LANGUAGE

Polish

CURRENCY

Polish Zloty

BEST TIME TO VISIT

June to August

NEAREST RAILWAY STATION

Warszawa Centralna railway station

NEAREST AIRPORT

Warsaw Chopin Airport(WAW)

EMERGENCY HELPLINE NUMBER

112

INTERNET ACCESS

Arena Cafe Internet cafe open all hours. Verso Internet Online access in the New Town. Enter from ul Świętojerska.

VISA

Visitors entering Warsaw, Poland are bounded by the Schengen Agreement, in which Poland is a part of. For citizens coming from Schengen-member countries, no visa is required to enter Warsaw, but national ID must be ready to show at all times. Three months (90 days) is the allowable stay for tourists only.

The Schengen area consists of Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden. Passport (6 months valid after departing Poland)

Completed application form

Confirmation of travel itinerary including hotel accommodation, or letter from personal acquaintance as host

1 passport-size photo

Proof of payment of visa fee

Sufficient funding may be inspected for duration of stay

HOTEL

Warsaw has a huge range of accommodation, from backpacker hostels to luxury boutique hotels, spread widely across the city centre. However, you’ll get cheaper rates at places outside the centre in exchange for a short tram or metro ride.

Note that many Warsaw hotels are geared towards business travellers and are priced accordingly. Try to time your visit for a weekend, as many hotels offer discounted rates.

Apartment Rentals

A short-term rental in a private apartment can be cheaper than a full-scale hotel; if you’re staying longer than a couple of days, it’s an excellent option. Short-term rentals usually have one or two bedrooms (for up to four people), plus a small kitchen with a few handy appliances such as a toaster and a coffee maker, not to mention a washing machine, a handy solution to Poland’s lack of laundromats. Since there’s no reception desk, you’ll usually have to phone in advance and set up a meeting place to get the keys. Normally you book online with a credit card or pay in cash on the spot. Some highly recommended hotels are:

Castle Inn

Hotel Rialto

Hotel Bristol

Oki Doki Hostel

New World Street Hostel

COST OF LIVING

Warsaw is a big and booming capital, but it still doesn’t get as much attention from most travelers as does Krakow, for several main reasons. Business travelers dominate, so hotel prices can feel high during the midweek. Still, Warsaw is a beautiful city that is very friendly and easy for tourists.

There are plenty of decent hotels in Warsaw, with most of the better budget options in and around the Old Town area. A large batch of international-style hotels are going up there and in other districts, so the choice will continue to widen.

The main attractions and general transportation in Warsaw remain quite inexpensive by European standards. If you go to Krakow you’ll likely be told to skip Warsaw, but that would be a mistake. This city is underrated and far more charming than you’d probably expect. Warsaw hotels tend to be fairly busy through most of the year. This is largely a business town, and that often makes hotel seasons a bit unpredictable based on whether a conference is going on or not. Generally the high season is summer and the low season is winter, but good deals can be found on some weekends, especially at the nicer hotels.