Getting around inside Warsaw
#Warsaw tour guide #Warsaw city guide # guided tour in warsaw #Warszawa tour guide #Warszawa city guide #guided tour in Warszawa
Buses, trams and the metro use one common ticket system.
There is no doubt, that the quickest and most efficient way is the metro system. One metro line runs parallel to the river on the western side, but a few kilometres from the actual river bank. The other line runs through the historical centre where it meets the first line, and then continues to Praga at the other side of the river.
The metro system is currently being extended. The fully drawn lines in the picture are functioning metro stations, while the other lines are planed to open soon. The solid blue and red lines are existing stations. The metro runs from 5 a.m. till midnight, Friday and Saturday till 3 a.m.
Metro: Obywatel A.N., CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The trams are not as fast as the metro, but they are speedy anyway and run with a few minutes between them at the busiest stretches. In general they have there own lanes, which means they don’t care to much about the cars, but obviously they must stop for traffic lights. They are slightly slower than the metro. But … It is simple, easy to grasp and efficient.
Tram lines: Jurij / update + fix (derivative): Kubek15, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons
Prices – common system for metro, buses and trams
20 minutes – 3.4 zloty (also valid outside zone 1 = municipality borders)
75 minutes – 4.4 zloty (only valid in zone 1 = within the municipality)
90 minutes – 7 zloty (also valid outside zone 1 = municipality borders)
24 hours – 15 zloty (zone 1)
72 hours – 36 zloty (zone 1)
Weekend ticket – 24 zloty (from Friday 7 p.m. till Monday 8 a.m.)
Tickets can be bought from slot machines almost anywhere close to any stop. Payment with cash or credit cards. Tickets can also be purchased in some kiosks and most buses/ trams. The ticket should be validated in yellow stamp machines as soon as You enter the tram/bus and before entering the metro area.
Children under the age of 7 go for free.
Children until the age of 16 have discounted fares at half price. This demands an I.D. With a photo – i.e. carrying your personal passport.
People over 70 years of age go for free. This demands an I.D. with a photo – i.e. carrying your personal passport or driving license. It’s not always that easy to get through the automatic gates to the metro (older people in Warsaw have a special card), so maybe the simplest thing is just to pay for a discounted ticket to get through the gate.
The prices vary between the different taxi corporations, but the maximum price in Warsaw is 10 zloty for a start and 5 zloty per one kilometre. Furthermore there is a maximum charge of 0,7 zloty per minute, when the cap is not driving, which can quickly run up in the rush hour, where You will be waiting more than You are driving.
Most corporations charge much lower prices, typically 2-3 zloty per kilometre, while the highest prices are charged by luxurious cars and caps not affiliated to a corporation.
Rate 2 includes a 50% extra charge for rides on Sundays and holidays and from 10 p.m. till 6 a.m.
Rate 3 is double and is paid outside the borders of Warsaw – in other words, You pay the return transport to the city.
Rate 4 includes a 300% extra charge for rides on Sundays and holidays and from 10 p.m. till 6 a.m outside the borders of Warsaw.
A taxi from the Chopin Airport to the centre will cost You 40-50 zloty, but the train is very efficient, and there is no reason to take a cap.
Uber is legal in Poland and run according to the taxi regulations. Bolt has an app very similar. Both corporations belong to the cheapest taxi rides in Warsaw.
You may also come across a pirate taxi or even a registered taxi mingling with the price. However the problem is very small compared to a decade ago, and the local administration is aware of the harm and warn with posters like this:
The poster informs, that registered taxis should always have:
A sign with the text “taxi”
Licence number
On the back door, there should be a price list in the window
Inside, the licence with hologram must be suspended
The city’s coat of arms must be painted on the door
There must be an ID card with photo and hologram inside the car
Warsaw and the surrounding suburbs/ town is covered by a close network of railway lines. It may not be the quickest trains in the world, but they run on time and the wagons are quite new and well preserved.
Within the municipality borders You use the same tickets as for buses, trams and the metro. Outside the municipality borders You need to buy a specific ticket. Tickets can be bought in slot machines and ticket offices, but You will often experience long queues in front of the ticket office. The machines speak English – try them for comfort!
Many hotels rent bikes for their guests. Also many small firms offer bike rental service, if You want to rent a special bike or an electric bike. Try to write ”warsaw rent a bike” in Google, and see what comes up.
It may be a slightly frustrating experience to bike in the city centre, where some pedestrians seem to consider the biking lanes to be pavements, and some cyclists consider the pavements to be biking lanes. In other words, bikes and pedestrians are mixed together and spiced with skateboards and scooters – and not everyone are equally thoughtful of others.
Outside the actual centre the conditions are much better, with efficient biking roads.
You should download an app (Nextbike) to your mobile device and place some money on the account or attach a credit card. The bikes can be taken from a Nextbike bicycle racks and should be returned there as well. Be careful when You return the bike and check the phone to ensure return has been registered – if it hasn’t You take it out and replace it again.
The predominant cycling app is Nextbike, which works internationally. Nextbike cooperates with Veturilo, which is the name in the bikes in Warsaw.
The first 20 minutes are for free, afterwards it costs 1 zloty for up to one hour and then 3 zloty for the next hour. The prices go up dynamically, the longer You use the bike. This can be prevented by parking it in a bicycle rack and rent another bike.
Bikes should be used on the road or on biking roads, but it is socially acceptable to bike on the pavement. Some people bike very fast on the pavement, and it is recommended to limit the speed. It may be expensive and unpleasant if you hit a pedestrian.
Scooters can be rented through apps on your mobile device. The biggest ones are Lime and Hive, and you attach a credit card to the app. The app will probably also work in other main European cities. The price is 2 zloty to start and 0,5 zloty per minute.
Scooters should be used on biking roads, but are often used on pavements, where they drive very fast. Clashes between pedestrians and scooters take place frequently, so please be careful when You use an electric scooter.
All the big international rental companies can be found in Warsaw, and on the car share page You can rent a car with an app. But there is not much point in renting a car unless You want to get out from Warsaw. The transport system in the city itself is well functioning, and You will get a lot of stress, when You look for a place to park the car.
Car sharing
Please send an email to m@hardenfelt.pl if you would like an English-speaking tour guide to show you the most important places in Warsaw.