Warsaw Centralna: Location map Station plan
Warsaw Centralna Station was a typical grey concrete Communist-era structure completed in 1975, with a vast main hall (Sala Glowna) above ground clearly designed to impress us decadent westerners, whilst actual passengers scurried through dark underground passageways lined with small retail kiosks. It had a complete & welcome refurbishment in 2010-2011, the main hall is now light and airy with the main ticket office, toilets, escalators down to the platforms and a mezzanine level with a McDonalds and a handy Biedronka supermarket. You can find out more about the history of Warsaw Centralna at wikipedia.org.
Warsaw Centralna, taken from the 30th floor viewing terrace of the Palace of Culture skyscraper.
Warsaw Centralna. The station building houses the main hall (Sala Glowna), which has a ground floor and an upper level. The platforms are underground. This is the southern & eastern side of the building.
Main hall (Sala Glowna). Above, I'm on the upper level looking west towards the Biedronka supermarket, with the escalators down to the ground floor to the right. The steps & escalators below the main departures & arrivals board lead to the central mezzanine passageway above the platforms.
Main hall (Sala Glowna). Above, I'm on the upper level looking east towards McDonalds and the ticket office (on the ground floor, hidden behind the escalators in the background). The steps & escalators in the foreground lead from the ground floor to the central mezzanine passageway above the platforms.
Central mezzanine passageway: The steps & escalators down from the main hall take you to this underground passageway spanning the width of the station, with escalators down onto each platform. Here you'll find retail units, ticket machines and (at the far north end) the left luggage lockers.
Eastern & western mezzanine passageways: There are also eastern & western mezzanine passageways, with escalators or steps down onto each platforms.
Escalators down to the platforms: Escalators & lifts link the central mezzanine passageway with each platform. There are also lifts.
Platforms: The platforms are underground, this is Peron 2, Tor 3. There are four island platforms numbered Peron 1 to Peron 4, serving 8 tracks. The platform number shown on departure indicators & printed departure posters is the Peron.
Tickets & reservations
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Domestic ticket office: The ticket office is at the eastern end of the main hall on the ground floor, open almost around the clock from 01:00 until 24:00. Cash or credit cards accepted. There's a single-queuing system in operation for all the windows. Incidentally, you'll often be asked at the beginning of a transaction whether you will be paying in cash (gotówka) or card (karta), so be prepared for the question!
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Information counter: There's an information counter at the far left-hand end of the row of ticket windows, shown by the white arrow in the photo below. It has it's own queue, separate from the other ticket windows.
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International tickets & reservations: You'll find this in the northwest corner of the main hall, on the ground floor, branded PKP Intercity Passenger Service Centre, see the photos below. Open daily 09:00-19:30, it has welcoming open counters rather than ticket windows. To buy an international ticket outside its opening hours, go to the main ticket office.
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Warsaw urban public transport information & tickets: There's a Warsaw Public Transport office in the south-eastern corner of the main hall, ground floor, for opening hours see www.wtp.waw.pl/en/service-points/dworzec-centralny-central-railway-station (please let me know if that link changes).
Domestic ticket office at the east end of the main hall under McDonalds, open 01:00-24:00. White arrow = information window.
Finding your train
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The platforms are underground below the main hall (Sala Glowna), but escalators & lifts make them easy to access with luggage. There are no ticket gates or ticket checks at Warsaw Centralna, just free and open access from street to station to platform to train.
From the main hall you descend via escalator, steps or lift the a mezzanine level, a narrow passageway spanning all the tracks lined with retail units. From here, lifts and escalators descend to each platform. There are two similar but smaller passageways over the tracks at the eastern and western ends of the station.
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Warsaw Centralna has four island platforms numbered Peron 1 to Peron 4, serving 8 tracks, see station plan.
Confusingly, Polish stations use both a platform number (peron) and a track number (tor), where a peron may have one tor on each side of it. The platform number shown on departure indicators and departure posters is the Peron.
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Most trains start at one of the outlying Warsaw stations (Zachodnia or Wschodnia) and only stop at Centralna for a few minutes, so use the printed departure posters or summary-of-departure TV screens to find the peron number, and go to that platform. There are departure screens in several locations in the passageway above the platforms, and in the main hall at the top of the steps down to that passageway. Don't necessarily expect your train to appear on the platform departure indicators until perhaps 10 minutes or less before it leaves. The train may well arrive only a few minutes before it is due to depart, this is perfectly normal, so be prepared, be ready at the right Peron!
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Tip: Each platform is divided into 4 sektors. In the middle of each platform you'll find an electronic display showing the formation of trains due to leave from that platform, and in which sector to wait for your particular car number. This saves you running up and down like a headless chicken when the train comes in!
Station facilities
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Left luggage lockers: There are luggage lockers at the north end of the central mezzanine passageway, see the photo below. From the main hall, go down the steps or escalators to the central mezzanine passageway and turn right. The locker room is a long narrow passage on the right at the far end of the central passageway. However, since the pandemic there is no longer any staffed left luggage office. Details here.
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Free WiFi: The station has free WiFi.
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Food & drink: There are various cafe outlets on the ground floor of the main hall, and a McDonald's on the upper level.
There is also a large Biedronka supermarket on the upper level of the main hall, ideal for stocking up for a journey. Alternatively there are smaller food & drink outlets in the various passageways and a Carrefour in the adjacent shopping centre which also sells beer & wine - although on Polish trains you can only buy & consume alcohol in the dining car, you aren't allowed to drink your own alcohol in the other cars.
However, the nicest place for lunch if you fancy a minor splurge is the celebrated U Fukiera restaurant (www.ufukiera.pl) in the main square of the old town 20 minutes walk away, see photos below.
