, it played second fiddle to Płock within Mazovia until the 15th century, and was by no means a match for Poland's former capital, Kraków. It gained growing importance due to its economic might and strategically important central location in Poland, cemented when the Polish Sejm (parliament of nobles) relocated there permanently in the 16th century, and it became the site of royal elections.

As capital city of Poland

In 1596, it became the de facto capital of the country when King Sigismund III Vasa decided to permanently relocate to what is now the Royal Castle in Warsaw. The city started to develop rapidly beyond the what is now the Old and New Town, as noblemen started moving in and building mansions and palaces around town. In the 17th century, Praga, on the right-hand side of the river Vistula, was incorporated as a separate town (and did not become a part of Warsaw until the 19th century).
While ravaged by wars and natural disasters as many other European cities in this period, Warsaw continued to grow and modernize, with baroque residences, including Wilanów being built in the 17th century, and the Saxon kings initiating first large-scale urban planning projects in the early 1700s. The last king of independent Poland, Stanisław August Poniatowski, has further modernized the city following the ideals of Enlightenment in the second half of the 18th century.
At the end of 18th century, the weakened Republic of Poland was partitioned, through a period of forced diplomacy, military actions and uprisings, and Warsaw first fell into the Prussian rule, losing most of its importance. As the French emperor Napoleon marched eastwards with his army, he reestablished a small Polish state known as the Duchy of Warsaw, after its eponymous capital, but it was short-lived and was absorbed by the Russian empire in 1815, after Napoleon's defeat.

Under Russian rule

Warsaw remained a capital city under the Russian rule, as the Kingdom of Poland was reestablished, although with Russian tsars as hereditary kings and not much political independence. Warsaw was then the westernmost of major cities of the Russian empire and enjoyed economic growth as a commercial and industrial centre. While repeated uprisings and attempts to regain independence failed, Warsaw was still enriched with the creation of many cultural and educational institutions, many surviving to this day.
Warsaw's growth was curbed by a double line of military forts, protecting the strategically important Russian outpost, which by the second half of the 19th century made Warsaw one of the most dense and overpopulated cities of its time. To aid the failing hygiene, the authorities started constructing the pioneering Warsaw waterworks (led by William Lindley), and first district heating and warm water installations were laid.
At the turn of the century, Warsaw was electrified, gaining its first electric power plant, electric tramways, and a telephone network. At the start of the First World War, Warsaw was bustling, modern city of almost 1 million inhabitants, rife with opulent, belle-epoque architecture adapted to its density.

Between the World Wars

As Poland regained independence, Warsaw became the capital city of an independent country again. It suffered heavily during the war, and was soon threatened by the advancing Soviet forces, who were only repelled at the borders in the 1920 Battle of Warsaw. While political instability and struggles ensued, Poland enjoyed economic growth, optimism and proper attention to planning and urbanism in that period, and Warsaw benefited from that greatly, especially under its last interwar President, Stefan Starzyński.
Warsaw gained a state-of-the-art airport in Okęcie, a central railway through station connecting all major railway links that used to go through or terminate in the city, and an experimental TV broadcasting station. Modern and attractive planned residential districts were created outside of the historic forts line, most notably northwards in Żoliborz and Bielany. Warsaw continued to mix the new and old and many modern buildings filled in gaps between or replaced older buildings across the city, providing for the eclectic look Warsaw for which is known today.
The developments of that time, while later destroyed to a large extent in the Second World War, were instrumental to shaping Warsaw in many ways to how it was known today. Most were either rebuilt verbatim or in a similar form and place, while some survived.

