Basic Facts
Here’s a little basic information about Warsaw:
Where?
In the centre of Poland:
Time zone
GMT +1. The same as in Germany or Spain, one hour ahead of Portugal and the UK.
Language
Polish. It’s a Slavic language in the same family as Russian Czech or Bulgarian. Unintelligible if you only speak English, Spanish or, Finnish. However, a lot of people (especially younger ones) can communicate in English.
Climate
The weather in Poland is unpredictable. It can be chilly and rainy one day and then warm and dry the next. However, the average temperature in March is between -2 and 6 degrees Celsius, with 3 hours sunlight. Even though it's spring, it can still get quite cold, so make sure you bring adequate warm clothes!
Money and banking
The Polish currency is Złoty, abbreviated as zł or PLN. One złoty is equivalent to one hundred grosz (gr). Notes come in denominations of 200, 100, 50, 20 and 10 with coins of 5, 2, and 1 zł and 50, 20, 10, 5, 2, and 1 gr. 1 EUR is approximately 4,3 zł.
The prices in Poland on average are lower than in Western Europe. Here are approximate prices for some articles.
Beer: 3,5 zł (in a shop), 7-12 zł (in a bar)
Bottle of Coke (1 litre): 4 zł
Medium pizza: 25 zł
Single bus ticket: 2.80 zł
3 day travelcard: 16 zł
Taxi: 2.40 zł/km
Money can be exchanged at banks, hotels or dedicated exchange offices (called kantor), which offer the best rates. Normally, no commission fee is charged at “kantors”. Traveller’s cheques can be exchanged at every bank, but not at private exchange offices. Banks are open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and some are open on Saturday until 1pm.
ATMs (called bankomat) are widely available throughout the city.
Major international credit cards are accepted in hotels, restaurants, petrol stations and larger shops. In snack bars and small local shops you'll need cash.
Electric current
220 volts. The standard continental 2 pin plugs are used.
Telephoning
The international dialling code for Poland is 0048 (or +48)
The area code for Warsaw is 22 (obligatory even if you’re calling from Warsaw). So, to call a phone number in Warsaw from a foreign phone, you should dial 0048 22 and then the number.