Getting From Warsaw City Centre To Warsaw Airport

Less than 10 kilometres from the city centre, Chopin Airport has excellent transport links and is easily reached from Warsaw. We explain the different ways to get there and what to expect once you arrive.

Warsaw Chopin Airport Departures Terminal

If you’re leaving the city by plane, it’s likely you’ll be flying out from Warsaw Chopin, rather than the Modlin airport. Landside, Warsaw Airport is well designed and generally a calm experience. You’ll find plenty of options for buying gifts and souvenirs, plus a big choice of food and drink if you’ve still got some złoty leftover.

For full details of facilities at Warsaw Chopin, see our dedicated Warsaw Airport page. Our Getting From Warsaw Airport To Warsaw City Centre guide covers transport for new arrivals.

Bus at Warsaw Airport Departures

Transport To Warsaw Airport

Warsaw Airport is only 10km from the city centre and is generally easy to reach by private hire, taxi, train, or bus. The journey takes roughly 30 minutes by any forms of transport.

As with all flights, however, make sure you allow adequate time to arrive, check in, and pass through security.

Although the airport is open 24 hours, departures fly out between about 6am and midnight, with many facilities winding down soon after. Trains run between roughly 5.30am and 10.30pm.

With this in mind, we recommend you pre-book a private transfer if your flight leaves before 7am. Or get your hotel to organise a taxi. These are the most efficient and reliable means of reaching the airport in the early hours.

Buses run around the clock, with four routes during the day (175, 188, 148, and 331) and the N32 night bus every 30 minutes from around 11pm to roughly 5am.

There are plenty of places to rest up during the day, including some experimental ‘sleeping pods’ and various lounges. You shouldn’t need to spend the night at the airport but, if you do, there are some benches you could spread out on and airport staff are generally tolerant.

Any public transport you take depends very much on where you’re staying, as bus or train stops may be the closer than any we recommend here. And sometimes the fastest route uses a combination of buses and trains. Use the fantastic Jakdojade journey planner to work out the best route.

If you download the app, it will grab your current location or the departure field will autocomplete many hotels in the city. Use ‘Warsaw Chopin Airport’ as the destination. Then it will work out a timetable of options for you with times, connections, and walking instructions. You can also buy tickets directly within the app. The iPhone version has Apple Sign-In and Apple Pay, so I was able to set an account up in less than a minute!

• Jakdojade iOS App Store
• Jakdojade Google Play
• Jakdojade Huawei AppGallery

Note, however, that the app requires a minimum top-up of 30zł, so it doesn’t make sense to buy your tickets on it for just this one journey.

Warsaw Airport Departures vehicle drop off

Private Transfer To Warsaw Airport

Private transfer is the simplest and most convenient way to get to Warsaw Airport. You can book everything in advance and get picked up from your accommodation at a time that suits you.

Note: You’ll sometimes see Warsaw Chopin referred to as “Okecie”, which is the original name for the airport. They are the same place! Also, be sure to book a transfer to Chopin rather than Modlin.

You’ll be picked up at your accommodation and driven directly opposite the Departures entrance on the upper level of the airport – it really is a door-to-door service. Depending on traffic and your start point, the journey should take about 25 minutes.

You’ll be dropped off outside the Departures area of the airport terminal, either directly at the curb or on the other side of the road. Simply cross the road and enter the building through any of the doors.

If you find yourself on the lower floor for any reason, just enter the building and take the escalator up to the first floor.

Departures comprises of two large halls, further subdivided into zones. The first hall, to the left of the building, contains Zones A and B, whilst the second, larger hall – to the right of the terminal – contains Zones C, D, and E. The halls are connected by a short hallwall and it is very simple to move between them.

There are information screens dotted around the building which have full details of which zone and desk number you need to use to check in and drop off your luggage, as well as the status of your flight. There are also self-service check-in and baggage label machines. Everything is pretty intuitive.

Whilst there are shops and places to eat before Security, the experience is actually more comfortable on the other side. If you are already checked in and have no baggage to drop off, you can head straight through. You’ll find a Security gate at the back of each hall. It doesn’t matter which you use as they ultimately end up in roughly the same place airside.

See our dedicated Warsaw Airport page for an outline of facilities on either side of Security.