Second World War

For most of the Second World War, Warsaw was occupied by Nazi Germany, but it did not surrender without major fights that affected the city – over 10% of the buildings were destroyed, with the infrastructure and many other buildings damaged. The German authorities treated Warsaw as expendable and had grand plans of totally rebuilding it as a planned city, with Germanic and Nazi symbolism replacing all of the Polish heritage. This did not come into fruition, but explained why little heed was paid to preserving the city, which was also periodically bombed by the Soviet forces after 1941.
It was an especially tragic period for the Jewish population of Warsaw, which had been a significant part of the general population over pretty much all of Warsaw's history. The Nazi forces confined Jews to the Warsaw Ghetto, sprawling over much of the Western Śródmieście and the district of Wola, and proceeded with their plans to annihilate them. In 1942 the Germans carried out the Grossaktion Warschau, when more than 250,000 Jewish people were taken to the death camp in Treblinka. The minority of Jews that stayed in the Ghetto eventually carried out the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943.
In the final period of the war, the dramatic and tragic Warsaw Uprising took place in 1944. (The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943 and the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 are entirely separate historic events.) It led to the destruction of most of the remaining buildings in Warsaw and further staggering loss of life, while not achieving its goal of liberating Warsaw from the German forces before the Soviets marched in. The Red Army then captured the crippled and all but razed city, cementing Poland's fate as a communist satellite state of the Soviet Union.

Post-World War II – rebuilding the city

By 1945, Warsaw was almost completely destroyed. It is estimated that over 80% of the city was destroyed, including almost the entire city centre and most historic and significant buildings. Of almost 1.4 million inhabitants, half died during the war (including the vast majority of the Jewish population), others were forcibly removed or escaped voluntarily, and only about 10% of the initial population was found inhabiting the ruins of the city.
To rebuild the city was thus an enormous task, but there was no hesitation in the resolve to achieve it. A special committee of architects and urban planners conducted the efforts. Their paradigms shaped the city as it is known today. On the one hand, there was meticulous effort to restore the oldest and most important historic buildings using extant documentation, but also old photos and even paintings. On the other, the communist ideology ran very much against the character of pre-war Warsaw, and practical reasons and urban planning opportunities dictated planning on a larger scale, envisaging an expansive, much lower-density city.
Most architects and historians held much the late 19th century architecture in low regard and thus many of the historic buildings and areas were rebuilt to resemble their shape in the 18th century or earlier, while ideological and practical reasons limited the restoration of ornamentation to less important buildings, and centralized urban planning provided for a much more harmonious look of the rebuilt historic sections of the city than could be witnessed from before the war. The restoration was mostly completed in the 1940s and early 1950s, but it took until the 1974 to rebuild the Royal Castle. After the Royal Castle, not many other buildings were restored – among notable exceptions are the buildings of the northern side of Plac Teatralny, only recreated in late 1990s.
Apart from historic restoration, in the 1950s Warsaw has also gained a fair share of socialist-realistic architecture, which was all about monumentalism and ideologically-themed decoration. Its most prominent example is the controversial Palace of Culture and Science, which grew to become one of Warsaw's symbols. The emphasis, however, was on housing the returning and rapidly growing population, and thus Warsaw also gained many nondescript, gray residential buildings. As population continued to grow and means were scarce in the centrally-planned socialist economy, the authorities turned to prefabricated concerte, creating sprawling Plattenbau estates around Warsaw.

Contemporary Warsaw

Since the fall of communism in 1989, Warsaw has been developing much more rapidly than Poland as a whole. It's hard to recognize the city if you saw it ten years ago, and more changes are constantly taking place. Warsaw has long been the easiest place in Poland to find employment, and for this reason many of the Polish inhabitants of the city are first or second generation, originating from all over the country.
Even though much of Warsaw seems to imitate western cities, there are many peculiarities to be found here that you will not find in western capitals. Examples include the communist-era bar mleczny (lit. 'milk bar') that remain in operation (essentially cheap cafeterias for no-frills, working-class traditional Polish dining, which have remained incredibly popular in the face of westernization). Europe's largest outdoor marketplace, once around the old stadium, has disappeared as the new National Stadium was built for the Euro 2012 football championships.

