Getting around Warsaw
A train from the airport, one ticket that covers the metro and the tram, and a single metro line that crosses the river to Praga on its own.
- Getting in
- Warsaw Chopin Airport (WAW)
- From the airport
- S2 SKM train to the centre
- Ticket
- €1.01 for 75 min, €3.45 for 24 h
Warsaw has its own airport, Warsaw Chopin Airport (WAW), so you reach the centre without changing through another city. The route is S2 SKM train to the centre, about 20–25 min in all. In town the metro, tram and bus run on the same tickets, and two things are worth knowing in advance: distances are longer than they look on a map, and the river is crossed by metro or tram.
The train into the centre
The airport train takes an ordinary 75-minute city ticket, €1.01. Line S3 runs the same route as the S2, stopping closer to Centralna station, on the same ticket. A slower alternative is city bus 175, which runs straight to several points in the centre.
One ticket for metro, tram and bus
Once you're off the train, the same ticket covers every change within those 75 minutes, whatever the number of lines. The 24-hour ticket, €3.45, only starts paying off from the fourth ride of the day.
Longer than they look on a map
Warsaw is flat but spread out. The Old Town, the Palace of Culture and Praga lie in three separate parts of the city, and walking from one to the next eats time meant for sightseeing. That's why the metro and tram pay off even over a few stops.
4. Across the river, and up the escarpment
Metro line M2 runs under the Vistula to Dworzec Wileński in Praga. Trams cross the river too, over the bridges. Powiśle is on the same bank as the centre but below the escarpment that divides them, so from the centre you go down to it and climb back up.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
What kind of day actually reaches four rides?
Mostly a day with a museum in the morning, a meal in another quarter and an evening out in a third, spread across the city instead of one quarter on foot.
Ready for Warsaw?
Where to next
Mistakes everyone makes in Warsaw
→In Warsaw most time is lost at a museum's locked doors, and each of the five mistakes has a fix.
Lublin · 153 km
→A city in eastern Poland whose castle chapel dates to 1418, with the Majdanek camp on its edge
How well does Warsaw suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
Front row for the next trip
Leave your email and we'll let you know when a new destination or story goes up.