Useful tips how to get to Szczecin, Poland

Surely you're wondering how you can get to Szczecin. There are several ways about which you can think. I will try to give you as much guidance as possible and how to do it best and cheapest. My friends often ask for advice, and I did my best to collect all information. Thanks to my experience, I will tell you which of the options are the best.

As you probably already know, Szczecin is located in the northwest of Poland. The city is close to Poznań but Berlin is in a similar distance. Check the flight options by plane, first check if you can fly to any of these cities.

For me, when I live in Bristol, it is best to fly to Poznań and then finish the journey by train. However, the travel costs are sometimes very high so I consider the options to go to London Stansted to fly to Szczecin Goleniów. If I have absolutely no choice, I fly from London Stansted to Berlin Schönefeld then catch the bus to Szczecin.

This post is a bit long so here is the plan:

Traveling by plane then with by bus or train

Szczecin Goleniów Airport

Poznań Ławica Airport

Berlin Tegel Airport

Berlin Schönefeld Airport

Warsaw Airports

Szczecin

That's it, enjoy!

Traveling by plane

I am 95% confident you will decide to fly by plane to get to Szczecin (it's the easiest, quickest, and often the cheapest option) Wondering where to get the best? Here are some options:

Szczecin Goleniów Airport

I would recommend to enter the airport page if you need more information. The website is only available in English, German and Polish.

Planes land at the airport Szczecin Goleniów from these cities:

• Ireland: Dublin with Ryanair
• Norway: Bergen, Oslo Sandjeford Torp and Stavanger with Wizz Air, Oslo Gardermoen with Norwegian et Ryanair
• Poland: Warsaw with Ryanair the LOT airlines
• Scotland: Edinburgh with Ryanair
• United Kingdom: Liverpool and London Stansted with Ryanair, London Luton with Wizz Air

As you can see, there are a few flights from Norway and England so this solution might be quite easy. You can also go to Poland’s capital Warsaw and instead of going by train, which is a longer option, you may choose to fly by plane to this airport. Ttickets for this route are very cheap, you can buy for 19 złotych.

When you arrive at the Szczecin Airport, the check-in will not take more than 15 minutes because the airport is small. Moreover, when you are leaving the plane you are practically already in the departure hall. Now you have to get to the city center.

I suggest you check these two options:

PKS Szczecin

Usually buses run every day and are tailored with the times so that you can catch the bus on arrival. It is best to give your number during the booking so that in case the plane is delayed, the driver will call you to find out if you are still taking the bus.

When you buy a ticket, you can give flight information in the message part. The last bus leaves at 10. 20 p. m. and if you arrive from Warsaw, you should be able to catch it. The drivers are really very nice, polite and understand that the plane could be delayed. Ticket prices go from 5 zlotych up to 49 zlotych, it depends on how long you are buying a ticket in advance.

The stop is on the right when you leave the airport, you have to go to the end of the road and there should be a bus. It must be a white bus with the inscription ‘PKS Szczecin’ in blue.

You can stop at Szczecin Railway station (polish: Dworzec Główny PKP) or Bus station (polish: Dworzec PSK), the two first stops, that are perfect if your dormitory is in the center (from DS1 to DS5 and Kordecki).

However, if your apartment is located on the estate of Chopin's street (dormitories Andromeda, Arkona and Amicus), it is better for you to buy a ticket to Szczecin LOT. Remember to print the ticket.

Follow me

Like the company described above, buses run regularly every day and the last one departs at 10:25 p. m. These buses are dependent on the arrival time and adjusted accordingly. Prices for buses Follow Me are within the limit of 15 zlotych.

Here you will also reach the railway station, the bus station or the Szczecin LOT stop. The route takes about 45 minutes, so it is better not to sleep to not miss your stop. Usually the last one is the railway station stop, but once on the bus, do not hesitate to ask the driver to tell you it is your stop.

In both cases, pay attention to the promotions,

I do not recommend taxi ordering options in general, and advise even more not to take a taxi from the airport, because it costs about 250-300 zlotys. Unless you come with three other people, the cost will be lower but as I wrote the busses are tailored to the arrivals so you should not have a problem finding a free seat and booking a ticket.

There is also the option of crossing this route by train, you will pay about 12 złote for the ticket, but the trains are not so well synchronized with arrivals as opposed to buses, so you may have a problem to catch the train. Besides, if you land with the last plane from Warsaw then you have no other option than just a bus.

Poznań Ławica Airport

Address: Bukowska 285, 60-189 Poznań, Poland; website.