Climate

Summers in Warsaw can vary from mild to exhaustingly hot. In most residences and some hotels, there is no air conditioning, which means the days and nights can be hot to the point of interrupting one's sleep. Travelers should bring light, summer clothes for the day, but bring an extra jacket for evenings, which can sometimes get a little chilly.
Winters, on the other hand, can get very cold (sometimes as low as -20 °C). Weather can often force the city to come to a standstill. When it snows, it may take up to an hour's time just to travel a few city blocks with traffic at a standstill and road crews seemingly caught off guard (despite warnings from meteorologists in several days in advance). Public transportation will also be utter chaos with buses and trams running late. On the first day of snow in 2010, it took upwards of three hours to travel from Wola to the northern tip of Mokotów; a trip that usually takes no more than 30–45 minutes. Bring heavy, water-resistant shoes when traveling in Poland in late autumn to early spring.

Tourism

The Warsaw Tourist Office (Stołeczne Biuro Turystyki) is the official tourist information agency in Warsaw and can provide visitors with information regarding attractions, transport and events. They also have free maps and brochures for travelers. They operate four locations in Warsaw:

• in the Palace of Culture and Science, entrance from Emilii Plater Street
• at the Old Town Market Square (Rynek Starego Miasta) in the Old Town
• in the Praga Koneser Centre

The City of Warsaw has a lot of useful information on its website. A popular source of practical tips, contacts, and current event information is the Warsaw Insider, available at every concierge, tourist information centre and larger newsagents. The Warsaw Voice is the city's most popular English-language weekly, and maintains a good calendar of events. Destination Warsaw has some useful information, but you need to be aware that it is run by Warsaw Destination Alliance, whose members are some of the tourist-related businesses in Warsaw, so the website obviously serves their promotional needs. Its main goal is the promotion of Warsaw as a destination abroad.

Orientation

Warsaw and the Vistula

As is the case with most major cities, Warsaw is situated on a river. The Vistula river (Polish: Wisła) crosses the city on a north-south axis, dividing it into two parts. The western part is usually referred to as the left bank (Polish: lewy brzeg adj. lewobrzeżna Warszawa) and the eastern part as the right bank (Polish: prawy brzeg adj. prawobrzeżna Warszawa). Warsaw was founded on the left bank, while the right bank was a separate municipality, called Praga, which was incorporated into Warsaw in the 19th century. Therefore, many would refer to the right bank as "Praga", even if Praga proper is only two districts of the right bank.
Vistula in Warsaw is a broad, sprawling and partly unregulated river, which flooded the surrounding areas often in the past and continues to be somewhat of a threat today. Therefore, Warsaw is not really on the river in the sense many cities like London or Paris are, but rather near to the river, as Vienna is. The historic parts of left-bank Warsaw are a certain distance apart from the river, on an elevation called Warsaw escarpment. The part of left-bank Warsaw closer to the river (and less elevated with regard to it) called Powiśle was, until recently, of rather secondary importance and stature. The right bank is less elevated and most of the development there is separated from the river by a wide belt of shrubbery and natural beaches, allowing for flooding in periods of high tide. It is therefore visually and physically removed from the left bank.
Nine bridges cross the Vistula within the boundaries of Warsaw. They are, starting from south:

• Siekierkowski
• Łazienkowski
• Poniatowskiego
• Średnicowy (railway bridge only)
• Świętokrzyski
• Śląsko-Dąbrowski
• Gdański
• Grota-Roweckiego
• Skłodowskiej-Curie

City centre

Warsaw's left bank, or western part of the city is the dominant part, and the part deemed the city centre lies therein.
The right bank was the first one to become populated, during the 9th or 10th century. However, Warsaw's left bank or the western part of the city is the dominant one, and the present city's central district, called Śródmieście lies on the left bank. The Old Town is fully contained within the borders of the city center.
The central point of the city is at the intersection of Al. Jerozolimskie and ul. Marszałkowska, near the entrance to the Metro Centrum subway station. The main railway station, Warszawa Centralna, is also close by. It is good to know that the Palace of Culture is a landmark visible from almost any location in Warsaw. Should you ever get lost in the city, just walk toward the Palace of Culture and Science.

