Poland: A Budget travel guide to Warsaw
Both Poland’s capital and largest city, Warsaw has many faces. Sure, you’ll find the Old Town there, with its narrow cobblestone alleys, colorful burgher houses, and medieval buildings. However, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is nearly a complete reconstruction built after the war.
But perhaps this is the best symbol for the spirit of Warsaw, a modern city where the turbulent past is still visible, a city made up of a juxtaposition of architecture, from Soviet-era monoliths and rebuilt Gothic treasures to modern skyscrapers of glass and steel. Warsaw is certainly never boring.
It’s a city that keeps you on your toes and is a wonderfully cheap travel destination where your dollars will go a long way.
Warsaw’s main airport, Warszawa Lotnisko Chopina (Chopin Airport), is located about 16 miles south of the city center. From Chopin Airport, you can either take the subway system Szybka Kolej Miejska (SKM) into town or ride on a regular train (Koleje Mazowieckie) to Warszawa Centralna, Warsaw’s main train station.
You can also hop a bus into the city, but this sometimes takes a longer, especially during rush hour. The Bus 175 will take you directly to the center of the city and Bus 148 and 188 go across the river to the neighborhoods of Praga, Grochów, and Goclaw. Some bus lines, particularly the 175, are known for pickpocketing, so keep a close eye on your belongings.
Savings tip: Although both train tickets are cheap (under $2), the red SKM ticket is slightly cheaper. A 20-minute ticket from Chopin Airport to Warszawa Centralna will put you back only 3.40 zloty, which is less than a dollar. Purchase tickets at the ZTM counter in the arrivals hall or onboard.
In 2013, Warsaw opened Modlin Airport to service budget airlines, which is farther away from the city. Although you can take an express bus into the city for 33 zloty/(about $9), a train ride is the cheaper option. But please note this will take you twice as long (around two hours as opposed to 45 minutes by bus.)
Arriving by train or bus
Although you can take the train to Warsaw from many locations within Europe, you’ll likely get the best bang for your buck by taking the bus. The best two companies to check out are PolskiBus, a Polish express coach operator, which also offers service from Modlin Airport, or Flixbus. Rates can vary and are usually cheapest if you book at least several weeks in advance.
By car
Another cheap, as well as social option, is car sharing. Check out BlaBlaCar and hitch a ride at a nice price with someone who’s headed for Warsaw.
Tip
To find the cheapest travel options to Warsaw, check out the website goeuro.com, where you can compare prices for trains, buses, and flights to any destination within Europe.
Getting around Warsaw
Warsaw can be explored easily by foot, but if you need a rest or plan to cover more ground than you feel like walking, the city luckily also has an extensive public transportation network, with trams, buses, a metro system, and trains which will get you basically any place you need to go.
Subway fare & fines
A single fare transfer ticket costs 3.40 zloty/1.70 zloty (for 20 minutes after validation), 4.40/2.20 zloty (for 75 minutes) or 7 zloty/3.50 zloty (for 90 minutes after validation). You can check the Warsaw subway website for more information (in English).
Be sure to validate your ticket immediately after (bus and tram) or before (metro) boarding the vehicle because ticket inspection happens often, and Polish ticket inspectors are known to delight in handing out hefty fines to clueless tourists who didn’t follow the procedure quite right. The same goes for time limits. Fines are high, even if you’re only a minute or two over, so make sure and keep an eye on the time!
How Much Does it Cost to Travel Poland on a Budget?
We had no idea how much it would cost to travel in Poland. We signed up for the Angloville programme on a whim, got accepted and booked some flights. We didn’t plan our travels beforehand, except for a sketchy route.
Fortunately for us, Poland turned out to be a cheaper travel destination than many other European countries. It’s worth noting that our travel budget is so incredibly low because we spent 5 days of our 20-day trip on the Angloville programme where we received free accommodation and food.
How Much Does it Cost to Travel Poland on a Budget?
Here’s a handy infographic breaking down how much it costs to travel Poland on a budget. Our travel budget is near to the rock-bottom expenditure for a night’s accommodation, 3 meals per day, local transport, and minimal costs for activities. This travel budget does not include flights.Cost of Travel Poland - Charlie on Travel
Where we Travelled
We travelled from the UK to Poland at the end of February with Ryanair (London Stansted to Wrocław – £41.99 per person) and 20 days later flew back with Wizz Air (Gdańsk to London Luton – £32 per person). We began our travels in Wroclaw, where we attended the Angloville programme for 5 days, and backpacked to 9 different places in total. We trekked in the High Tatras near Zakopane, were underwhelmed by Krakow and found romance in Gdansk.
cost to travel poland budget - climb mountains
Me at the top of Mount Kościelec, finally!
Couchsurfing in Poland
We saved a lot of money by Couchsurfing in Poland and had some amazing hosts. In fact, out of the 20 days we travelled around Poland, we only slept in a hostel on 4 of those nights. 5 nights were spent at the Angloville programme’s hotel, and the other 11 nights we Couchsurfed. We found that there are a lot of generous people happy to host you in Poland – it’s actually the country where we’ve had the best hosts!
Most Expensive Sleep: GlobArt in Kraków
Least Expensive Sleep: Couchsurfing (no cost)
View from hosts house in Zakopane yay
The view from our hosts’ house in Zakopane.
Eat in Milk Bars
In Poland, if you want to eat on the cheap, milk bars are the way to go. Milk bars (bar mleczny) are Polish style cafeterias that serve low-cost, whole some, traditional Polish food. Most date back to the 1950s and 60s when Poland was under Communist rule and though there aren’t as many as there used to be, they can still be found around the country and are often popular with students. We ate in quite a few milk bars to keep our costs down, as well as in vegetarian restaurants that operated in a similar way.
eating milk bar poland
Cheap, nourishing good, though not always well presented.
Activities During Our Travels
We managed to do a whole variety of activities in a small budget whilst we were in Poland. Outdoor based activities include hiking in the Tatra Mountains (and taking the cable car down), walking from Gdansk to Sopot museums, and ambling around the cities. Cultural activities include visiting castles, the salt mines, Auschwitz, and Schindler’s factory.
Most Expensive Activity: Wieliczka Salt Mines (£14.88 per person)
Least Expensive Activity: Auschwitz (free entry)
krakow cost travel poland
Despite rumours of Poland not being the greatest travel destination, it turned out to be one of our favourite European countries! Actually, it was so good that we can’t wait to go back in a few years time, take a road-trip along the Baltic Coast and explore all the places we missed. If you haven’t been to Poland, go!
Have you ever been somewhere you hadn’t heard good things about and been pleasantly surprised by?