This airport is definitely bigger than the one in Szczecin which means that there are many more planes from different countries. I did not write any information about the days and the times because it is very different depending on where the flights are from:

• Denmark: Billund and Copenhagen
• France: Paris-Beauvais
• Germany: Dortmund, Frankfurt and Munich
• Greece: Athens and Corfu
• Iceland: Reykjavik-Keflavík
• Ireland: Dublin
• Israel: Eilat and Tel-Aviv
• Italy: Milano Bergamo
• Malta: Malta Luqa
• The Netherlands: Eindhoven
• Norway: Oslo
• Poland: Warsaw
• Spain : Alicante, Barcelona, Barcelona Girona, Castellón and Madrid
• Sweden: Malmö and Stockholm Skavsta
• Ukraine: Kiev (Borispol and Zhuliany) and Lviv
• United Kingdom: Birmingham, Bristol, Doncaster-Sheffield, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London (Luton and Stansted)

Once you have picked up your luggage, I advise you to change the money in a cash point or some currency exchange point. You can head for the departure hall.

The train is the only solution to get to Szczecin from Poznan. Two options to get to the train station in Poznan:

Bus line 59: Port Lotniczy Ławica (Airport) - Poznań Główny (Train Station)

The stop is on the right from the exit of the departure hall. The ticket machine is within 20 meters from the bus stop and just behind the last exit of the airport. You need to buy a ticket for 40 minutes for 4. 60 złotych. It is better to buy a ticket in this machine rather than on the bus because the lattest do not work sometimes. I advise not to go without a ticket because the penalties are very large. The journey takes about half an hour and this is the last stop of the bus line.

Once you are arrived at the last stop, turn 180 degrees to see the train station.

In Poznan you should be very careful about taxis because many of them are not real taxis. If you really want to take one please note this number 8 222 222 61 which is the cheapest taxi. The cost of travel from Monday to Saturday is roughly 28-30 zlotych, on Sundays you may pay up to 50 zlotych. By taking a cab from the airport you have to count the cost to be between 50 and 70 zlotych in the week.

Once at the train station, to take a ticket, cross the road then go up the stairs. Turn right and head to the ticket machine which is at the end of the hall. You can also take your tickets here.

Usually in September and January there is a change of schedule, so if you are coming for a semester, it may be better to wait for a new schedule to be published. By buying approximately 2 or 3 weeks earlier you will pay from 20% up to 30% less, 10% the week just before.

The ticket on the route Poznan Główny - Szczecin Główny takes about two and a half hours, costs about 40 zlotych (TLK trains), unless it is a fast train called IC, then the price may rise. Be sure to buy a ticket to Szczecin Główny otherwise you get out in the second part of the city.

Remember that you have to buy a normal ticket until the moment you have a Polish student card.

Airport Berlin Schönefeld

Address: Flughafen Schönefeld, 12521 Berlin, website.

Berlin has 2 airports: Schönefeld to the north and Tegel to the south, where the traffic is fine. You may be surprised I write about Berlin airports but between these and Szczecin Główny Railway Station are 191 kilometers against 263 kilometers between Poznan and Szczecin.

I think it is better to land in Berlin rather than Warsaw, you will get to Szczecin quicker in this case. I personnally fly to one of these airports or to the one in Poznan.

The airport will be named Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport after the closure of the Tegel one (no precise date given at the moment). I think the cities below all have a direct connection with Berlin Schönefeld. However, it is better to visit this page to have all the information and because some flights are seasonal only.

Flights to this airport are from the following cities:

• Austria: Salzburg and Vienna
• Belgium: Brussels
• Bielorussia: Minsk
• Bosnia Herzegovina: Tuzla
• Bulgaria: Sofia and Bourgas
• Croatia: Dubrovnik, Pula, Split and Zadar
• Cyprus: Larnaca and Paphos
• Denmark: Billund and Copenhagen
• Estonia: Tallinn
• France: Paris (Beauvais and Orly), Bastia, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Nice and Toulouse
• Georgia: Kutaisi and Tbilisi
• Germany: Munich and Cologne
• Greece: Athens, Corfu, Heraklion, Kos, Rhodes and Thessaloniki
• Hungary: Budapest
• Iran: Tehran
• Ireland: Belfast, Dublin and Kerry
• Iceland: Reykjavik
• Israel: Tel-Aviv
• Italy: Bari, Bologna, Cagliari, Catania, Milan (Bergamo and Malpensa), Naples, Olbia, Palermo, Pisa, Roma (Ciampino and Fiumicino), Treviso, Venice and Verona
• Kosovo: Pristina
• Latvia: Riga
• Lebanon: Beirut
• Lithuania: Vilnius
• Luxembourg: Luxembourg
• Macedonia: Skopje
• Mlata: Luqa
• Moldova: Chisinau
• Montenegro: Podgorica
• Netherlands: Amsterdam, Eindhoven and Rotterdam
• Norway: Bergen, Oslo-Gardermoen and Stavanger
• Poland: Krakow, Rzeszów and Warsaw Chopin
• Portugal: Faro, Lisbon and Porto
• Romania: Bucharest and Cluj
• Russia: Moscow Sheremetyevo and Saint-Petersburg Pulkovo
• Serbia: Niš
• Slovakia: Bratislava
• Spain: Alicante, Barcelona, Barcelona Girona, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Madrid, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, Malaga, Sevilla, Tenerife, Valencia and Santander
• Sweden: Malmö and Stockholm-Arlanda
• Switzerland: Basel, Geneva and Zurich
• Turkey: Adana, Antalya, Bodrum, Çarşamba, Gaziantep and Istanbul (Atatürk and Sabiha-Gökçen)
• Ukraine: Kiev and Lvov
• United Kingdom (Belfast, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London (Luton, Gatwick and Stansted), Manchester, Newcastle and Nottingham

