Vehicles

1. Samochód

   Car

   Usage

   In speech people also say "auto". Some Polish motorways are tolled — the A1, A2 and A4 have toll plazas

2. Autobus

   City bus

   Usage

   Buy a "bilet" at a kiosk or the on-board machine and stamp it in the "kasownik" as soon as you board, or risk a fine. The stop is "przystanek"

3. Autokar

   Long-distance coach

   Usage

   The intercity and international coach. The bus station is "dworzec autobusowy", or "PKS" — the old state bus company's initials, still used for a country bus terminal

4. Busik

   Minibus

   Usage

   The private minibus that serves the small towns and mountain valleys the railway misses — Zakopane to the Morskie Oko road, Kraków to Wieliczka or Auschwitz. Timetables are not always on the station boards, so show the driver your destination at the stand. Formally "bus"

5. Marszrutka

   Cross-border shared minibus

   Usage

   Borrowed from the Russian "marshrutka". It is not a word for Polish domestic transport but for the shared minibuses running east to Ukraine and Belarus, and you meet it in border towns like Przemyśl, Lublin, Chełm and Biała Podlaska. It will not make sense in a conversation about Warsaw or Kraków city transit

6. Pociąg

   Train

   Usage

   A main station is "dworzec", a smaller one "stacja"; the platform is "peron" and the track "tor". Polish stations are named city-plus-type, as in "Warszawa Centralna"

7. PKP Intercity

   Usage

   The long-distance arm of the Polish state railway — PKP stands for Polskie Koleje Państwowe. Warsaw to Kraków or Gdańsk runs on its trains, and seats are reserved, so book ahead

8. Pendolino

   Pendolino high-speed train

   Usage

   Poland's fastest train, officially the EIP — Express InterCity Premium — covering Warsaw to Kraków in a little over two hours and Warsaw to Gdańsk in under three. The Italian-built trainset gave it the everyday name. Fares are higher but early booking discounts apply

9. Pociąg regionalny

   Regional train

   Usage

   The all-stops service run by regional operators such as Polregio and Koleje Mazowieckie. Cheap and unreserved, but the ticket is separate from PKP Intercity, so check the operator when you change

10. Metro

    Metro / Subway

    Usage

    Warsaw is the only Polish city with one, on two lines, M1 north-south and M2 east-west. Kraków and Wrocław have none — the tram does that job — so do not go looking for a metro there

11. Tramwaj

    Tram

    Usage

    The backbone of Polish city transport, with networks in Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk, Łódź and more. Tickets are shared with the buses, and you stamp them in the "kasownik" on board

12. Trolejbus

    Trolleybus

    Usage

    A bus drawing power from overhead wires. Three Polish cities still run them — Gdynia, Lublin and Tychy — with Gdynia's the largest network. Overhead wires and no rails make for an odd streetscape

13. Taksówka

    Taxi

    Usage

    Choose a marked cab with a company name and a price list on the door, and avoid unmarked cars touting at stations and airports. "Proszę włączyć taksometr" asks for the meter. App-hailed rides are more common and the price is clearer

14. Motocykl

    Motorcycle

    Usage

    The full-size motorcycle. Poland requires headlights on during the day, all year round

15. Skuter

    Scooter

    Usage

    The small scooter. A jet ski is "skuter wodny", rentable at the Baltic resorts

16. Rower

    Bicycle

    Usage

    The word comes from the British bicycle maker Rover, which became the generic noun here. "Chciałbym wypożyczyć rower" to rent one — a woman says "chciałabym". A cycle path is "ścieżka rowerowa"

17. Rower miejski

    City bike-share

    Usage

    Each city runs its own scheme under its own name — Veturilo in Warsaw, Mevo around Gdańsk and Tri-City — so search by the city you are in. Most use docking stations

18. Hulajnoga elektryczna

    E-scooter

    Usage

    Shared fleets are everywhere in Polish cities. The law caps them at 20 km/h and requires walking pace on a pavement. Old-town cobbles will throw you, so keep the speed down. Plain "hulajnoga" is the push scooter

19. Samolot

    Airplane

    Usage

    The airport is "lotnisko". Domestic flights link Warsaw with Gdańsk, Kraków and Wrocław, though the train is often the easier option

20. Statek

    Ship

    Usage

    A large vessel; a small boat is "łódka". The port is "port"

21. Prom

    Ferry

    Usage

    The car-carrying ferry. International routes sail from Świnoujście and Gdynia to Ystad and Karlskrona in Sweden. The word also covers a small river crossing

22. Tramwaj wodny

    Water tram

    Usage

    Literally "water tram" — the summer municipal boat service on the Vistula in Warsaw and the Motława in Gdańsk. Some Warsaw sailings take the ordinary city transit ticket, and together with the little cross-river ferries they are a fixture of the season

23. Kolejka linowa

    Cable car

    Usage

    The best known runs from Zakopane up Kasprowy Wierch in the Tatras, busy enough in both summer and winter to need booking ahead. Zakopane's other hill, Gubałówka, is served by a funicular instead

24. Dorożka

    Horse-drawn carriage

    Usage

    The tourist carriages lined up on Kraków's Rynek Główny, and also running in Zakopane. Fares are posted rather than negotiated, so check the board before you climb in

25. Karetka

    Ambulance

    Usage

    The emergency number is 112, and the old medical line 999 still works. "Proszę wezwać karetkę" — please call an ambulance. Formally "karetka pogotowia"

26. Samochód na wynajem

    Rental car

    Usage

    Poland requires headlights on by day, all year. On tolled motorways you either pay at the "bramka" or register for the e-TOLL system. City centres are paid parking zones, "strefa płatnego parkowania"

27. Ciężarówka

    Truck / Lorry

    Usage

    Poland is a crossroads of European road freight and the main routes are thick with them. A delivery van is "dostawczak"

28. Kamper

    Campervan / Motorhome

    Usage

    Campsites, "kemping", are plentiful around the Masurian lakes and along the Baltic coast. Sleeping in a vehicle on the roadside is not generally allowed, so use the marked sites

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