Practical information
Travel | Money | Electricity | Telephones | Weather
Travel
By Coach
Those of you who plan to arrive in Poznań on Tuesday (1st September) and leave Gniezno on Saturday (5th September) will be offered a coach transfer. On Tuesday the coach to Gniezno will be waiting at the new library building of Collegium Novum (address: al. Niepodległości 4, Poznań; Google Maps link, opens in a new window). The departure times are 15:30 and 18:00. On Saturday, the coach back to Poznań will leave the CEG campus at 16:30.
If you are interested in either of these options, please let us know by Wednesday (26 August) at the latest.
By Train
Poznań is located about half way between Warsaw (280 km) and Berlin (240 km), and there are good, frequent rail connections between those two cities and Poznań.
More tourist information may be obtained from the city portal:
Gniezno is located about 50 km north-east of Poznań, on the main Poznań-Gdańsk route. There are very frequent rail connections between the two cities. Note: if you travel from the north (Gdynia, Gdańsk, Bydgoszcz, Toruń), you can reach Gniezno without a stopover/change in Poznań.
Check your connections using the timetables of the Polish Railways (please select the main station, Poznań Główny, if requested). You can also consult the German Railways route planner.
By road
Gniezno is north-east of Poznań on Route 5 (E261), which you can use to reach it from Poznań and the north (Gdynia, Gdańsk, Bydgoszcz). From the east, you can reach Gniezno by taking Route A2/2 (E30) to Września, and continuing north from there along Route 15.
You can check the location of Gniezno on Google Maps here (opens in a new window). A more detailed view showing the location of CEG within Gniezno is available here (opens in a new window).
By Air
Gniezno does not have an airport. You need to get to Poznań and continue by rail or road from there.
Poznań's Ławica airport has frequent daily connections with Warsaw (LOT Polish Airlines), as well as Copenhagen (SAS), and Frankfurt/Main and Munich (LOT and Lufthansa).
Poznań is also served by low-cost carrirers. Wizzair serve London Luton, Doncaster–Sheffield, Dortmund, Stockholm Västerås, Oslo Torp, Cork, Rome Fiumicino, and Bourgas. Ryanair provide connections with London Stansted, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Bristol, Dublin, Girona (Barcelona) and Reus (Barcelona).
The airport's timetable is available here. However, please verify with the respective airlines whether the flights are available.
If you don't mind flying with Ryanair, you may also try their connections into Bydgoszcz Airport (from London Stansted, Birmingham, Liverpool, Dublin and Düsseldorf Weeze), which is about 80 km away, with good rail connections to Gniezno.
Money
The złoty (abbreviated PLN or zł) is the official currency in Poland. The approximate average exchange rate (28 Jul 2009) is 4.17 złoties to a Euro (or 2.92 złoties to a US Dollar). The latest exchange rates for all major currencies are available here.
Electricity
Polish sockets are standard European sockets, with a voltage of 230 V/50Hz. All visitors coming from countries using appliances/plugs that do not work with such sockets/voltages (especially American and British guests) are advised to bring adapters.
Telephones
All European mobiles will work without problems. Polish mobile phone operators use both of the two standard European GSM bands, 1800 and 900 MHz. Visitors coming from the US may need a tri-band phone.
The international code for Poland is +48; the area code for both Poznań and Gniezno is 61.
Weather
Polish weather is usually quite agreeable in September, with temperatures between 15 and 20 Centigrade during the day. Nights can be cooler. With worse luck, a raincoat and umbrella may find some use. Current forecast available here.