Depending on which terminal you are landing, you need to go to terminal B, there head for the parking lot which is almost at the end of the road. The first bus is going to Germany but pass the barrier to see them all.

I encourage you to take advantage of the same buses which I wrote talking about how to get there from the airport in Szczecin.

PKS Szczecin.

Berlin Schönefeld tickets are more expensive because of the distance. However, you can hit promotional prices and buy it for 5 zlotych. The most expensive tickets are 65 zlotych.

The first bus departs at 09:35 a. m. and the last bus from PKS Szczecin departs from the airport at 11:25 p. m. The driver will unfortunately not be waiting too long because these buses are going to Tegel Airport and from then to Szczecin.

If you do not like the first option you can choose the other company Follow me. The most expensive tickets cost 79 zlotych, remember that ticket prices are limited, so if you come with a colleague you can share the cost if one bought a ticket for 10 złotych and the second for 79 złotych, it is always better solution. In the case of Follow me the last bus leaves at 00:45 a. m. so as you see you have a choice. Like the first bus, it also goes to Tegel airport later.

In both cases, the journey takes about two and a half hours. Buses are really comfortable, they are usually small bus from trailors luggage and drivers have high personal culture. Personally, I think it best to buy a ticket over the Internet and select options with message, in which we write what time we should land. I always do it because I am sure the driver will wait if he knows the plane is delayed.

Also remember to mark the destination (Szczecin railway station, Dworzec PKP, or bus station Dworzec PKS), they are less than a kilometer between each. You can also go to Szczecin LOT, take into account these 4 destinations only. In my opinion, there is no difference between carriers and usually they leave at the same time, the difference is in the ticket price, so choose the one that is cheaper.

Berlin Tegel Airport

Address: 13405 Berlin, website.

This airport will close soon (no precise date given at this time). I think that the cities below have a direct connection with Berlin Tegel. However, it is better to visit this page because some flights are seasonal only.

• Austria: Graz, Salzburg and Vienna
• Belgium: Brussels
• Bulgaria: Bourgas, Sofia and Varna
• Canada: Toronto
• Croatia: Dubrovnik, Pula, Split, Rijeka, Zagreb and Zadar
• Czech Republic: Prague
• Cyprus: Paphos
• Denmark: Aahrus (1st September 2018) and Copenhagen
• Estonia: Tallinn
• Finland: Helsinki
• France: Bastia, Biarritz, Paris (CDG and Orly), Montpellier and Nice
• Germany: Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Munich, Nuremberg, Saarbrücken and Stuttgart
• Greece: Athens, Corfu, Heraklion, Kos, Mykonos, Preveza, Rhodes and Thessaloniki
• Hungary: Budapest
• Iceland: Reykjavik
• Ireland: Dublin
• Israel: Tel-Aviv
• Italy: Alghero, Ancona, Bari, Brindisi, Cagliari, Catania, Genoa, Milan Malpensa, Naples, Olbia, Rome Fiumicino and Venice
• Latvia: Riga
• Lithuania: Kaunas and Vilnius
• Luxembourg: Luxembourg
• The Netherlands: Amsterdam
• Norway: Oslo
• Poland: Warsaw Chopin
• Portugal: Faro, Funchal and Lisbon
• Russia: Moscow (Domodedovo and Vnukovo) and St Petersburg
• Serbia: Belgrade
• Slovenia: Ljubljana
• Spain: Alicante, Barcelona, Bilbao, Fuerteventura, Girona, Gran Canaria, Granada (3rd September 2018), Ibiza, Jerez de la Frontera, Lanzarote, Madrid, Malaga Palma de Mallorca and Tenerife
• Sweden: Stockholm-Arlanda, Gothenburg-Landvetter and Växjö
• Switzerland: Basel (28st October 2018), Bern and Zurich
• Turkey: Adana, Antalya, Ankara, Bodrum, Çarşamba, Dalaman, Gaziantep, Istanbul (Atatürk and Sabiha-Gökçen), Izmir Adnan-Manderes, Kayseri and Trabzon
• Ukraine: Kiev
• United Kingdom: Birmingham, Doncaster-Sheffield, Edinburgh and London (City Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted)

