Warsaw
From Imakoopedia
Warsaw (Polish: Warszawa) is the capital of Poland and its largest city. It is located on the Vistula river roughly 350 km from both the Baltic coast and the Carpathian Mountains. Its population as of 2003 was estimated at 2,269,000. The city, also the capital of Masovian Voivodship, is home to many industries (manufacturing, steel, electrical engineering, automotive industry), higher learning institutions (Warsaw University, Warsaw University of Technology, Higher School of Business, Medical Academy, etc), a philharmonic orchestra, the National Theatre and Opera.
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Understand
Warsaw is said to be like the mythological phoenix - it has been destroyed several times in its history, yet it survived all storms and lives on. After the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 approximately 85% of the buildings were destroyed and all the inhabitants expelled. It was partially reconstructed in the fifties, but the majority of the buildings are not historic. That's why at first glance Warsaw might seem a little faceless, grey and uninteresting. However, both its history and its present climate make Warsaw an interesting place that is definitely worth a visit.
The reconstruction of the city was not radical and there are lots of places where Soviet architecture stands side by side with Baroque churches and Art-Deco houses. Huge blocks of flats overview the lovely Old Town area, and such contrasts are clearly visible in almost every part of the city.
Get in
By plane
There is an international airport Okęcie (officially named after Frederic Chopin, the Polish composer), which is not so far away from the main city centre. Polish Airlines ("Lot") connect Warsaw with the main European Cities, like London, Berlin, Paris, Rome and so on, and also cities on other continents (New York, Chicago, Sydney and others).
Bus number 175 connects the airport to Central Rail station (Dworzec Centralny), which is in the Centre of the City, and with the Old Town. It is also possible to use taxis.
When you leave Warsaw, take care that you should come about 1,5-1 hour earlier before the take-off, because of security reasons while checking-in.
More: Lot.com - Polish airlines (http://www.lot.com), The airport's site (http://www.lotnisko-chopina.pl/?lang=en)
By train
There are three main rail stations in Warsaw: Dworzec Zachodni (Warszawa Zachodnia, Warsaw West), Dworzec Centralny (Warszawa Centralna, Warsaw Central) and Dworzec Wschodni (Warszawa Wschodnia, Warsaw East). The other stations serve only local trains.
Warszawa Zachodnia and Warszawa Centralna are placed on the west bank of the Vistula River, and Warszawa Wschodnia is placed on the east bank. All three stations are connected, so every train that stops on Warszawa Centralna also stops at Warszawa Wschodnia, and usually (note, that not every one) also at Warszawa Zachodnia.
All the trains are operated by Polish State Railways (Polskie Koleje Państwowe, PKP). PKP keeps connection with Berlin, Vienna, Moscow and Prague (EuroCity trains). There are also InterCity trains, which connect the city with main cities of Poland (like Cracow, Katowice, Szczecin, Gdańsk). Local trains are going to other stations (the nearest in the Centre is station Warszawa-Śródmieście; this station is easy to reach by foot from the Central Station).
WKD trains (the acronym stands for Warszawska Kolej Dojazdowa, Warsaw Commuting Railroads) are handled from separate rail station (also near the Central Station) and connect the towns near Warsaw, like Pruszków, Podkowa Leśna, Grodzisk Mazowiecki and other small towns.
See: Polish State Railways (http://www.pkp.pl)
By car
By bus
Polski Express handles bus connections with other main Polish Cities. Its main stop is placed near Central Station.
(more to come)
See: Polski Express (http://www.polskiexpress.pl/)
By boat
Get around
Walk
The main tourist centre of Warsaw is a square about 2 km wide, on the flat terrain, so it should not be a problem to walk through the city. Wilanów is placed about 15 km outside the centre, so you will probably need a bicycle, car or bus to get there. All streets have pavements.
When you cross the road, it is forbidden to cross while the red light sign is on, even if there is no car on the road.
Subway
Metro (subway) connects the City Centre with Ursynów, the "city's bedroom". In fact, for tourists it should not be any need to use it, however, the Warsaw Metro is quite nice, clean and well-kept and may be worth seeing.
For the Metro the same tickets as for buses and trams are used.
On each station you will find the overview plan of Warsaw (the same is in every train), and a small plan of the surrounding area of the station with the exits and streets shown. There are two clocks by each track: the one with the accurate time and the other with the time that passed since last train (trains go about every 5-6 minutes).
There are also lifts for the disabled. Please note that you should check the ticket before entering a lift.
Warsaw Metro (http://www.metro.waw.pl) (site in Polish)
Buses and trams
Warsaw has large bus and tram network. Some distant places may have worse connection with the Centre, however you should not get from one place to another with more than 3 changes.
Warsaw offers many different tickets, the full tariff is placed on each stop. Consider, if it is better to use one-ride ticket, 24-hour ticket (worth 3 rides), 3-day ticket or week-ticket.
Normally you buy tickets in the kiosk, on the pavement. The shops that do selling of tickets have the mark "sprzedaż biletów ZTM". If not possible, you may buy ticket by the driver (only at the stop), but the price is somewhat higher. Remember to check the ticket when you are in the bus or tram (even if have bought it at the driver's), but you need to do this once with the time ticket (of course, don't throw it away while it's still valid). The same ticket type is used for trams, buses and Metro.
There is a convention of numbering the lines:
- 1-99 - trams;
- 100-199 - normal buses, that should stop on every bus stop;
- 200-299 - special buses, used on some occasions, not to use normally;
- 400-499 - fast buses, they are only used in hours of high crowd; they usually go the same route as 100-199, but do not stop on every bus stop;
- 500-599 - accelerated buses, that go all day long and do not stop everywhere;
- 600-699 - night buses (special ticket needed). Note that all night buses stop at Emilia Plater Street (between Palace of Culture and Central Station)
- 700-799 - suburban buses (special ticket needed if you go outside the city), that connect some towns in the surrounding area of the city.
You can always check the timetable at ZTM's site (http://ztm.waw.pl). Note your stop's name and number. Some buses are low-floor, so you may easy access it (if you need help, call the driver) if you are disabled.
Taxis
The maximum price per 1 km is set by the city's board. Official taxi should have it's number (black numbers on the white background under the window on the door), a taxi-sign, the driver's ID card visible. The most secure is to use a taxi from a taxi company; you will identify such car simply by its telephone number, and maybe some adverts.
You may stop the taxi on the street (raise your hand), or take it at taxi-stop. You will not go with it if the taxi already has a passenger(s). When paying the price you may give a tip to the driver, not more than about 10%.
See
Old Town
Wilanów
Trakt Królewski (Royal Road)
Great Theater
Palace of Culture
National Museum
Museum of Polish Army
Zoo
Do
Learn
Universities in Warsaw:
- University of Warsaw (Uniwersytet Warszawski) - the biggest university in Poland (see: University Website (http://www.uw.edu.pl/))
- Warsaw Technical University (Politechnika Warszawska) - the biggest Polish technical university (see: University Website (http://www.pw.edu.pl/))
- Medical Academy (Akademia Medyczna) - see: Academy Website (http://www.amwaw.edu.pl/)
Work
Buy
Eat
Budget
Mid-range
Splurge
Drink
Sleep
Budget
Mid-range
Splurge
Contact
Stay safe
Cope
Get out
External links
- Official City tourism Web site (http://www.warsawtour.pl/)
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