Getting to Gdańsk
Poland is a member country of the European Union. This means that all citizens of EU member states with a valid travel document (passport or European ID card) are allowed to travel freely within Poland for up to 3 months. Citizens of other states may need Schengen visa, see the map for quick reference.
All the countries below have visa-free access to the EU for at least 90 days.
* – EU member states
By air
The city has its own international airport, the [[::en:Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport|Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport]] (see the flight map), located in the western part of Gdańsk 10 km from the city center, near the [[::en:Obwodnica Trójmiejska|Tricity Ring Road]] as well as the start of one of Gdańsk's main streets (ulica Juliusza Słowackiego), which largely facilitates access by car or bus to virtually every part of the city (view location on Google Maps).
All the prices quoted below are the cheapest available one-way tickets for adults, without extra charges and reflect ticket reservation a few months in advance. Prices for October 28–29th, 2008, as quoted by http://esky.pl
Exchange rates: see today's exchange rates on the website of the Polish National Bank.
At the airport
Many services are available at the airport.
Getting to the City
- Once on the airport, you need to get to the bus stop. There take bus number 210 (timetable) going in the direction of Gościnna.
- You can buy your ticket from the driver, but you need to have an exact amount of cash. One ticket for one ride (irrelevant of its length) costs PLN 2.50, or ride free with the Tourist card purchase
- Get off the bus at the main train station (the drive will take 20-30 minutes, depending on the traffic). The building is easily recognisable (you will see it on the right of the vehicle), it is a vintage, red-brick structure with a tall clock tower.
- From the trainstation you'll most likely have to take a taxi or walk to your accomodation, the old town has no public transport but is very walkable. (2.3 km, 30 min walk to Baltic Philharmonic) Google map of wikimania 2010 locations.
Getting to the City by taxi or airportbus
- Taxi approx PLN 50 (PLN 65 at night) (City Plus Neptun offers a 20% discount with the Tourist Card purchase)
- Airportbus, PLN 9.90
- Airportbus times as follows, if this guide is correct
- From the airport 09:50, 10:50, 11:50, 13:10, 14:45, 16:05, 18:25, 19:50
- To the airport 09:00, 10:20, 11:20, 12:30, 14:00, 15:20, 16:50, 19:00
Getting around the city
Moving_around has further information about getting around town, once you've arrived.
Connections
Travel time includes waiting time for connecting flights. If the cheapest flight took unreasonably long without a large price difference, it was omitted.
| City | Airfare | Airlines | Number of stopovers | Stopover cities | Travel time | Additional remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amsterdam | 814 PLN / $ 289.82 / € 212.13 / £ 189.58 | SAS | 1 | Copenhagen | 4h55 | A cheaper and less time-consuming connection via Wizz Air (Eindhoven).
- |
| Athens | 646 PLN / $ 230.01 / € 168.35 / £ 150.46 | Lufthansa | 1 | Frankfurt | 12h30 | - |
| Budapest | 357 PLN / $ 127.11 / € 93.04 / £ 83.15 | Lufthansa | 1 | Frankfurt | 5h45 | - |
| Brussels | 591 PLN / $ 210.43 / € 154.02 / £ 137.65 | LOT | 1 | Warsaw | 4h20 | A cheaper and less time-consuming connection via Wizz Air (Eindhoven). |
