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Things to know about Poland

Capital: Warsaw

 

Language: Poland

 

Climate is temperate ranging from marine to continental. There are rather mild and wet winters, quite warm summers in Poland. During the hottest summer month (July), on the seacoast the average temperature is +16,5°C, and about +19°С in the south. In winter, the temperature goes down to −4°С. Mountainous areas receive the most precipitations; on the flatland the climate is dry.

 

The average temperature:

October +12°С
November +5°С
December  +1°С
January  0°С
February +1°С
March  +6°С
April +12°С
May  +18°С
June +22°С
July +23°С
August +22°С
September +18°С


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Currency is Zloty (international code – PLN, in the country – Zl). Zloty is subdivided into 100 groszy. Circulated coins are in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 50 groszy and 1, 2, 5 zlotys. Banknotes are issued in denominations of 10, 20, 50 and 100 and 200 zlotys.

 

Means of payment: credit cards are accepted almost in all hotels and restaurants, also in car rental offices. Cash machines are widely used. They can be found either in bank offices, or shopping malls. In some banks, cash machines are available 24 hours a day. For added security many of the cash machines are located in the bank's lobby. Access to the lobby is granted after you insert your bank or credit card into the external card reader. You can find many places where to cash your traveller’s cheques. The credit cards of international payment systems Visa, American Express, MasterCard are accepted in large institutions.

 

Currency exchange: Banks are opened from 8:30am to 1:00pm on weekdays (central offices to 5:00pm). The exchange offices work until 7:00-8:00pm, and some large tourist centres – longer.

 

Calls to Poland from the other countries: for making a call on landline, you should deal +48 (a dialling code) X-XXX-XXX;
e.g. +48 (30) X-XXX-XXX.

 

Calls from Poland to the other countries: In the country the telephone services are offered by one company, so cards and token coins are the same for all public phones. You can buy them at all newsstands, they have limit for 25, 50 or 100 minutes. For international calls, you should dial: 00 – a country code – a dialling code – a phone number. For calling on mobile, a dialling code is not necessary.

 

Useful phone numbers in Poland:
Ambulance – 999
Police – 997
Fire station – 998
Emergency breakdown services – 981
Mobile service – 112
The town watch of Warsaw – 986

 

Time zone: UTC (СЕТ) +1 (by Greenwich)
Time zone in summer: UTC+2
Daylight saving time in summer: the last Sunday of March at 2:00am
Daylight saving time in winter: the last Sunday of October at 3:00am

 

Customs
You can import free-of-duty:
1) the amount of foreign currency you can bring in Poland should not exceed $2,500
2) meat, fish and tinned food up to 2kilos
3) animal and vegetable fats weight up to 1 kg;
4) chocolate products – up to 1 kg;
5) dairy products – up to 1 kg;
6) alcohol beverages or spirits – to 1 litre;
7) wine – no more than 3 litres;
8) beer – up to 1 litre;
9) real coffee – up to 200 grams;
10) tobacco – up to 250 grams;
11) cigarettes – 250 pieces;
12) gifts, that cost less than $ 100;
13) goods of precious metals, stones or pearls, only if their total weight does not exceed 50 grams.
It’s allowed to import hunting, gas, fire, or sporting weapons and 100 cartridges, but only with the mandatory permission of the relevant Poland consulate. Big amount of foreign currency should be declared. The old books published before 1945 and jewellery should be registered as well.

 

Shopping
Shops work from 9:00am till 5:00–7:00pm on weekdays, and from 9:00am to 2:00pm on Saturdays. In large cities, grocery stores are open on weekdays from 06:00am to 6:00-7:00pm, on Saturdays from 07:00am to 1:00pm. Many supermarkets are open on Sundays, holidays, and often at night.

 

Transport

 

1) Public transport

 

 

1. Taxi
Taxi service is available almost in all cities of Poland, you can order a taxi by phone or at special parking places. At night you should expect a double rate. The fare ranges between 2.5 and 3 zlotys per km in the daytime.

 

2. Subway
There are 6 metro lines in Warsaw. There are no turnstiles at the entrance. You just punch your tickets in special ticket-punches. There you can use the same tickets as on land transport lines.

