Travelomania

Can anyone please point me in the right direction as where to buy an online ticket (English please) for the Berlin-Warsaw Express - departing Warsaw ?

And how do I get from WAW-Chopin Airport to the designated rail station ?

TIA !

KQ321

bahn.de (select "Germany" from the drop-down menu at the top of the screen to get their Germany site, in English) will sell you a ticket from Warsaw Central to Berlin, on the Berlin-Warsaw Express.

However, in this direction, it will only sell you a hard-copy ticket, that has to be delivered by post. In the other direction (ie: Berlin-Warsaw), you can buy an online, self-print ticket, but not for Warsaw-Berlin. It seems that for some trains heading into Germany, you have to have a 'traditional' ticket (I guess because the conductors in the other countries don't have the electronic equipment to read the self-print tickets yet, while when leaving Germany, the DB conductors are all equipped to check the self-print tickets).

If you're passing through Germany beforehand, you could easily buy the ticket from any DB ticket machine (or order it over the phone, and collect it from a DB ticket machine in Germany).

I'm not aware of an online booking site operated by Polish Railways, although there may be some travel agencies that can sell tickets for this journey, for collection in Poland.

Having said all that: a discounted, buy-in advance ticket from DB costs €29 or upwards (depending on availability) and ties you to a specific train (which may be problematic if your flight is late). DB quotes the full fare as €48.60 - I don't what the full fare, walk-up price from Polish Railways would be, but I doubt it's any more than that. So, you may just decide it's easier to buy a ticket on arrival at Warsaw. (However, it seems the Berlin-Warsaw Express trains are reservation compulsory - so you would have to get a ticket and a seat reservation before boarding the train, and there's then the risk that the train you want would be fully booked. I can't advise on whether this train is ever likely to be fully booked out - although that's always more of a risk at peak travel times/dates).

As always, Seat61 may be able to give more advice (ie: http://www.seat61.com/Poland.htm)

I don't have any specific insights in how to get from WAW to Warsaw Central - although I find airport's own websites are normally quite good at advising on public transport links.

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My night-train memory, 2011 timetable:
Europe: R440, R441, CNL456, EN477, 60477, D347, D498, 435, 824
SE Asia: 69, SE3

Romelle

There is discussion in Community Buzz - "DL - WAW meet-up" thread about a good bus line and some other options. It is about in the middle of the second page right now.

Romelle

blue2002

You can try https://bilet.intercity.pl/irez/ for on-line purchase of tickets for trains originating in Poland.

Travelomania

Thank you.
Yes .. I've tried before and they apparently only sell domestic tickets.

blue2002

Indeed, I have forgotten about this limitation. Sorry to have mislead.

Travelomania

No problem ! Thanks for reading my post and responding to it anyway ^

Akiestar

Take bus 175 and go down at Dworzec Centralny if your train will be departing from Warszawa Centralna. If you're leaving from Warszawa Zachodnia, take bus 188 and go down at Sasanki, then board bus 154 and go down at Warszawa Zachodnia.

If I'm not mistaken, the full fare is within the ballpark of 220 zł plus. I got a youth discount ticket to Berlin from Warszawa Centralna for only 150 zł. Don't worry: the Polskie Koleje Państwowe (PKP) attendants which staff the international ticket counters can speak English.

Travelomania

Thank you very much for the info.

For the return trip - Berlin to Warzawa Centralna - I was able to buy an online ticket.
However, the train is scheduled to arrive by 23.09 at Centralna (on a Monday night).
Do you think bus 175 is still running to the airport at that time - after 23.00 hrs - and if so, will I be able to pay the fare with Euros ?

Akiestar

It might run, but in the event that it does not, the equivalent night bus is bus N32, which runs the entire length of bus 175's route until Dworzec Centralny. Also, bus fares are payable only in złotys and not euros, but there's a ticket machine outside Warszawa Centralna (on the side facing Złote Tarasy shopping mall) which accepts credit and debit cards. If the machine is broken for any reason, there's another machine at the Dworzec Centralny tram stop (on the platform headed towards Ochota). There's also a ticket machine at Warszawa Środmieście WKD (behind Warszawa Centralna), a couple at Warszawa Środmieście SKM (in front of Warszawa Centralna) and a couple at Metro Centrum. The stations are in sequence, so the order would be basically like this if you walk:

Warszawa Środmieście WKD -> Warszawa Centralna -> Warszawa Środmieście SKM -> Metro Centrum

The stations are connected by underpasses, so it should be possible to walk through the stations in sequence, but if you need to walk above-ground, you should be able to spot them relatively easily. The ticket machines at Warszawa Środmieście SKM are actually located between the stairs leading to the station in the middle of the big square in front of Warszawa Centralna.

Also, I should warn you beforehand: few Polish bus drivers speak English, so as much as possible buy your ticket before boarding the bus. If you buy your ticket inside the bus and there's no vending machine (or the machine's busted), just remember to ask for a bilet jednorazowy normalny za strefa pierwsza (normal one-way ticket for fare zone 1) and prepare 3.60 zł.

Palal

IIRC you have to validate tickets when you board. In that case the OP can just get two OW bus tickets from WAW airport on the outbound trip (assuming this is a round trip) and validate the second ticket when coming back without the need to look for ticket machines.

Palal

Here is the timetable and you're out of luck with bus 175. The last bus to the airport is scheduled to depart at 22:52.

As mentioned, bus N32 takes over and it runs twice an hour. If you're lucky, you may be able to make the 23:16 bus. Otherwise it'll have to be the next one.
here's the timetable

Are you spending the night at the airport? IIRC. Hotels are more plentiful in the center.

Travelomania

Thanks all !

Update:

Armed with all this great info I started my final leg AMS-WAW on November 1st, fully prepared after arrival to take the Berlin-Warsaw Express to and from Berlin.
However .... as it turned out, plans changed completely because of unforeseen circumstances.
Incidentally, on approach to the Warsaw airport we were informed that our aircraft had to turn around because of the crash-landing of the LOT flight coming in from Newark just happening and the subsequent closure of the airport for an indefinite period of time.
Back at the Schiphol Crown lounge the agents were soon able to re-book me on a flight to/from Berlin, which happened to be my initial destination anyway.

So, as conclusion, the experience with the Berlin-Warsaw Express will have to wait until next March, when I hope to return to Warsaw


@ Palal:

Thanks ! ^ ... and yes, I was fully prepared and actually prefer to spend the last few hours before a very early departure at an airport, as I do often enough and have no problem with.

Travelomania

^ Thanks so much ... it worked out perfectly last night with bus N32.
Had to take the 12.16 am departure.
The driver even let us board without tickets or charging a fare.

Akiestar

Of course you can board without tickets! What you should be wary of are the plainclothes ticket inspectors: they inspect randomly, and if you're caught either without a ticket or with the wrong ticket, you will be fined.

I highly suggest that for future reference, don't resort to fare evasion. Most Varsovians don't, and neither should we.