Street numbering

Traditionally, streets parallel with Vistula are numbered along the river current, i.e. the buildings with the lowest numbers are the southernmost. Streets roughly perpendicular to the Vistula are numbered from the river upwards, i.e. the lowest numbers are the closest to the river. One side of the street always has even numbers, while the other has odd ones (so if you are looking for number 8 and you see number 7, look at the opposite side of the street). There are several exceptions to those rules, e.g. the Puławska street in southern Warsaw has building numbers starting from the north, while some housing estates have sprawling areas with buildings sharing the same street name, with building numbers assigned in various ways.

City Information System (MSI)

The City Information System (MSI – Miejski System Informacji) can be of further aid to visitors to Warsaw. The MSI divides every district into several neighbourhoods (with informative purposes, no administrative or other role), with the neighbourhoods indicated in red on signage throughout the city. You can find the name of the MSI neighbourhood you are in on the red stripes of the building number and street signs. They are also indicated in red on directional signage, showing the way to get to a given neighbourhood. A rundown of the MSI neighbourhoods and helpful schematic maps can be found here: (the website is in Polish, but the schematics are of universal informative value, just click on the district for the rundown of the areas therein)
The districts as such are indicated on signposts with white background, while streets and other POIs with blue background, except for the Old Town and Royal Road areas, where the background is brown and a different font is used to indicate their historic character. The building number signs also often feature a small arrow pointing to the direction the building numbers in a street ascend. Street signs at intersection indicate the building numbers to be found within the block it is in (i.e. until the next intersection). On some signposts you can also find small signs showing the relation of the street they're on to the Vistula.
Other elements that can be of interest to visitors are pylons with neighbourhood maps and transparent boards on historic and significant buildings, which explain briefly their history and significance. Similar boards under street signs explain the origin of the name of the street - in case of streets named after people, they contain a short bio and usually a small portrait. An increasing number of those boards contain descriptions in both Polish and English, while others are in Polish only.

By plane

Warsaw has two airports: Chopin Airport (WAW) (also known as 'Okęcie') for major airlines and Modlin Airport (WMI) is only used by Ryanair. The Chopin Airport is within the city limits, some 8 km south of the city centre, while Modlin is in Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, almost 40 km north of Warsaw city centre.
Łódź Airport (LCJ) is within a 90 minute drive from Warsaw.

Adrian Grycuk

Warsaw Chopin Airport

• Chopin AirportBy far the largest airport in Poland by passenger volumes and number of flights operated or connections. It is in the area of Okęcie in Włochy, some 8 km south of the city centre. For many years the airport was called just Okęcie, but this reportedly caused confusion and it was renamed. When asking for directions or talking to a taxi driver, always ask for the airport (lotnisko in Polish) to avoid confusion.

Warsaw-Chopin is remarkably close to the city centre among airports serving European capitals, and it also has a very efficient terminal easily handling the 10 million passengers it gets per year. Therefore, you will probably find it easy and quick to use it and can count the time needed from gate to your destination within the city at as little as 45 minutes – even if the airport advises longer and you may want to heed this advice on early mornings and late evenings when the security queues grow longer.

European connections

The Warsaw Chopin Airport has the distinction of being one of the most-connected airports within Europe, with direct connections to every EU capital, as well as many non-EU capitals ranging from Chișinău to Reykjavik (Keflavik Airport), and on top of that to many other cities across the continent. The Chopin airport is also served by almost every major European airline, be it flag carriers or low-fare airlines.
The largest selection of connections is offered by the flag carrier LOT Polish Airlines, a member of Star Alliance, who share the Miles&More frequent flier programme with many other alliance partners. They are mostly geared towards business travellers and tend to be expensive, but you can get a much lower rate if you book in advance a return flight with a stay that includes a weekend (the night from Saturday to Sunday) or at least 3 nights in Warsaw. This also applies to flights with a different origin and return destination, as long as the above rules are kept. LOT faces direct competition from other flag carriers on routes from their bases, and indirect from low-fare carriers. Do check the rates using online comparison tools as you may get a better offer.
LOT has limited its complimentary on-board service on European routes to still water and a small wafer, Prince Polo, which became something of a symbol of Poland abroad (and the minimal on-board service became also an object of widespread ridicule). Coffee and tea, and a range of cold and warm snacks, can be ordered on board at reasonable prices. Coffee and tea are not pre-prepared, and specifically the coffee is provided as instant powder with a cup of hot water (and not brewed during flight).
The major low-fare carriers serving Warsaw Chopin include Wizz Air, who has a base there and flies mostly to secondary airports across Europe (rarely competing with LOT at the same airports), and Norwegian Air Shuttle, who despite the name fly not only from Oslo, but also London and many destinations in Spain. Eurowings has three flights daily to Düsseldorf, and Vueling flies daily to Barcelona.