 

3. Trams
Tram tickets are the same through the country. Moreover, they are also valid in trolleybuses or buses for a definite time period, from an hour to a month. The value of a single ticket for any type of public transport is about 2.4 zlotys. Tickets are activated by special electronic composters, which are installed in the buses and trams.

 

4. Trolleybuses
The trolleybuses are used only in 4 towns of Poland such as Lublin, Tychy, Gdynia and Sopot.

 

5. Buses
In Poland, buses run according to the schedule, you can find the timetable of all routs at every station. The cost of the season ticket, with an unlimited number of trips, is about 50 zlotys.

 

6. Bicycle rental
In Warsaw, you can rent a bicycle at the special self-service parking. Such parking places are often located near the subway and educational institutions. In the system “Warsaw public bicycle” a bicycle rent will be free for first 20 minutes, next 40 minutes cost 1 zloty (24 euro cents), the value of the second hour – 3 zlotys (72 euro cents), the third hour – 5 zlotys (slightly more than 1 euro) and each additional hour will cost 7 zlotys (1.5 Euros). The maximum term of the rent is 12 hours.

 

2) Long-distance transport

 

 

1. Buses
In Poland, the most popular kind of long-distant transport is a bus. Besides, some minibuses run on the suburban tracks, and their fare is cheaper than in buses.

 

2. Railways
Polish railway offers a high level of service and safety. The railway is better developed in the western part of the country. The ticket price for one person may range between 15-50 Euros, depending on the distance and the train’s class.

 

3. Aircraft
As a rule, flights between cities require a change in Warsaw. Every direction has several flights a day. You can use such flights: from Warsaw to Gdansk, Bydgoszcz, Krakow, Katowice, Poznan, Lodz, Rzeszow, Green Guru, Szczecin. From Krakow – to Katowice, Gdansk, Warsaw; from Katowice – to Warsaw, from Wroclaw – to Warsaw and Gdansk; from Poznan – to Warsaw, from Gdansk – to Warsaw, Wroclaw and Krakow; from Szczecin – to Warsaw.

 

4. Water transport
The ferryboats run from Gdynia, Gdansk and Swinoujscie to some other cities. The fare depends on distance, and it will be about 280 zlotys.

 

Car rental
There are many companies that provide service of car renting in Poland. For car renting you should have an international driving license and driving experience of at least one year. The driver has to be over 21 and has to know traffic rules in Poland.

 

Hotels
In Poland, there is the same five-star classification of hotels as in most European countries. To attract more clients, some hotels offer especially equipped rooms for allergic or disabled people, rooms for newlyweds, non-smoking or smoking rooms, rooms with additional acoustic or equipped conference rooms.

 

Tipping
In the restaurants, it’s 10% of the bill. If it isn’t included in the bill, you are recommended to round up the bill. Tipping in taxi isn’t accepted.

 

National Holidays
May 1 – Labour Day
May 3 – Constitution Day
May 9 – National Day of Victory and Freedom
August 1 – National Day of Remembrance for the Warsaw Rising
August 31 – Day of Solidarity and Freedom
November 11 – Independence Day
November 21 – National day of Life

 

Traditions and rules of conduct in the country
More than 90% of the Poles are Catholics. All national traditions are related to religion, so when you communicate with inhabitants, better not to say any abusive thoughts about Catholicism or church. In Poland, it is prohibited to smoke and to drink alcohol beverage in public places. You’d better not to call an unfamiliar person by name; it is also very rude to address somebody by surname or profession. To call a waiter or other staff, you should use common words Pan or Pani (equivalent to the English Mr and Ms). On public transport you should give up the place to old people, pregnant women and young children.

 

Visa
Poland is in the Schengen area, so it is necessary to have the Schengen visa. The list of countries, whose citizens do not need a visa to visit Poland: Andorra, Argentine, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia, Costa-Rica, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Spain, the Netherlands, Honduras, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Cuba, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Latvia, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Germany, Nicaragua, Norway, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay, the USA, Hungary, the UK, Italy.

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