| Frankfurt | 247 PLN / $ 87.94 / € 64.37 / £ 57.53 | Lufthansa | 0 | - | 1h40 | Alternatively, a cheaper option (133 PLN / $ 47.35 / € 34.66 / £ 30.98), flight with Ryanair from Hahn airport, located further from the city centre |
| Helsinki | 344 PLN / $ 122.48 / € 89.65 / £ 80.12 | Lufthansa | 1 | Frankfurt | 6h55 | - |
| Liverpool | 80 PLN / $ 28.48 / € 20.85 / £ 18.63 | WizzAir | 0 | - | 2h30 | - |
| London | 162 PLN / $ 57.68 / € 42.22 / £ 37.73 | WizzAir | 0 | - | 2h10 | - |
| Madrid | 790 PLN / $ 281.28 / € 205.88 / £ 183.99 | SAS | 1 | Copenhagen | 8h25 | - |
| Moscow | 857 PLN / $ 305.13 / € 223.34 / £ 199.6 | SAS | 1 | Copenhagen | 20h30 | A less time-consuming connection by the same route (8h10) costs 928 PLN / $ 330.41 / € 241.84 / £ 216.14. |
| Moscow | 550 PLN / $ 195.83 / € 143.33 / £ 128.1 | Aeroflot/PKP or PKS Gdańsk | 1 | Kalinigrad | 2h + 6h or 3.5h | A cheaper and less time-consuming connection via Kalinigrad. |
| Paris | 651 PLN / $ 231.79 / € 169.65 / £ 151.62 | SAS | 1 | Oslo | 5h25 | - |
| Prague | 335 PLN / $ 119.28 / € 87.3 / £ 78.02 | Lufthansa | 1 | Frankfurt | 3h35 | - |
| Rome | 561 PLN / $ 199.74 / € 146.2 / £ 130.66 | SAS | 1 | Copenhagen | 6h05 | - |
| Istanbul | 610 PLN / $ 217.19 / € 158.97 / £ 142.07 | Lufthansa | 1 | Frankfurt | 12h30 | - |
| Stockholm | 114 PLN / $ 40.59 / € 29.71 / £ 26.55 | WizzAir | 0 | - | 1h04 | - |
| Vienna | 753 PLN / $ 268.11 / € 196.24 / £ 175.38 | SAS | 1 | Copenhagen | 8h00 | - |
| Vilnius | 455 PLN / $ 162 / € 118.58 / £ 105.97 | LOT | 1 | Warsaw | 3h45 | - |
| City | Airfare | Airlines | Number of stopovers | Stopover cities | Travel time | Additional remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairo | 1856 PLN / $ 660.83 / € 483.69 / £ 432.27 | Tarom, LOT | 2 | Bucharest, Warsaw | 18h55 | Less time-consuming connection via Munich and Warsaw takes 8h35, but costs 2892 PLN / $ 1029.69 / € 753.67 / £ 673.56. |
| Dakar | 3323 PLN / $ 1183.15 / € 866 / £ 773.94 | TAP, LOT | 2 | Lisbon, Warsaw | 13h15 | - |
| Johannesburg | 2317 PLN / $ 824.97 / € 603.83 / £ 539.64 | South African Airlines, LOT | 1 | Munich | 17h15 | - |
| Nairobi | 3067 PLN / $ 1092 / € 799.28 / £ 714.32 | Swiss, LOT | 2 | Zurich, Warsaw | 15h50 | - |
| City | Airfare | Airlines | Number of stopovers | Stopover cities | Travel time | Additional remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beijing | 3038 PLN / $ 1081.68 / € 791.72 / £ 707.56 | Lufthansa | 1 | Frankfurt | 13h00 | - |
| Hong Kong | 2849 PLN / $ 1014.38 / € 742.47 / £ 663.55 | SAS | 2 | Bangkok, Copenhagen | 19h35 | Note: It's only 13 hours and 1600 PLN / $ 569.68 / € 416.97 / £ 372.65 on BA to London |
| New Dehli | 2306 PLN / $ 821.05 / € 600.96 / £ 537.08 | Lufthansa | 1 | Munich | 10h45 | - |
| Riyadh | 2713 PLN / $ 965.96 / € 707.03 / £ 631.87 | Swiss, LOT | 2 | Zurich, Warsaw | 16h35 | - |
| Seoul | 2378 PLN / $ 846.69 / € 619.72 / £ 553.85 | Lufthansa | 1 | Munich | 30h20 | - |
| Tokyo | 8797 PLN / $ 3132.17 / € 2292.56 / £ 2048.86 | Lufthansa | 1 | Frankfurt | 14h55 | - |
| City | Airfare | Airlines | Number of stopovers | Stopover cities | Travel time | Additional remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perth | 6210 PLN / $ 2211.07 / € 1618.37 / £ 1446.34 | Thai, SAS | 2 | Bangkok, Copenhagen | 23h35 | Note: the cost is half this with other airlines |
| Sydney | 4560 PLN / $ 1623.58 / € 1188.37 / £ 1062.05 | SAS | 2 | Bangkok, Copenhagen | 31h30 | Note: it is quicker and cheaper to go via London and/or Warsaw. Sydney to London in August takes 22h 40m and costs $1144 (zł2714) each way with BA |