Warsaw Airport taxi drop-off

Taxi To Warsaw Airport

As with a private transfer, it’s best to have a taxi pick you up directly from your accommodation and to make sure it’s booked a couple of days before you’re due to leave. Your hotel will be happy to arrange this.

If you need to sort it out yourself, you can try ELE Taxi on +48 22 811 11 11. The fare to the airport should be roughly 50zł, depending on your point of departure and the time of day you’ll be travelling. If you don’t see a meter, it’s smart to agree a fare before accepting the ride.

Drivers are likely to speak good English but have your destination written down, just in case. It’s “Lotnisko Chopina w Warszawie” in Polish! Cabs accept card payment – but it’s always worth checking this first!

The journey takes about 20-30 minutes, although traffic can be bad at certain times of day. Leave enough time to catch your flight.

Once you arrive, the experience should be exactly the same as a private hire (see previous section). You’ll be dropped off outside Departures, so you’ll just need to check which zone and check-in desk you need. Once you’ve done all that and dropped off your luggage, you can go through Security. Simple!

Next Stop: Warsaw Airport

Train To Warsaw Airport

The train is an excellent and stress-free way to travel to Warsaw Airport. It’s a fraction of the cost of a taxi and takes roughly the same amount of time. The trains themselves are modern and comfortable.

Although Warsaw has a central station, it may not be the most convenient point for you to catch the airport train. Also, note, that Warsaw is seeing some major rail infrastructure work at the moment, so lines may be disrupted.

The simplest advice is to catch the S2 airport train from Warszawa Śródmieście, which is right next to the Palace of Culture and Science in downtown Warsaw. Buy a 75-minute ticket for 4.40zł (see below) and make sure the train you catch goes to Warszawa Lotnisko Chopina, which is the last stop. Don’t worry though, information at the station and on the train will also be in English.

Warsaw transport ticket machine

If you don’t already have one, you can buy tickets from one of the red machines in the hall of the railway station. They’re very easy to use! There should also be ticket machines on the train itself or you can buy one from an inspector. You’ll be able to pay with a debit / credit card or contactless methods like Apple Pay. You can also pay with cash if you’d prefer, but only from the station.

• The touchscreen offers a range of language options – click the appropriate flag
• Choose “BUY A PAPER TICKET”
• Choose “75 AND 90 MINUTE TRANSFER TICKETS”
• Again, choose “75 AND 90 MINUTE TRANSFER TICKETS” beneath (rather than “GROUP TICKET”)
• Pick “ZONE 1 VALID FOR 75 MINUTES”
• You’ll get a warning screen, so just read the note and click “CONTINUE”
• Choose “ADULT” or “CONCESSIONARY” as appropriate
• Decide how many tickets you need and click “OK”
• You can tap the contactless pad or insert the card and use your PIN
• Your ticket will be dispensed below

Ticket validation machine

Once you have a ticket and are on the train, you need to validate it in one of the yellow boxes on board. From this point, your ticket can be used on any journey for the next 75 minutes. You can change from the train to a bus, for example. There’s no need to validate a second time.

The ride itself is very comfortable and relaxing. You’ll rumble through the suburbs of Warsaw before a mixture of the industrial outskirts of Warsaw and countryside. After 20 minutes or so, you’ll enter a long tunnel and soon arrive at the airport.

Alternatively, you can use the Jakdojade journey planner to work out the best route from where you’re staying. It will give you directions on how to walk to the closest appropriate train station and you can also buy tickets via the app – see above for details. Train and bus both use the same flat-rate ticket, which currently costs 4.40zł – less than a Euro!

It doesn’t really make sense to describe all the train routes from Warsaw Chopin in detail, but a brief summary is useful.

• S2 route: This train travels from Rembertów to the east of the city. It stops at Powiśle and Śródmieście, both of which are key central stations. This service runs once an hour, at roughly the half-hour point, from approximately 05:30-22:30.
• S3 route: This train travels through the northern side of central Warsaw from Radzymin and is handy if you’re staying over the river in Praga. The service runs once an hour, at roughly 10 minutes past, from approximately 05:15-22:15.
• Koleje Mazowieckie routes: These are largely services from other Polish cities, although some of them will stop at Centralna on the way to the airport.

