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Travel and Tourism in Poland
Travel alerts, currency, climate, transit, health, and safety information for visitors to Poland.
Practical Information
Travel alert status, currency, climate, and transit details.
- Travel Alert Status
- Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions
- Time Difference
- UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
- Currency
- zloty (PLN)
- Climate
- Poland’s climate is continental European. Winters can be severe, with heavy snows possible from December through March. Winter temperatures in Warsaw average about -3.9ºC to 0ºC. The lowest temperature in recent years was - 30ºC. Spring is usually cold and rainy. Summer can bring temperatures topping 37ºC, but a few days at about 32ºC is more typical. Autumn is usually cloudy and can be quite cold. Yearly rainfall averages about 59.69 centimeters.
- Language(s) Spoken
- Polish (official) 98.2%, Silesian 1.4%, other 1.1%, unspecified 1.2%; note - data represent the language spoken at home; shares sum to more than 100% because some respondents gave more than one answer on the census; Poland ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in 2009 recognizing Kashub as a regional language, Czech, Hebrew, Yiddish, Belarusian, Lithuanian, German, Armenian, Russian, Slovak, and Ukrainian as national minority languages, and Karaim, Lemko, Romani (Polska Roma and Bergitka Roma), and Tatar as ethnic minority languages
- Ethnic Groups
- Polish 96.9%, Silesian 1.1%, German 0.2%, Ukrainian 0.1%, other and unspecified 1.7%
- National Holiday
- Constitution Day, 3 May (1791)
- Geographic Coordinates
- 52 00 N, 20 00 E
- Location
- Central Europe, east of Germany
- Airports
- 122
Destinations
Regions and cities, top sights, national parks, UNESCO sites, and festivals for visitors.
Wroc?aw: The City of Gnomes and Bridges
Wroc?aw is the most surprising of Poland's major cities. It was known for most of its history as Breslau — a German city at the heart of the Silesian region that belonged successively to the Habsburg Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Its architecture, its street plan, its churches, and its university all reflect this Central European German heritage. After the Second World War, the German population was expelled, and Polish settlers — many of them from the former Polish eastern territories now annexed by the Soviet Union — moved in to inhabit a city that was not their own. Wroc?aw was thus a city of strangers, a place where a new identity had to be built atop the ruins and remnants of another.
That rebuilding has been an extraordinary success. Modern Wroc?aw is one of the most vibrant, attractive, and culturally rich cities in Poland. Its Market Square — Rynek — is one of the largest medieval market squares in Europe after Kraków's, surrounded by beautifully restored Gothic and Renaissance merchant houses in the full palette of Central European colors.
Health and Safety
Medical facilities, vaccinations, disease risk, and sanitation conditions.
Adequate medical care is available in Poland, but hospital facilities and nursing support are not comparable to American standards. Physicians are generally well trained, but specific emergency services may be lacking in certain regions, especially in Poland's small towns and rural areas. Younger doctors generally speak English, but nursing staff usually do not. Doctors and hospitals often expect immediate cash payment for health services. Medications are generally available, although they may not be specific U.S. brand-name drugs.