| City | Airfare | Airlines | Number of stopovers | Stopover cities | Travel time | Additional remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago | 2212 PLN / $ 787.58 / € 576.46 / £ 515.19 | LOT | 1 | Warsaw | 13h50 | - |
| Dallas | 2483 PLN / $ 884.07 / € 647.09 / £ 578.3 | LOT | 2 | Chicago, Warsaw | 18h32 | - |
| Los Angeles | 6918 PLN / $ 2463.15 / € 1802.88 / £ 1611.24 | Lufthansa | 1 | Munich | 19h25 | - |
| Mexico City | 4669 PLN / $ 1662.39 / € 1216.77 / £ 1087.43 | Lufthansa, LOT | 1 | Frankfurt | 13h35 | - |
| Miami | 5745 PLN / $ 2045.5 / € 1497.19 / £ 1338.04 | Lufthansa | 1 | Frankfurt | 14h40 | - |
| New York | 2096 PLN / $ 746.28 / € 546.23 / £ 488.17 | LOT | 1 | Warsaw | 13h25 | - |
| Toronto | 2295 PLN / $ 817.13 / € 598.09 / £ 534.52 | LOT | 1 | Warsaw | 13h45 | - |
| Vancouver | 2870 PLN / $ 1021.86 / € 747.94 / £ 668.44 | Air Canada, LOT | 2 | Toronto, Warsaw | 20h15 | - |
| City | Airfare | Airlines | Number of stopovers | Stopover cities | Travel time | Additional remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bogota | 7273 PLN / $ 2589.55 / € 1895.39 / £ 1693.92 | Avianca, Lufthansa | 2 | New York, Munich | 38h50 | - |
| Buenos Aires | 4284 PLN / $ 1525.32 / € 1116.44 / £ 997.76 | TAM, Lufthansa | 2 | Sao Paulo, Munich | 26h25 | - |
| Rio de Janeiro | 4315 PLN / $ 1536.35 / € 1124.52 / £ 1004.98 | TAM, Lufthansa | 2 | Sao Paulo, Munich | 23h05 | - |
By sea
Wikimedians from Sweden, Finland and Germany can also reach Tricity directly by ferries. Connections:
- Sweden
- [[::en:Nynäshamn|Nynäshamn]] – Gdańsk (Polferries)
- [[::en:Karlskrona|Karlskrona]] – Gdynia (Stena Line)
- Finland
- [[::en:Helsinki|Helsinki]] – Gdynia (Finnlines)
- Germany
- [[::en:Rostock|Rostock]] – Gdynia (Finnlines)
The best way to reach the conference venue is by boat – the Gdańsk Marina [1] is located only a few hundred meters from the venue on the Ołowianka island (location: 54°21‘09“ N 18°39‘44“ E).
By land
Wikimedians from every country bordering Poland, as well as other [[::en:Baltic states|Baltic states]], [[::en:Netherlands|the Netherlands]], and [[::en:Denmark|Denmark]] may all very likely reach Gdańsk within a single day by car or coach. A journey from the south, from countries such as [[::en:Hungary|Hungary]], through [[::en:Slovakia|Slovakia]] offers a trip across astonishing landscapes of the [[::en:Tatra Mountains|Tatra Mountains]].
It should be noted, though, that Poland's roads are of significantly lower quality than those of Western Europe. On the other hand, key roads are being upgraded and new motorways are being built in preparation for the UEFA Euro 2012 and Gdańsk, as one of the tournament's host cities, is one of the hubs of Poland's network of roads.
However, there is a convenient train connection from Warsaw to Gdańsk, in less than 5 hours.
The cheapest connection by rail between Gdańsk and Warsaw is the "Słoneczny" train operated once a day during the summer period by [[::en:Koleje Mazowieckie|Koleje Mazowieckie]], currently the normal fare for the Gdańsk-Warsaw route (354 [[::en:kilometer|km]]) is 31 PLN / $ 11.04 / € 8.08 / £ 7.22[1] euro.
By train
- Wiki-train (english wikipedia article) (from London and other West-European countries to Gdańsk)
- Timetable of Polish trains
By car
- If you are coming to Gdańsk by Car (with seats free) or looking for a lift please write here: Getting_to_Gdańsk/Car