Timetables are subject to change, particularly on weekends and public holidays.

You’ll know when you’ve arrived. Everyone will get off. Follow the crowd out of the platform exit and up the walkway. Then turn right for the Terminal.

Turn right for the airport terminal

You need to walk a bit further and then go up the escalator. You’ll emerge on the Arrivals floor of the terminal.

Go up another floor to Departures

Go up another floor to the main Departures hall. There are plenty of signs pointing you in the right direction. You’ll emerge close to this information desk.

Warsaw Airport Zones A and B

From here, the process is the same as for private hire arrivals in the section above, you’ll just need to check which zone and check-in desk you need on the information screen. Zones C, D, and E are in the next Departures Hall, which you can reach via the connecting corridor at the far end of this hall. Once you’ve checked in and dropped off your luggage, you can either wander around for a bit or go straight through Security.

Warsaw bus interior

Bus To Warsaw Airport

Depending on where you are staying, the bus might be the faster than the train to the airport. To work out if there’s a more convenient airport bus from where you are, use the Jakdojade journey planner. See above for details.

As with the trains, it doesn’t really make sense to describe all the routes to Warsaw Chopin in detail, but a brief summary is useful.

• Bus 175 from pl. Piłsudskiego: Every 15-30 minutes daily, from approximately 04:15-23:00. Passes through Krakowskie Przedmieście, Foksal, al. Jerozolimskie, Żwirki I Wigury. The best bus for travelling from the Old Town and the most likely for tourists wanting the airport.
• Bus 188 from Gocławek Wschodni: Every 10-20 minutes daily, from approximately 04:41-23:11. Passes through Metro Politechnika, Makowska, Praga Południe, Szaserów, al. Stanów Zjednoczonych, al. Armii Ludowej, Żwirki I Wigury. Good bus to catch from Praga.
• Bus 148 from Wiatraczna: Every 15-20 minutes daily, from approximately 04:47-23:17. Passes through Grochowska, Most Siekierkowski, Nowoursynowska, Żwirki I Wigury. Also good from Praga and Ursynów (a southern part of Warsaw).
• Bus 331 from Metro Wilanowska: Every 10-15 daily, from approximately 05:38-17:12. Passes through al. Wilanowska, Puławska, Łączyny, Poleczki, Narkiewicza, Wirażowa. Connects to Wilanowska Metro station.
• Bus N32 from Centrum 03: Every 30 minutes nightly, from approximately 23:19-04:44. Direct service from Centralna station.

Timetables are subject to change, particularly on weekends and public holidays.

If you haven’t bought a ticket, you can often get them at a bus stop. It’s exactly the same ticket and walkthrough as described in the train section above. Or you can buy one on the bus, but only with a card.

Warsaw public transport ticket

You can change buses or onto other form of transport, as long as you don’t exceed the 75 minutes on your ticket. Don’t forget to validate your ticket in the yellow punch machine as soon as you get on the bus! Push the ticket into the slot (face up, arrow pointing forward) and you’ll hear it stamp. If in doubt, copy what the other passengers do.

As with private hire and taxi, the bus will set you down opposite the entrance to the Departure Hall, and it should be very obvious that you’ve arrived at the airport. Cross the road and enter the terminal.

From here, the process is exactly the same as laid out in the Private Hire section near the top of the page. You simply need to find out where to check-in and drop your bags from the information screens. Then make your way to Security at the back of either Departures hall.

Hire Car To Warsaw Airport

If you’ve rented a car, the hire firm will have their own process for returning the vehicle at the airport. Make sure you have clear instructions in advance and factor in some extra time to troubleshoot any complications. How you approach the terminal will, of course, depend which agency you use and where they want you to leave the car. See the Warsaw Airport page for general information about the terminal building.

If you still need to hire a car, you can quickly check availability and compare prices using the search box below.

Warsaw City Centre To Warsaw Airport Map

This map shows the distance and route by road between the city centre and Warsaw Chopin Airport. Note that Warsaw is also served by an airport at Modlin, which is further away. Click any pin on the map for more details about each place. Click on the icon in the top left corner for an index of every location, sorted by category. You can zoom in and scroll around, just as you would on any Google Map.