The transports are the same as for Schönefeld, only the price goes down because the distance is smaller.

Example prices for tickets from PKS Szczecin

Recently, you can travel with Flixbus from Tegel Airport, these green buses are large with ‘Flixbus’ written in orange on the side. Buses run five times a day, tickets are a little more expensive, they start at 30 złotych, and you can use the internet on the bus. The bus stops at the PKP train station (Szczecin Glowny) on Columbus Street.

Warszawa Airport

I personnally do not like this solution because I don't see many advantages: the journey from Warsaw to Szczecin by train takes roughly from 4. 5 to 6 hours.

Moreover, I said that you can choose to fly from Warsaw to Szczecin, but if you land at Warsaw Modlin Airport and your flight to Szczecin is from Warsaw Chopin Airport, i twill take you about an hour to get there. Also, you have to be at the airport about two hours before departure.

Besides, you have to add the flight time and you need to get to Szczecin’s center, so it can take you 5 hours in total.

Ticket prices are similar to Berlin Airports’.

I definitely would not recommend this option, unless you want to visit the Polish capital before traveling to Szczecin.

Szczecin

Once you get to Szczecin, you need to know what to do next. If you came for Erasmus, there is a high probability your buddy will be waiting for you at the designated place. It is therefore very important to be in touch before your trip. Sometimes, it may happen that someone else will pick you up because your buddy is busy.

However, if it is not an Erasmus program, you are travelling alone or if you have no contact, I will give you some tips on how to get to selected dormitories. Before I tell you which bus goes where, do not forget to have Polish money with you, there is an ATM and a currency exchange office before the station.

1. For people from DS1, DS2, DS3, DS4 and DS5: Get out of the train station, next to the exit you will see a bus stop where the bus number 81 is taken. The ticket machine inside the bus is working on coins or card and you can change the settings language to English, German, French and Russian. You then have to choose one regular ticket, 2 zlote for 20 minutes.

   Get off at Szwoleżerów, press the stop button otherwise the bus will not stop.

   The dorm DS3 is the pink bulding in front of you and the DS5 is the tall one just on its right. For dorm DS4, take the alley inbetween the two other dorms then go down the stairs, the building is in front of you.

   For DS1 et DS2, go pass DS4 (left side of the building on Szwoleżerów road) then turn left at the end of the road, the building you see is DS1 and the entrance is a bit further down the street. DS2 is the grey building just after.

2. For people from Kordecki dormitory: You have to be in front of the main station then find bus stops for buses number 75 and 81, you can choose one of them.

   Inside the bus there is a ticket machine, buy a normal ticket for 20 minutes, the price is 2 zlote.

   Get off at Wyszyńskiego, do not throw the ticket you will still need it.

   Go right to the pedestrian crossing, there is a tram stop (first) after the street. Wait for the tram 8 to get in and go to stop Sikorski (6 minutes). When you get out, turn around driving direction, on the right hand side of the round-about you will see a very tall building. This is a Kordecian dorm.

3. For people from Arkona, Andromeda: This road is longer, it will be better if someone takes you. However, if you like adventure here you go.

   When you get off the main train station, find a stop for lines 75 and 81. You must buy ticket for fast line for 30 minutes, the cost is 6 zlotych.

   Get off at Wyszyńskiego stop, Go to the right for the pedestrian crossing, there is a tram and bus stop (first) after the street, wait for the bus B. It is a fast bus, the stop for which you have to get off is called Chopina. As you get off the bus then you have to go back to a piece of pedestrian crossings, select it in front of the petrol station. Then again go across the road next to the buildings opposite the gas station. Go into the green gate, there are your dorms.

You can also take a taxi to any of these places, but you have to be very careful, the driver can see you are not from here and may choose a longer route. For a taxi to the DS4 you should pay about 7 zlotych, this is a good solution if you are traveling with others.

I hope your trip to Szczecin will be easier, I know that to go to erasmus is a journey that is stressful enough.

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