Intercontinental connections

The intercontinental offerings are mostly limited to North America, with LOT Polish Airlines offering direct flights to New York City, Chicago O Hare, Toronto and Beijing Capital aboard their all-new fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners. Two major Gulf carriers, Emirates and Qatar Airways, fly to Warsaw Chopin from their hubs, where you can connect to their intercontinental network. As Warsaw is around 2 hours from most major airports in Europe, you can also easily connect to the intercontinental networks of other carriers.

Terminals

All passenger operations at the Chopin Airport have now been consolidated in one building, called Terminal A, which replaced the previous Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 designations.
To get from the airport to other areas in the city, you have two public transportation options - local trains and buses, as well as taking the taxi.

To/from Chopin Airport by train

Panek

Trains depart every 15 minutes. The Szybka Kolej Miejska (SKM; Warsaw's S-Bahn-like suburban railway system) and Koleje Mazowieckie (Mazovian Railways, the provincial local train operator) operate trains to and from the Chopin Airport.
The SKM offers the following connections from Warszawa Lotnisko Chopina:

• Line S2 through Warszawa Zachodnia, Warszawa Śródmieście (walking distance to Warszawa Centralna), Warszawa Stadion and Warszawa Wschodnia to Sulejówek Miłosna
• Line S3 through Warszawa Zachodnia, Warszawa Centralna and Warszawa Wschodnia to Wieliszew. This is an "express" train which skips the local train stations between Warszawa Zachodnia and Warszawa Wschodnia, including Warszawa Stadion.

Koleje Mazowieckie offers connections between airports (RL line) ending near the Modlin Airport, at the Modlin station (train tickets to Modlin are valid on bus transfer route to Modlin Airport).
Regular Warsaw transport tickets issued by ZTM (the local transport operator which runs city buses, trams and the metro) are valid on SKM train services between the airport and Warsaw. There are ticket machines in the terminal as well as on board. ZTM tickets are also valid on Koleje Mazowieckie trains for journeys inside the city, however if your ticket needs validating, you need to ask the train staff to validate it. While there is no ticket machine on Koleje Mazowieckie trains, it is possible to purchase single tickets aboard the train.

To/from Chopin Airport by bus

Four bus lines operate to and from the airport from 04:40 to 23:00.

• Bus 148 operates between the airport and Rondo Wiatraczna in Praga Południe, on the eastern side of Warsaw, passing through Ursynów and Mokotów. This bus stops at the Imielin metro station.
• Bus 175 operates between the airport and Plac Piłsudskiego near the Old Town, crossing through the city center and stopping at the Warszawa Centralna railway station and Metro Centrum, including Nowy Świat and the University of Warsaw. The entire trip takes 30–45 minutes, depending on traffic, and buses depart every twenty minutes. Caution against pickpockets is advised.
• Bus 188 operates between the airport and Gocławek Wschodni in Praga Południe, passing through the southern parts of Śródmieście. This bus stops at the Politechnika metro station.
• Bus 331 operates during peak hours only between the airport and the Wilanowska metro station in Mokotów, where many intercity buses stop.

During late hours, from 23:00 to 5:00, the night bus N32 runs between Warszawa Centralna (Dworzec Centralny) and the airport.

