Poland

From Imakoopedia

Poland is a large country in Eastern Europe. It has a Baltic sea coastline and is bordered by Belarus, the Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast), Slovakia, and the Ukraine. Historically, it has been an area of conflict because of flat terrain and the lack of natural barriers on the North European Plain.

Table of contents

1 Regions 2 Cities 3 Other destinations 4 Understand 5 Get in 5.1 Visas 5.2 By plane 5.3 By train 5.4 By car 5.5 By bus 5.6 By boat 6 Get around 7 Talk 8 Buy 9 Eat 10 Drink 11 Sleep 12 Learn 13 Work 14 Stay safe 15 Stay healthy 16 Respect 17 Contact 18 External links

Regions

Poland has 16 provinces (wojewodztwa, singular - wojewodztwo).

• Dolnoslaskie
• Kujawsko-Pomorskie
• Lodzkie
• Lubelskie
• Lubuskie
• Malopolskie
• Mazowieckie
• Opolskie
• Podkarpackie
• Podlaskie
• Pomorskie (Pomerania)
• Slaskie
• Swietokrzyskie
• Warminsko-Mazurskie
• Wielkopolskie
• Zachodniopomorskie

Cities

• Warsaw - the capital city
• Gdansk
• Katowice
• Krakow
• Lodz
• Poznan
• Wroclaw
• Zakopane

Other destinations

Understand

Poland is an ancient nation that was conceived around the middle of the 10th century. Its golden age occurred in the 16th century. During the following century, the strengthening of the gentry and internal disorders weakened the nation, until an agreement in 1772 between Russia, Prussia, and Austria partitioned Poland. Poland regained its independence in 1918 only to be overrun by Germany and the Soviet Union in World War II. It became a Soviet satellite country following the war, but one that was comparatively tolerant and progressive. Labor turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union "Solidarity" that over time became a political force and by 1990 had swept parliamentary elections and the presidency. A "shock therapy" program during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into one of the most robust in Central Europe, boosting hopes for acceptance to the EU. Poland joined the NATO alliance in 1999 and it joined European Union in 2004.

Get in

Visas

As Poland is now a member of the European Union, EU citizens can enter Poland with a valid passport or identity card.

Citizens of the following countries may travel to Poland for tourism and business purposes without a visa if the planned stay in Poland does not exceed 90 days: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Korea, Ecuador, Honduras, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Romania, San Marino, Switzerland, USA, Uruguay. Citizens of all other countries must obtain a visa in order to enter and stay in Poland legally.

You can check the visa status of your nationality on this list (http://www.msz.gov.pl/start.php?page=1270000001) from the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs webpage (http://www.msz.gov.pl/).

Regular Visas are issued for travelers going to Poland for tourism and business purposes. Regular visas allow for one or multiple entries into Polish territory and stay in Poland for maximum up to 90 days and are issued for the definite period of stay. When applying for a visa, please indicate the number of days you plan to spend in Poland and a date of intended arrival. Holders of regular visas are not authorized to work.

By plane

Poland has its own national carrier: LOT Polish Airlines (http://www.lot.com/).

There are some cheap airlines, that fly to Poland: AirPolonia (http://www.airpolonia.com/),WizzAir (http://wizzair.com/), SkyEurope (http://www.skyeurope.com/), EasyJet (http://easyjet.com/), AirNiki (http://airniki.com/)...

Poland has direct air connections from capitals of most European countries and from United States and Canada. LOT operates direct flights from Washington D.C., New York and Chicago, however tickets for those flights are far from cheap and most people with limited budgets fly with other airlines with a connection to Warsaw from some major european airport.

International flights are mostly to Warsaw's Okecie aiport (WAW), some arrive also in Poznan, Kraków and Gdansk. Domestic flights operated by LOT (under Eurolot brand) connect Warsaw with Kraków, Gdansk, Poznan, Szczecin and Wroclaw. Other cities don't have airports with facilities that would allow commercial airlines to operate. Because the number of flights and passengers has increased significantly since 1990 a new terminal is being built on the Okecie airport which should increase airport's capacity.

When arriving by air to Warsaw beware of taxi drivers who stand by the exit from the customs at the arrivals lounge and propose a ride. These are mostly frauds. Airport authorities have recently cracked down on these guys some and there are now two authorised taxi companies. They are a bit more expensive than some other companies.

If you decide to leave the airport by bus keep an eye on your possessions as pickpockets are known to operate on the two bus lines that connect the airport with the city.

By train

In Poland there is only national railway - the PKP (Polskie Koleje Panstwowe) (http://pkp.pl/). It directly connects Poland with major European capitals (Berlin, Bruxelles, Vilnius, Kiev, Wien, Praha, Moskva, Budapest), and is also good choice to get to many small towns on internal routes. Tickets are quite cheap, but travel conditions reflect the fact that majority of railworks and wagons are from few decades ago. Unfortunately, sometimes it's not very safe to travel by train, especially on some non-express suburbian routes - it is recommended to travel close to the front of the train (where train staff is more likely to provide assistance), and to avoid traveling by night. Express and Intercity routes are much safer then slower connections.

