Warsaw Basic Info

Nazwa stolicy Polski pochodzi wg legendy od imion dwojga zyczliwych ludzi mieszkajacych na terenach dzisiejszego miasta – Warsa i Sawy. Malzenstwo mialo udzielic noclego i cieplej strawy ksiazeciu, kt¢ry zgubil sie podczas polowania, a ten w ramach podziekowania odwdzieczyl im sie ziemia, na kt¢rej mieszkali, a kt¢ra juz na zawsze miala zostac terenami Warszowymi. W rzeczywistosci nazwa pochodzi od Warsza z rodu Rawicz¢w, do kt¢rego w XIII w. nalezaly te ziemie.

Dzis Warszawa jest stolica Polski, siedziba rzadu, waznym wezlem komunikacyjnym i miastem, w kt¢rym siedzibe ma wiele ( kluczowych na rynku firm.

Parking zones

Parking in the Warsaw Center is a chargeable service from Monday till Friday, from 8am till 6pm. When parking in the city center you have to look for a blue “park meter”. The City Guards keep an eye on that and even a 15-minute parking without paying can end up with a fine.

Public Transportation

The best way to get to the city center is to take a bus or a tram. This way, you will avoid the long search for an unoccupied parking zone. Warsaw has a well developed net of public transportation and you can get with it almost anywhere you want. You can get a ticket in a kiosk or directly from the driver. When choosing the latter option, you have to be prepared for the additional fee and with the fact that the driver will not be ready provide you with the tickets you need. And the gentlemen that check the tickets rarely care about any explanations. There are 24 kinds of public transportation tickets. It is worth estimating how long you are going to stay in Warsaw and how often you are going to take public transportations; e.g. if you are going to take it more than three times during 24 hours it pays off to buy a 24-hour ticket. You can get the detailed info in the place you buy your tickets.

The buses and trams are mostly punctual. However I do not recommend making trips to the city center during the rush hours. That’s when the tired citizens go to work or come back home and the free place on a bus is a luxurious good.

There is one subway line in Warsaw (currently, we are waiting for the next promised one).

BE CAREFUL! There are thieves marauding in the public transportation. Their favorite ones are the buses and trams coming from the Central Station, the Airport and from the 10th Anniversary Stadium. The bad fame of the bus no. 175 goes far beyond the city’s borders. Just remember that the opportunity makes the thief and do not keep your wallet sticking out of your pocket and save your jewelry for a party in some Warsaw club.

Taxis

There are a lot of taxi companies in Warsaw. I do not recommend taking the taxis waiting directly at the airport, Central Station, expensive restaurants or more prestigious hotels. They are usually very expensive. It is better to call and order a taxi. Then you have to wait 5-15 minutes. The taxis in Warsaw cost 1.30PLN – 2.20PLN/km (0.42-0.70 USD - week prices), plus 6 PLN (1.92USD) fee for so called “slamming the doors”. During the weekends, holidays, in the nights and outside the so called “first zone” (usually marked by the city borders) the cost is 50% higher.

Here are the phone numbers to all of the taxi companies in Warsaw (+48 country code, +22 city code):

Bayer Taxi 96-67,
City Warsaw 94-59,
Damel Taxi 96-26,
Ele Taxi 811-11-11,
Euro Taxi 96-62,
Express Taxi 96-63,
Extra Taxi 96-83,
Gold Taxi 96-88,
Grosik Taxi 646-46-46,
Halo Taxi 96-23,
Korpo Taxi 96-24,
Lux Taxi 96-66,
Marion Taxi 614-64-26,
Merc Taxi 677-77-77,
MPT 91-91,
Nowa 96-87,
OK Taxi 96-28,
Partner Taxi 96-69,
Plus Taxi 96-21,
Sawa Taxi 644-44-44,
Sezam Taxi 622-22-22,
Super Taxi 96-22 / 96-61,
Tele Taxi 96-27,
Top Taxi 96-64,
Trans Taxi 96-29,
Ursyn Taxi 94-66,
Volfra Radio Taxi 96-25,
Wawa Taxi 96-44,
ZTiSZE 94-50.
Personally, I recommend Bayer Taxi, one of the more inexpensive company using decent cars. In some taxi companies, there is a possibility to pay with the credit card, but you have to ask about it while ordering the taxi.