Arrivals
A Warsaw layover is worth leaving the airport for from about 5.5 hours: the centre is about 30 minutes away by bus, and the Old Town a short walk from the end of the same line.
At Warsaw Chopin Airport (WAW), both ways into town start right beside the terminal: bus 175 from the public transport stop outside Arrivals, and the SKM trains from the underground station next door.
- Bags. The airport has no left luggage and no lockers. On one ticket, checked bags normally go straight through to your next flight, so you only carry your hand luggage. On separate tickets you collect them after passport control and keep them with you; app-booked storage in town is the way round it.
- Tickets. One 75-minute ticket, 4.40 zł, covers the ride into town. Buy it from the machine on board the bus or train: the machines take contactless cards, and a ticket bought there is already validated. Buy a second one for the ride back, or a 24-hour ticket for 15 zł if you’ll ride four times or more.
- Money. Poland uses the zloty (zł), not the euro, even though it’s in the Schengen area.
- Phone. Wi-Fi is free in the terminal. An eSIM set up before you fly keeps maps working in town.
Storing bags in town, and every way in: getting into the city.
eSIM
Stay connected
Set up a Poland eSIM before you fly, so maps and bus times work from the moment you're through the border. The terminal's Wi-Fi is free, so it matters most once you're on the bus into town.
Get an eSIM from Airalo (opens in a new tab)Get a Saily eSIM (opens in a new tab)
Border
Whether you can leave depends on your passport, and whether you queue at passport control depends on where you’ve flown from.
Not needed when you stay airside.
- Schengen, in brief. Poland belongs to the Schengen area: most EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, with no passport checks between them. Arriving from outside it, from London, New York or Seoul, you meet Polish passport control in Warsaw. Arriving from a Schengen city such as Paris, there’s no check on the way in, only on the way out to a flight that leaves the area.
- No visa needed. On US, UK, EU, Canadian and Australian passports, for up to 90 days in any 180. Your passport should be valid for 3 months after you leave the Schengen area and issued within the last 10 years.
- Indian passports, and others that need a visa for Europe: leaving the airport takes a Schengen visa for a short stay, arranged at a consulate before the trip.
- Staying airside. Between two flights outside Schengen, you change planes without passport control; their gates have an N in the number, such as 1N. Nationals of 15 countries, including Pakistan, Nigeria and Egypt, need an airport transit visa even for that.
- Time. Allow about an hour from landing to the bus. Non-EU visitors now give fingerprints and a photo at the border, which slows the queue; EU and EEA citizens can use the 30 automatic gates. A slow queue costs you time in town, not your flight: the time you must head back stays the same.
Who needs which visa: visa and transit rules.
Into Warsaw
Bus 175 is the way in: a bus every 10 to 15 minutes on weekdays and every 20 at weekends, about 30 minutes to the centre, then on to Pl. Piłsudskiego, a short walk from the Old Town.
Not needed when you stay airside.
| Ride | Into town | Fare |
|---|---|---|
| Bus 175 to Centrum or Pl. Piłsudskiego, the best for most | About 30 minutes to Centrum, about 40 to Pl. Piłsudskiego | 4.40 zł |
| SKM train S2 to Warszawa Śródmieście, every 30 minutes | 22 minutes | 4.40 zł |
| Taxi | About 20 to 30 minutes | About 50 zł |
Take the 175 towards Pl. Piłsudskiego. Get off at Centrum for the Palace of Culture, or stay on to the end of the line, Pl. Piłsudskiego, for the Old Town and the Royal Castle: Castle Square is about 15 minutes’ walk from there. The 175 used to stop at Castle Square, but the street past it has been closed to traffic since 7 November 2026, until further notice. The first bus leaves the airport at 4:58am. Late in the evening, the buses after 10:53pm go only as far as Centrum.
Tickets, trains, taxis and the last buses: getting into the city.
What to do
Start with the view from the Palace of Culture’s terrace, 5 minutes from the Centrum stop, or ride on to Pl. Piłsudskiego and walk to the Old Town and the Royal Castle.
Not needed when you stay airside.
The fastest plan for a short layover
- Take bus 175 to Centrum, about 30 minutes from the airport.
- Walk about 5 minutes to the Palace of Culture and Science, the tall tower with a spire at the heart of the city.