• PKP (http://www.pkp.pl) information: +48 22 9436, international information +48 22 5116003
• PKP Intercity - tickets can be booked online (http://www.intercity.com.pl/en/main)

By car

You can enter Poland by car via one of many roads linking Poland with neighbouring countries. Since Poland entry to EU, road queues to check points with other EU countries have greately decreased, in many cases the time delay in check points has been reduced to just a few mintues. Queues on borders with non-EU countries are much larger and in areas congested with TIR traffic can last several hours. You can view the current waiting times on Polish Border Guard page (http://www.sg.gov.pl/czasy/index.asp) ( wjazd = enter, wyjazd = exit, osob. - car, autob. - bus, ciezar. - truck).

Polish road network is average - a bit underdeveloped by Western European standards, but quite functional. There are some highways connecting major towns, but the network is not yet complete. Small 2-way roads span the entire country. As long as you keep by the main roads, you should get to where you want fairly easy.

Poles drive aggressively and with little or no regard to signs and - especially - speed limits. Scenes seen on the polish roads are sometimes shocking for the foreigners not accustomed to the way locals handle their machines. Drunk driving is also a big problem, despite heavy penalties. Overall, Poland has higher index of deaths on the roads than Western European countries.

Note on taxis: try to use only those with phone number on the side. The unaffiliated ones are likely to charge you much more. Be especially wary of taxis near international airports and train stations (but then, shouldn't one be wary of them everywhere?).

Because of advice like this one appearing in most travel guides now taxis with fake phone numbers can be seen sometimes (although recently this seems to have decreased, possibly police has taken notice). These are quite easily detectable by the locals and cater for the unknowing travelers. Best advice would be to ask your Polish friends for a number of the taxi company they use ("corporation" as they are called) and call them 10-15 minutes in advance. That's what the locals do hailing taxi on the street only in urgency.

By bus

There are many international bus lines that conects major Polish cities, with most of major European ones.

• PEKAES (http://www.pekaesbus.pl/) part of Eurolines (http://www.eurolines.com/) (from: A, BY, B, HR, CZ, DK, GB, EST, F, D, GR, NL, I, LV, LT, N, RUS, E, S, CH, UA)
• Orbis (http://www.orbis-transport.pl/) (from: B, BG, F, GR, E, NL, D, CH, GB)
• Polka Service (http://www.polkaservice.pl/) (from: F)
• Gullivers (http://www.gullivers.de/english/index.htm) (from: D)
• many more...

By boat

From Sweden/Ystad by Unity LIne (http://unityline.pl/)

Get around

Talk

The official language of Poland is Polish. English, German and Russian are also commonly spoken.

See also: Polish phrasebook

Buy

The unit of currency in Poland is the zloty (Polish, Złoty, plural Złotych), though Poland is expected to adopt the Euro as early as 2007 (more realistically, full Polish entry into the Eurozone will occur around 2010).

Common conversions (rates correct at mid-October 2004):

• EUR €1 = 4.31 złoty, 1 złoty = EUR €0.23
• GBP £1 = 6.22 złoty, 1 złoty = GBP £0.16
• USD $1 = 3.45 złoty, 1 złoty = USD $0.29
• AUD $1 = 2.52 złoty, 1 złoty = AUD $0.40

Eat

See Wikipedia entry on Polish cuisine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_cuisine).

Drink

Poles enjoy alcoholic drinks at least as much as other Europeans. You can buy beer, vodka and wine, (but beware of some cheap polish so-called wine, that has more in common with spirit drinks than with french wines). There is no single national alcohol product; while some vodka variants may be internationally famous, local beer seem to have much more appeal to many Poles. To buy alcohol one has to be over 18 years old and certificate self with a valid ID or passport .

Interestingly, a very wide variety of fruit juices is available, with choice rivaling - and often surpasing - those of many other countries.

Sleep

Many hotels, hostels, motels and appartments of various quality (from no star to 5 stars) are avavailable.

Obviously the majority of those are to be found in big cities and near popular tourist destinations, and that eastern part of Poland is less developed (and so has lower average density of hotels and such), and star rating and pricea are a reasonable guide to their quality (just like all over the world).

Increasing number of those places can be found through Internet.

Learn

Work

Stay safe

Polish emergency numbers are different for stational and cellular phones. For stational phones these are:

• Ambulance: 999 (Pogotowie, dziewiec-dziewiec-dziewiec)
• Firefighters: 998 (Straz pozarna, dziewiec-dziewiec-osiem)
• Police: 997 (Policja, dziewiec-dziewiec-siedem)

For cellular phones the number is standard 112 (Telefon alarmowy, sto dwanascie).

Stay healthy

Respect

Contact

External links

• Polish National Tourist Office (http://www.polandtour.org/)
• Tourism in Poland article on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Poland)