To/from Chopin Airport by taxi

Avoid the taxi drivers soliciting customers inside the terminal, as they severely overcharge. Instead, use one of the companies recommended by the airport authorities, they have a stand in the arrival's hall. They are slightly above market average in terms of prices and stop near the exit from terminal. You can also order a taxi from another corporation by phone (there is no surcharge), but they can wait for you only in front of the departure terminal. A typical fare to a hotel near Warszawa Centralna station is around 40 zł at night, less in the daytime.
In any case, the most you should pay is 3.00 zł (up to 4.50 zł on Sundays), but typically no more than 2.40 zł per km in the daytime plus an initial fee of no more than 8 zł. You are entitled to a receipt upon request. The Polish word for receipt is rachunek. There is no obligation to tip the taxi drivers, but most won't refuse if you offer. See the Taxis section for a more in-depth explanation of taxi fares.

Warsaw Modlin International Airport

Rado-NDM

• Modlin AirportOpened in June 2012. Ryanair is the only carrier that operates from Modlin.

Wizzair and all other carriers, including other low-fare airlines and holiday charter operators, use the Chopin Airport.
Modlin Airport is in Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, some north from Warsaw, and is neither as close nor as conveniently accessible as the Chopin Airport. When choosing your flight, make sure you check which airport will it be operated to/from and factor in the increased time and cost of transportation between Warsaw and Modlin should you choose to use this airport.

Getting to/from Modlin Airport (WMI)

By train

Koleje Mazowieckie operates connections between Modlin and Warszawa Centralna (the RL line), terminating at Chopin Airport. From the airport terminal you need to take shuttle bus to the railway station and get on a train to Warsaw. A combined ticket (Airport Ticket , Polish: Bilet Lotniskowy) for bus and train costs 19 zł, it also lets you use public transportation in Warsaw's Zone 1 for 75 minutes starting from a time of your choice (which is exactly like a single-fare ticket for Zone 1). The combined travel time may be up to 1½ hours between airport and city centre, including the waiting time at the airport and the railway station.

By bus

Modlinbus offers direct bus transfers between Warsaw and Modlin Airport with stops at Metro Młociny and Metro Centrum and a schedule matching the Ryanair flights. The bus takes 60 minutes to get from Modlin to Metro Centrum or back. The regular fare is 35 zł when you purchase the ticket on the bus and can be much lower when you purchase online in advance.

By train

Radek Kołakowski

Warsaw has three stations for long-distance trains:

• Dworzec Centralny or (Warsaw Central) (RWA) ul. Emilii Plater
• Dworzec Wschodni or (Warsaw East) between ul. Kijowska and ul. Lubelska (on the right bank)
• Dworzec Zachodni or (Warsaw West) Al. Jerozolimskie near Rondo Zesłańców Syberyjskich

Unless you really know what you're doing, the best option is Dworzec Centralny (Warszawa Centralna) station, as it has best connections with all the places in the city. All long-distance trains pass through this station and all stop there. It is the only long-distance station underground. It isn't the last station on the route!
Trains running eastwards start at Warszawa Zachodnia, stop at Warszawa Centralna and then at Warszawa Wschodnia, while trains heading westwards make the same trip in the opposite direction (except that they don't always stop at Warszawa Zachodnia). The same is true for arriving trains. Tourists often find it confusing that the main train station (Warszawa Centralna) is not the last station on the route.
The Berlin-Warszawa Express runs from Berlin to Warsaw daily and is quite inexpensive if booked in advance. Students get discounts as well. It's a fairly comfortable six-hour trip. Schedule are available on Intercity's website and tickets can be booked through Polrail Service or on the Deutsche Bahn website.
One train per day runs to Kaunas and Vilnius in Lithuania, with a change of trains near the border.
There're also trains to Russia – Moscow, Saint Petersburg and even direct cars to Saratov or Irkutsk, Belarus – Minsk, Ukraine – Kiev and direct cars to Simferopol or even Astana in Kazakhstan. There are many direct connections to central and western European cities too.
Most domestic trains, are run by PKP Intercity. Seat reservation is obligatory and free of charge. Trains of all categories, except TLK, are air-conditioned.

