Help with train information, Poznan-Szczecin-Gdańsk.

Where are you flying in to ? I.e. do you need to get a train to Poznan as well ?

Anyway here is a copy and paste of the information on internal Polish trains from the excellent website The Man in Seat 61:

Buy Polish domestic tickets at www.intercity.pl...
You can book Polish inter-city train tickets (but not international ones except to Berlin) online at the Polish Railways InterCity website, www.intercity.pl. At www.intercity.pl the English button is top right, and you'll need to use the Polish spellings of Krakow and Warszawa. You pay online with a credit card and print out your own ticket. Many seat61 correspondents have reported success buying self-print tickets for Polish trains this way, using UK and Dutch credit cards.

And here is a link to that page :

https://www.seat61.com/Poland.htm#Buying%20train%20tickets%20within%20Poland

Just a heads up on the PKP Intercity website - I never have much initial success using the website - I don't know if it's browser/cookies related or what, but eventually I do manage to prevail and purchase a ticket and on occasion, my bank sends me a text asking me if the website is legitimate and when I reply Y, they tell me to repurchase the ticket.
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It's personal preference but I prefer open seating rather than compartment seating. As for, 1st Class vs. 2nd Class, usually if the ride exceeds 2 hours I purchase 1st Class, it all just feels roomier.
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"How far in advance should we purchase tickets"

If I recall, seat sales on the PKP website, usually open up 30 days before date of travel.

Kim:
We are flying in to Poznan so no train needed.
Thank you for the link to “man in seat 61”. Awesome site!

Periscope:
Thank you for your response Periscope. I took a peak at the intercity site and it doesn’t look like I will have a problem. Not sure if it makes any difference but I use a MAC computer.
The price difference for 1st class is not to bad plus we get early purchase and/or senior discount. 😉. This will be over a 3 hour trip.

I’ve never experienced crowded trains in Poland, especially in first class. Do eat a meal on the trains. They are inexpensive and cooked to order. I’ve never been to Szczecin but if I were to go, I’ve promised myself I’d visit the Crooked Forest.

May I ask why Szczecin over say Wroclaw or even Lodz? They are two cities also tragically overlooked in the RS Poland tour. Wroclaw is my current favorite Polish city and a tourists delight. Whatever you do, don’t short yourself on time in Gdańsk even if it’s covered in the tour. Have dinner on the waterfront in Sopot and walk the boardwalk. September will be perfect for it.

You didn’t ask but since I’m dishing it out, I hope you visit Stary Browar when in Poznan. I think it’s a beautiful example of the new modern Poland embracing her history. If you can’t tell, Poland knocked my socks off.

I went on the PKP intercity.pl website using an Ipad and had a lot of difficulty. Site kept stalling and changing back from English to polish. So in answer to Periscopes comment, I agree it does make a difference what type of device, browser you use. I verified it by using the Mac again and had no problem.

Response to thenosbigs:
The only reason I was concerned about crowded trains was because a friend was there 3 months ago and said the trains and stations were full of refugees and he recommended booking 1st class so we don't get stuck standing on the train for hours. However, we recently spoke to family near Krakow and they said the Ukrainians have integrated nicely or moved on to other countries with the kindness and hospitality of the Polish people. So proud!

We are visiting Poznan and Szczecin, to meet family for the first time. We are also meeting a niece in Cracow.
Thank you for taking time out of your day to offer these recommendations.
The Crooked Forest in Szczecin sounds cool, not sure we can squeeze in Wroclaw, dinner on the waterfront followed by a stroll in Gdansk sounds wonderful. As for Stary Brower, my husband had that one jotted in already. lol.

We are hoping Poland "knocks our socks off as well".

RCrowa - Visiting family for the first time will be amazing! I can only imagine what a warm, wonderful welcome you will get! Seriously, the Poles are the most friendly, helpful people I’ve ever meant. I can only imagine a family link. (And please, I meant to throw no shade on Szczecin. I hope to visit it and the Crooked Forest someday. My Poland list is long.)

Jot down Wroclaw for next time. Start planning your return trip now. I went to Poland for the first time in October. By February I had all ready bought my tickets to return at the end of April this year. I stuck to Wroclaw and lower Silesia because of all the hype about over crowded trains and stations before I left. I dumped 1/2 my trip in Poland to re-route to Germany. What I found in my experience were the Poles were very efficient helping the refugees at all entry points and they weren’t overwhelming. Funny thing was, the most crowded train full of refugees with mothers and children playing between rail cars and every seat taken was my train from Berlin to Munich.

Poland is incredible, please let us know your favorite parts. I’m working on plans for trip three.

Hi,

If you are going from Poznan to Szczecin , that is a direct connection, ca 4 hours. Likewise going from Szczecin to Gdansk, direct but the ride is 5 hours.

In 2003 the Mrs and I went to Gdansk, stayed in a small hotel-Pension in the Old Town, regretted not having planned an extra day. You need at least 5-6 nights, if you're earmarking one full day in Malbork too.

Getting to Gdansk from Berlin required a transfer in Szczecin, would have liked to visit that city too. All in all a nine hour ride requiring two transfers.

Hello Fred,
We are booked on the RS 10 day tour of Poland that begins on a Tuesday, that includes Malbork castle.
As of now, we were planning on taking the train from Szczecin to Gdansk on a Monday.

We might change that to a Sunday since we found out that most of the top museums in Gdansk are closed on Mondays. :-(

Thank you for sharing.
btw, our daughter lives in the lower Haight.

Both the Solidarity Museum and the WWII Museum in Gdansk are excellent and very time-consuming. I can tell you how long it takes to read all the English info and watch all the English-subtitled videos: about 8 hours at the Solidarity Museum and 20 hours at the WWII Museum. (I hope I'm not misremembering about the latter; it was many, many visits.)

@ RCnowa......You're welcome. Taking the train from Szczecin to Gdansk, I found that landscape along the Baltic coast fascinating both geographically and historically. When you get to Koszalin, you are half way there since Koszalin is about equal distant between Szczecin and Gdansk.

If your tour includes going to Westerplatte, you'll see the poignant memorial. I didn't go out to Westerplatte, only saw the sign pointing to the direction. The Lower Haight.....interesting.