Poland

From Czech Republic

In local, express and fast trains not IC or EC!, it is possible to buy a special cross-border ticket "bilet przechodowy" in Polish which is valid between the Czech and Polish or vice versa border stations and costs only 15 CZK or 2 PLN. You can buy it from the conductor on the train or completely ignore it if the conductor does not emerge before you reach the other border station, which happens and to your advantege combine it with domestic tickets of the two countries the one you buy before departure and another one you may buy if your train stops for an amount of time in the first station after the border and you have time to quickly reach for the ticket office - or you buy the other domestic ticket at the conductor with a low surcharge.

In the vicinity of the Czech-German-Polish three country border, you may profit from the unified fare of the ZVON transport system: (http://www.zvon.de/)

The railway between Harrachov Czech Republic and Szklarska Poręba Poland in the Krkonoše/Karkonosze mountains (http://www.zubacka.cz/) has been out of order since WW2 and is planned to reopen in summer 2010. There are trains terminating in Szklarska Poręba Górna and Harrachov, respectively. You can walk on foot between the two approximately 16 kilometeres by following the road which is good state, though meandering and going through a vast uninhabited area with a modest altitude peak in the middle. Or, if you are afraid of the passing trucks, you could follow the railroad under construction it is legal to follow it as long as it is not yet being operated, but it may not be very comfortable and won't spare you any significant distance in this case.

After a several-year-long period of electrification, there are now several trains a day again between Lichkov Czech Republic and Międzylesie Poland. Yet, if for instance you arrive by the last train of the day which terminates before the border, you may try walking to the other side. From Międzylesie, you can follow the trafic directions to Brno and reach the border by following the road and passing through the villages of Smreczyna and Boboszów. Soon after you've crossed the border, make a sharp right turn at the cross road and walk the rest to Lichkov. The terrain is quite flat there. This is a little detour and takes some 13 kilometers, but while the railway is somewhat shorter, you should not follow it because it goes through a dark forest and you would risk collision with night cargo trains, and of course the law.

The Polish train station of Głuchołazy is served by Czech trains passing between Jeseník and Krnov and can be reached with a domestic Czech train ticket with "Gluchlolazy" as the destination. You can also get a ticket starting in that station or a return ticket in advance, but you cannot buy Czech tickets in the station itself. There are no more Polish trains departing from Głuchołazy to inner Poland, only buses from the city 1,5 km walk-away from the station.

There are very few connections a day between Bohumín Czech Republic and Chałupki Poland; once called Annaberg and at the three country border of the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland, but it is easy to cross the border on foot if you miss your connection. Bohumín is a major Czech train station and Chałupki a terminal of trains to inner Poland. Between the two places, you are passing through the Czech settlement of Starý Bohumín, situated right at the border which is briefly formed by the river Odra in this place, which you cross by an old pedestrian bridge. The walk is on a completely flat terrain, almost straight, goes almost exclusively through inhabited places and is short in distance 5 kilometers.

The divided city of Český Těšín Czech Republic / Cieszyn Poland is a very easy spot for border crossing. If you reach one of them, you can walk to the other very comfortably and at a short distance 20 minutes from one station to another. It's the river Olše/Olza in the city center that forms the border. The train stations in both Český Těšín and Cieszyn have good connections to other destinations.

From Lithuania

While the main railway connecting Lithuania and Poland is now crossing a piece of Belarus which cannot be entered without a visa by most, there is fortunately a minor line left that connects the two countries directly. The border stations are Šeštokai Lithuania and Suwałki Poland. There are only a few passenger connections a day and you need to change trains at the border, because of the different rail gauge used in the two countries.

A popular alternative of crossing the border, if you are going on a longer distance, is to use the bus between Vilnius and Warsaw.

By plane

Most of Europe's major airlines fly to and from Poland. Poland's national carriers are LOT Polish Airlines (http://www.lot.com). There are also a number of low cost airlines that fly to Poland including WizzAir (http://wizzair.com), EasyJet (http://easyjet.com), Germanwings (http://www.germanwings.com), Norwegian (http://www.norwegian.no/s...) and Ryanair (http://www.ryanair.com).

Apart from direct air connections from many European cities, there are also direct flights from United States and Canada: LOT operates direct flights from Toronto, New York and Chicago, as well as non-direct flights from other cities through the Star Alliance program.

International airlines fly mainly to Warsaw WAW (http://www.lotnisko-chopi...). Other major airports in Poland are: Kraków KRK (http://www.lotnisko-balice.pl), Katowice KTW (http://www.gtl.com.pl), Gdańsk GDN (http://www.airport.gdansk.pl), Poznań POZ (http://www.airport-poznan...), Wrocław WRO (http://www.airport.wroclaw.pl), Szczecin SZZ (http://www.airport.com.pl), Rzeszów RZE (http://www.rzeszowairport.pl), Bydgoszcz BZG (http://www.plb.pl) and Łódź LCJ (http://www.airport.lodz.pl).

As the number of flights and passengers has significantly increased since 1990, new terminal has been opened at the Warsaw Chopin airport which will significantly increase the airport's capacity. Also airports in Katowice, Kraków, Poznań, Wrocław, Łódź and Rzeszów have been expanded to increase their standards and capacity.

By train

Direct connections (http://intercity.pl/?page...) with:

Berlin

EuroCity "Berlin-Warszawa-Express BWE", 4 trains per day, 5,5 hours , EuroCity "Wawel" to Krakow, every day, 10 hours

Amsterdam

via Koeln, Hannover, EuroNight "Jan Kiepura", everyday, 12 hours

Kiev

via Lviv, Night Train, 16 hours

Vienna

Night Train "Chopin", every day, 9 hours, EuroCity "Sobieski", everyday, 6 hours, EuroCity "Polonia", every day, 8 hours

Prague

Night Train "Chopin", EuroCity "Praha", every day, 9.5 hours

Moscow

Night Train "Ost-West", every day, 20.5 hours

By Yacht

There are more and more ports along Polish coast, at least at every river mouth. Bigger marinas are located in Szczecin, Łeba, Hel, Gdynia and Gdańsk. Gdansk, has two yacht docks one next to the old time market which is usually quickly overloaded and one in the national sailing center 17 km. next to the city center close to the Baltic sea. The newest yacht dock will be located on the longest wooden peer in Sopot and will be ready in 2011. Although there are many sailors in Poland, there is still room for improvement which has been seen by the regional government.

By car

You can enter Poland by one of many roads linking Poland with the neighboring countries. Since Poland's entry to the Schengen Zone, checkpoints on border crossings with other EU countries have been removed.

However, the queues on the borders with Poland's non-EU neighbors, Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, are still large and in areas congested with truck traffic it can take up to several hours to pass.