Left luggage lockers, on the right at the far northern end of the central passageway above the tracks, just before you enter the shopping centre.
Hotels near the station: Polonia Palace
If you're staying in Warsaw and need a hotel, try the historic Polonia Palace Hotel. It's just across the road from the Palace of Culture skyscraper, an easy 3 minutes walk from Warsaw Centralna, and 40 minutes walk from Warsaw's old town. Opened in 1913, it was one of the few hotels to emerge unscathed from WW2, and has been used by many famous people including General (later President) Eisenhower and General de Gaulle. It provides high quality rooms, but is relatively inexpensive by western European standards. It's one of my favourite hotels. Check prices & book.
Warsaw's most prestigious and historic luxury hotel is the Hotel Bristol, opened in 1901 right next to the old town. It also survived the bombing of the old town in WW2, being used as the German HQ. Check prices & book.
Entrance and lobby of the Polonia Palace Hotel.
Above left, good enough for Eisenhower: A deluxe room. Above right, the Polonia Palace Hotel seen from the 30th floor viewing terrace of the Palace of Culture.
Looking south from the Palace of Culture: Blue arrow = Polonia Palace Hotel. Red arrow = Warsaw Centralna, for long-distance & international trains. White arrows = above-ground entrances to Warsaw Śródmieście station, for regional trains to Wschodnia, Zachodnia & elsewhere.
Palace of Culture skyscraper
The Palace of Culture skyscraper is just across the road from Warsaw Centralna station and easy to visit even with only a couple of hours between trains. It's a major landmark you can spot from the train as you leave or arrive in Warsaw. A distinctive wedding cake Soviet skyscraper, it was given to Poland as a gift from the Soviet Union and originally disliked by Poles for that reason. "The best view of Warsaw is from the 30th floor of the Palace of Culture", they joke, "As it's the only view which doesn't include the Palace of Culture." However, they're now softening to it, just a little! There's a viewing terrace on the 30th floor, you'll need to leave any bags in the free cloakroom on the ground floor. The entrance for the viewing terrace is on the east side (the far side from Centralna, the right-hand side when viewed from the Polonia Palace Hotel. Once inside, head up one floor to the cash desk & lifts. For opening hours and other info see www.pkin.pl.
Warsaw old town
Warsaw's historic old town is the knife that's had its blade and handle both replaced, as it was almost totally destroyed in WW2 and has been 85% rebuilt from scratch. However, it's UNESCO-listed because of the effort and care that went into the restoration. It's well worth a visit. The Warsaw tourist information website is go2warsaw.pl/en.
It's a 2.7 km 33 minute walk from Warsaw Centralna to the old town square, see walking map.
It's a 1.5 km 19 minute walk from Warsaw Gdanska to the old town square, see walking map.
For a great meal in the old town square, look no further than the U Fukiera restaurant on the inner square, www.ufukiera.pl.
Warsaw old town, main square (Rynek Starego Miasta).
The U Fukiera restaurant on Warsaw old town's main square, www.ufukiera.pl.
Warsaw Gdanska station
Warsaw Gdanska is a secondary station to the north of the old town, see location map. At times, trains that normally use Warsaw Centralna can be temporarily diverted to Warsaw Gdanska. There aren't many facilities here, but it's actually closer to the old town than Centralna. The station building is south of the tracks, linked to each of the 3 island platforms (6 tracks) by gloomy pedestrian underpass which also connects directly to Warsaw Gdanska metro station. There's a taxi rank and kebab shop, but if leaving from Gdanska, stock up for the journey before you get to the station.
How to get there: Warsaw Centralna to Warsaw Gdanska is an easy 7-minute 3-stop metro ride from Centrum to Dworzec Gdanski on metro line M1. You can buy Warsaw metro tickets from the small red metro ticket machines using contactless bank cards or coins. Or it's a 6-minute €7 taxi ride or a 51 minute 3.6 km walk.
Warsaw Gdanska station.
Warsaw Wschodnia station
You'll need to go to Warsaw's Wschodnia station for Kyiv, as the Kyiv Express has been exiled there since 2022. See location map.
Warsaw Wschodnia is a secondary station to the east of the city centre, on the eastern side of the River Vistula, Wschodnia is Polish for eastern. It has a large booking hall and 8 island platforms. It has a Costa Coffee, a McDonald's, some small minimarkets where you can buy supplies, and a pharmacy. The Peron 8 bar across the road does food & beer.
How to get there:
The easiest way from Centralna to Wschodnia is by local train, these run from Śródmieście station (next to Centralna) every 3-5 minutes, check train times at old.rozklad-pkp.pl. Śródmieście's platforms are a short walk from Centralna by underground passageway (follow the signs) or you can walk above ground, see the whote arrows in this photo above. All trains from Warsaw Śródmieście platform 1 go to Wschodnia, you can buy a ticket from the staffed ticket office through the doorway from the middle of that platform. In the other direction, all trains from Warsaw Wschodnia platform 6 go to Centralna, buy a ticket from the regional ticket office in the main hall.
Alternatively, Centralna to Wschodnia is an 8-minute €8 taxi ride or 16 minutes by tram 7, every 15 minutes.
Tip: If you have an onward mainline ticket, for example Wschodnia to Kyiv when going eastbound, or Centralna to Berlin westbound, you can hop on any PKP Intercity train (including EIC, EIP or TLK) to transfer between stations free of charge and without the usual compulsory seat reservation.
Warsaw Wschodnia station, main entrance, north side. Photo courtesy of @_DiningCar.
Warsaw Wschodnia main hall. There's a Costa Coffee in this hall, just out of shot to the right. Photo courtesy of Adrian Grycuk, under Creative Commons licence.
Warsaw Wschodnia station, south side.
Warsaw Wschodnia, south side booking hall.