Suburban trains

Central station for suburban trains is (close to Warszawa Centralna and Metro Centrum). Some destinations you can reach from there are Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Łowicz, Milanówek, Mińsk Mazowiecki, Otwock, Piława, Pruszków, Radom, Siedlce, Skierniewice, Sochaczew, Sulejówek, Terespol, Tłuszcz, Wołomin, Żyrardów.
Some suburban trains go through Warszawa Gdańska (Metro Dworzec Gdański) instead of the city centre. From there, you can go to destinations like Ciechanów, Działdowo, Mława and Nasielsk.
Trains going to Wołomin, Małkinia, Tłuszcz and Zielonka depart from Warszawa Wileńska (ul. Targowa near al. Solidarności, also a metro station and a shopping mall there).

Warsaw Commuter Railway

WKD (Polish: Warszawska Kolej Dojazdowa) is separate train service that runs from a distinct platform at Warszawa Śródmieście WKD to Grodzisk Mazowiecki, a city some 30 km west of Warsaw through Pruszków, Milanówek, and Podkowa Leśna.

By bus

Regional and long-distance bus companies in Poland are traditionally called 'PKS", but most are completely unrelated to the company that once bore that name. In Warsaw, the local PKS is PKS Polonus but PKSes from various other cities also operate. Most PKS buses arrive and depart from either of two major terminals:

Panek

• Dworzec PKS Warszawa Zachodnia

  address: Al. Jerozolimskie
  The bigger of the two, next to the railway station by the same name. Most buses arrive here. International buses like Eurolines, Ecolines, Simple Express have their main stop here.
  The easiest way to get to the centre is a short train ride from the railway platforms. If you prefer to use the city buses, walk to the other side of Al. Jerozolimskie and take one of those central-bound buses: 127, 158 or 517. During the night, the N35 and N85 buses run to Dw. Centralny every 30 minutes beginning at 23:52.

• Dworzec Autobusowy Metro WilanowskaThis station in the south of Warsaw is co-located with a city bus terminus and the Metro Wilanowska metro station. Several bus companies serving towns south of Warsaw stop here. Flixbus buses from biggest Polish cities, as those from Berlin, Vienna, Bratislava and Prague stop here.

There are also a number of other popular bus terminals and junctions throughout the city, notably:

• Metro MłocinyA convenient transport hub at the far north of the city, with a metro station, tram terminus (lines 2, 6, 11 and 33), and a large bus station used by both city lines, suburban buses towards Łomianki and by long-distance bus lines (among others FlixBus).

• Dworzec CentralnyThe train station is surrounded by bus stops on four sides. One popular stop and drop-off point for smaller buses is on both sides of Aleje Jerozolimskie. Another, along the Chałubińskiego Str. is used by larger buses (among them Lux Express).

By car

Four European "E-roads" lead to Warsaw: (), (),   under the unofficial name of Via Baltica, (), and (). The E-numbers are usually displayed on signs but it is best to know the national road numbers too, which are the numbers in parentheses.
What follows is a list of streets you will find yourself on when approaching the city from different directions:

• North-west: ul. Wybrzeże Gdyńskie or "Wisłostrada" in Bielany and then in Żoliborz (along the left bank):   –    Gdańsk (DK) (RU) (S)
• North-east: ul. Radzymińska in Targówek and then al. Solidarności in Praga Północ   – Białystok (BY) (LT)
• East and south-east: ul. Płowiecka and ul. Czecha in Praga Południe – Terespol (BY); – Lublin (UA)
• West: ul. Wolska and ul. Połczyńska in Bemowo and then in Wola –    Poznań (D)
• South-west: al. Krakowska in Włochy and then ul. Grójecka in Ochota    –   Kraków (SK);   –    Katowice (CZ)

The cities listed above are the ones displayed on signs in the city. The abbreviations in (parentheses) show you which neighboring countries can be reached with a road. If you are coming to the city, follow the blue-on-white Centrum signs. One exception is when you are coming from the north-east: follow the Praga sign unless you are driving a lorry.

