Hello 🙂
In the last 9 months I’ve spent 166 hours in the bus and in trains. Yes, I know it’s weird to calculate that, but at a certain point I was just too interested in how much time I was on the road. So I was a permanent customer at Deutsche Bahn, PKP and Flix Bus haha. That’s kinda the reason why I’m writing this article today, to point out a few things that helped me to travel cheaply in Poland. I will also share some apps where you can find cheap or even free overnight stays.
For travelling:
First Option: Flixbus. Many tickets can be found for like 4-6 euros, but on top of that in large Polish cities such as Warsaw or Gdansk, Flix Bus vouchers are regularly distributed on the street or you can find them sometimes in hostels for free. I know that if you are offered a flyer on the street, you often say no and just keep walking. But in that case: take these flyers with you. At first I thought it was a scam but the coupons really work and they can often save you 10-15%. Flixbus has always worked well for me in Poland, it doesn’t take too long because the country isn’t that big and my buses have always been on time. I’ve added a photo of a voucher so you know how they look like 🙂
Second Option: On the PKP website (intercity.pl) there is an opportunity to travel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for a total of 119 zloty (25.85 Euro). So you pay 119 zloty (25.85 Euro) once and can travel the said 3 days by train throughout Poland. The only thing you have to consider is that you have to buy a reservation, as this is obligatory in Poland. However, these reservations are either free of charge or only cost about 1 zloty, which is the equivalent of only 22 cents. I am attaching screenshots for additional guidance. Here the explaination how you can find this offer:
1)You go to the website intercity.pl
2) At the top right click on “Season Ticket” and select “Multiprzejazd Ticket”.
3) Select travel date and select ticket for second Class. Unless you are premium and travel 1st class then treat yourself 😉
4) Pay.
The only other thing you have to do is book a reservation. Here the explaination how to do it:
1) You go to the website intercity.pl
2) Then you enter your travel dates (date & where you want to travel to) and click on search
3)You pick the connection of your choice.
4) Enter “0” for the first entry “Number of passengers by normal fare:”.
5) In the second entry “Number of passengers with discounts” enter the number of people who need a reservation, for example 1 and select the option „Multiprzejazd MAX- rezerwacja“
6) Pay. Often it costs nothing or 1-4 zloty.
You can take a look at the attached screenshots. It sounds more complicated than it is.
For overnight stays:
First option: You can find cheap hostels and Airbnbs in the following apps. The apps are all free. I have had particularly good experiences with Booking.com. If you book early, there are often very cheap rooms. In addition, I have also had good experiences in the shared sleepingrooms, where I personally prefer one with females only. It was a little weird the first time, but I’ve always met nice people and you quickly get used to it. Especially if you travel alone it can be nice because you get to know really nice people from time to time with whom you maybe even explore the area together.
– Booking.com
– Hostelworld
– Airbnb
Second Option: The app “Couchsurfing”. As far as I know, it costs around 14 euros per year, but it is very worthy because you can stay with other people for free. Members use the site to find free accommodation while traveling, to offer accommodation themselves, or for other purposes, such as showing a traveler around the city. The app is a nice way to meet other people and hosts are often very friendly: show you around, cook for you,…
It’s definitely good to start your first experience together with a friend, then it might be easier for you 🙂
That’s it, thanks for reading and have fun traveling in Poland <3
Helen