- Go up to the viewing terrace on the 30th floor: 30 zł, open daily 10am to 8pm. With 6.5 hours or more, add the Neon Museum on the 4th floor of the same building, 28 zł, from 11am.
- Be back at the Centrum stop 2.5 hours before your flight.
Would you rather someone else handled the timing? No airline runs a transit tour at Warsaw, but private layover tours meet you at the airport and bring you back: Viator (opens in a new tab) lists four, 2 to 7 hours long, and GetYourGuide (opens in a new tab) lists walking tours and tickets in town.
Watch the calendar
- Mondays. The Royal Castle and the Museum of Warsaw are closed. The Palace of Culture’s terrace, the Neon Museum and the Old Town’s squares are open.
- Wednesdays. Entry to the Royal Castle is free, but only a special route is open, not the usual Royal Route.
- Independence Day. On 11 November the Museum of Warsaw is closed; the Royal Castle and the terrace are open.
- Christmas and New Year. The terrace is closed from 24 to 26 December. The Royal Castle is closed on 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 and 6 January, and open on the 26th. WTP hasn’t published its holiday bus times yet, so check your bus back on WTP’s journey planner.
- Easter. The Royal Castle is closed from Good Friday to Easter Sunday, expected to be 26 to 28 March 2027.
- The Chopin Museum. It’s closed for renovation until the end of 2026, so don’t plan around it.
Timed plans from 5.5 to 24 hours, from the Old Town on foot to the Royal Castle and a morning for night arrivals: itineraries.
Layover tour
Tours and tickets in Warsaw
Walking tours of the Old Town, Royal Castle tickets and private tours with an airport pickup. Most start in town, so check the meeting point, and add about 2.5 hours to a tour's length for the border and the trip back to the airport.
See tours on GetYourGuide (opens in a new tab)See tours on Viator (opens in a new tab)
Head back
Be back at Warsaw Chopin Airport 90 minutes before departure, with your onward boarding pass.
Not needed when you stay airside.
- Time. Leave the Centrum stop 2.5 hours before your flight: that covers the wait for a bus, about 30 minutes on it and 90 minutes at the airport. From the Old Town, leave Castle Square 2 hours 50 minutes before, to walk to the bus at Pl. Piłsudskiego, the end of the line. That makes 5.5 hours the realistic minimum, with about an hour in town; 8 hours gives about 3.5, or about 2.5 in the Old Town.
- Why 90 minutes is enough. Coming back from town, you skip the check-in queue: you’re holding your onward boarding pass and your bags are already on their way. What’s left is security, plus passport control before an N gate. The airport’s 2 or 3 hours is advice for people starting their journey at Warsaw; allow longer only if you have a bag to drop or still need a boarding pass.
- Traffic. The bus’s 30 minutes is an approximate figure, and the bus shares the road with the traffic. If the roads are jammed, the S2 train from Śródmieście takes 22 minutes and runs every 30.
- Late at night. The last 175 back leaves Pl. Piłsudskiego at 11:19pm (11:20pm at weekends) and passes Centrum a few minutes later. It matters only if you spend the evening in town before a morning flight. After it, a taxi takes about 30 minutes and costs about 50 zł.
Time in town at each layover length: how much time you’ll have.
Departures
Best for your layoverStaying at the airport instead: you can rest past security for free, but there’s no hotel or sleeping pod airside.
- Soundproof armchairs. Free and open 24 hours, past security on both the Schengen and the non-Schengen side, while there’s one free.
- Quiet room. Free and open 24 hours, on level 2 above the gates near Gate 33.
- Executive Lounges. From 210 zł bought online, for up to 3 hours, with showers: Etiuda for flights outside Schengen, Fantazja and Preludium for flights inside it. They close at 10pm.
- Courtyard by Marriott Warsaw Airport. A 3-minute walk from the terminal, before passport control, so you need to be able to enter Poland.
- LOT’s Stopover. For a stop of 24 hours or more in Warsaw on a LOT return ticket: discounts on flights and partner hotels, not a free room. Ask for it at least seven days before you fly.
Rooms, lounges, showers and why there’s no left luggage: at the airport.
Hotel
Courtyard by Marriott Warsaw Airport
A 3-minute walk from the terminal, but before passport control, so you need to be able to enter Poland. The simplest bed if you land late and fly on in the morning.