Driving distances

In Poland –
Białystok 190 km (118 mi);
Gdańsk 390 km (242 mi);
Kielce 180 km (112 mi);
Kraków 290 km (180 mi);
Olsztyn 210 km (130 mi);
Poznań 310 km (193 mi);
Siedlce 100 km (62 mi);
Toruń 210 km (130 mi)
In other countries –
Berlin (D) 570 km (354 mi);
Budapest (H) 700 km (435 mi);
Kaliningrad (RU) 350 km (217 mi)

Jorge Láscar

Car hire

Most international car rental companies (including Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Europcar, Hertz, National, Sixt and Thrifty) are present in Warsaw, there are also many local companies. The usual pick-up and return places are the airport, the Warszawa Centralna railway station or major hotels in the city centre, most companies offer to arrange for pick-up and return at other locations at a fee. The regular caveats and requirements as in other European Union countries apply.
It is a legal requirement for you to carry your driving license, insurance documents and the vehicle registration documents at all times when driving the car. If the police stop you without any of them, they are likely to impose a fine.

Public transport

The public transport system in Warsaw is generally well-developed, with some 200 bus routes and 30 tram lines. The route descriptions on the tram stops are easy to follow (although bus stop notices are more complex), but it can last longer, however, to travel between destinations far from the city center. Warsaw has two underground metro lines, one going from south to north on the left bank, and the other from the east to the west. There are also some regional urban rail services (Polish: Szybka Kolej Miejska or SKM), although they depart at most every 30 minutes only.
All of the abovementioned means of public transit share a single fare and ticketing system, operated by ZTM, a unit within the City of Warsaw responsible for the organization of all public transit. Polish website jakdojade.pl (and an app with the same name ) can help you plan the most convenient trip with the public transit between two points in the city. Google Maps can also do that, however they update bus schedules less often.

Metro (subway)

Warsaw's subway system, called Metro, opened in 1995 and is one of the newest underground railway systems in Europe. Operated by Metro Warszawskie sp. z o.o. it runs daily from early morning until midnight at 3-10 minute intervals. On Friday and Saturday, Metro runs until 03:00. Trains and stations are clean and neat. The system consists of two lines; the M1 going from Młociny to Kabaty, and the M2 going from Rondo Daszyńskiego to Trocka. The subway does not go to many tourist destinations, however several stations will take you in a general vicinity of some attractions. The M2 is being extended eastwards and westwards, new stations are to be opened in 2020.

Szybka Kolej Miejska

Szybka Kolej Miejska (SKM) runs on the railway tracks shared with other regional and long-distance trains. SKM trains can be distinguished by their white and ecru livery. SKM reaches many suburban locations outside of the boundaries of Warsaw, as well as the Chopin Airport. SKM stations are quite far from each other, so the trains are best used to traverse longer distances or travel to remote locations within the Warsaw metropolis.
As of 2018, there are four SKM lines, most (S1 and S2) stopping at the Warszawa Śródmieście station in the city centre or the Warszawa Centralna (S3), which is connected to the former by an underground passageway. Except for S9, all of the lines share the same stretch route through central Warsaw between Warszawa Zachodnia and Warszawa Wschodnia, connecting the Śródmieście district to Wola, Ochota and Praga, as well as stopping at Warszawa Stadion station, which serves Stadion Narodowy.

• Line S1 runs between Pruszków and Otwock, through Piastów, Ursus, Włochy, Wawer
• Line S2 runs between the Chopin Airport and Sulejówek Miłosna, through Rembertów and Wesoła.
• Line S3 runs between the Chopin Airport and Wieliszew along the same central rail stretch as long-distance trains, stopping at Warszawa Centralna instead of Warszawa Śródmieście and Warszawa Stadion and in Białołęka
• Line S9 runs between Wieliszew and Legionowo Piaski through Białołęka, Praga, Żoliborz and Wola to Warszawa Zachodnia. It is the only SKM line that will take you to the Warsaw Zoo. This line does not stop at any station within the core city centre.

Buses

Bus route numbers consist of three digits. Only the first digit has any meaning, the latter being merely ordinal. Here's the key to understanding Warsaw bus route numbers:

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