Train travel to old town

The główny meaning main station is not necessarily the one nearest the old town.

How do you figure out which stations are closet to old town?

Use Google maps to find the station, and ask Google for walking (or driving or public transportation) directions from the main station to your lodging, since it sounds like you already have lodging chosen.

Edit* You can zoom in on your town and just ask Google maps to find “train station”. Sometimes it finds trams stops and bus stops, but you can at least get it narrowed down that way. Usually the main station will be your best bet, but not always. Torun, in particular, has 2 stations so your best bet will depend on where you are staying. In Wroclaw, Warsaw, Gdansk, and Krakow, the main station will be your best bet if staying in the old town areas. I don’t know about Poznan.

It's pretty hard to visit a big city without using public transportation anyway. We chose hotels based on air conditioning and price. Is disability a factor here? Are your bags too big to take on a tram? Do you insist on walking to your hotel from a train station? Poland's not as bad as more-developed Europe, but the "train station neighborhood" is not always a prime walking area!

I don't think "old town" is a well-defined term. For example, in Krakow, the main square is a noisy touristy crowded place. I wouldn't really want to stay there. But Kasimierz (sp. ?) is also "old" and considered a prime place to sleep. There are multiple one-seat trams between the two places, with great views of local life along the way. What's not to like? There's more than one historic area in Wroclaw, as well. I don't think there's a train station near the Warsaw old town, which is at least, well-defined. But one point of visiting Warsaw is to walk around to find remnants of the Ghetto wall. And the museums and sites are dispersed.

I have used google maps from glowny stations to our hotels, but just wondering if there may be stations that would be closer and how to find them if there are?

We don’t necessarily want to walk unless it is super close, but want the closest station even by tram.

If the train station has "glowny" next to it, that's the central station, as is "Hauptbahnhof" in Germany. The "glowny" is nowhere close to old town in Torun, Gdansk, and Warsaw.

Warsaw has two stations, coming from the west, Warsaw Glowny is the 2nd station.

Except for Poznan and Wroclaw on the above list, we stayed in the old town area in the other cities, ie, only Krakow is close is to its Glowny.

I’m still trying to figure out how to find the closest train station to my hotels. We are staying at Hampton Inn Old Town in Gdansk, Hotel 1231 Torun, and Hotel Bristol in Warsaw. Since you say the glowny stations are nowhere near old town, how do I find out which station IS closest?

how do I find out which station IS closest?

You look at a map.

Two steps, both in Google Maps. Starting with your Gdansk hotel…

1) In the Search box type Hampton Old Town Gdańsk. Select the hotel from the list and pin it using “Save”.

2) In the Search box type Train Stations Gdańsk. Select the station you want from the list and and pin it using “Save”.

Peter, thank you. When I try this, it only brings up trams and no train stations. Sorry to sound like such an incompetent idiot. I’m not sure why this is such a struggle for me, but thanks for trying to help.

It might be easier if you use another layer in Google maps, it can be very easy to find railway stations using photos e.g.

But I'm also wondering what you're actually trying to do and why it is so important to know which station is closest to the old towns. You mention that you will take train between towns, in that case you probably won't have a choice of station as long distance trains usually only stop once in each town.

When I try this, it only brings up trams and no train stations.

When I enter 'Train Stations Gdansk Poland', I get train stations.

Oddly, Ive found that using 'Train Stations near Gdansk Poland' gives me Trams.

In Gdansk your hotel is about a 15 minute walk from the Glowny station. That is the closest main line PKP station.
There is a slightly closer station-
Gdańsk Śródmieście SKM- but the station is on the SKM suburban line, so not worth the effort of changing on to, but you would use that station if you wanted the suburban train to Gdynia.
On Google maps look for the symbol of a train.

In Warsaw the Wschodnia station is the closest, then use local transit. Tram and metro don't stop that close. But there is a bus stop outside. Click on that stop on google maps and it will give you the bus numbers.

Thanks to all. When I entered just train station Gdansk it did bring up trains. It also makes since that going by trainfrom town to town that I will have only main stations unless I want to transfer (which I do not).

I think the best bet for us will be to use taxis or trams from and to main stations from our various hotels.

Thanks again for the help.

I think the best bet for us will be to use taxis or trams from and to main stations from our various hotels.

Uber works exceedingly well in Poland, I use it every time I visit Poland for short distance travel within the city. Uber Poland allows you to donate a portion of your fare to NGOs helping Ukraine.

Sounds like Uber may be just the ticket.

When I did the planning on the trips to Torun, Gdansk, Warsaw, Krakow, I didn't use Google maps, I used "Rough Guide Poland", ie the map(s) pertinent to Old Town and the center of town, ( centre ville ) "Lonely Planet" also helps. Getting from "glowny" to Old Town depended on which city.

In Gdansk and Torun we walked the distance . In Torun took the taxi upon departure to the Glowny,. In Gdansk never took the taxi or used public transport, used both times and all over the Old Town and beyond the bridge.

In Warsaw used the taxi option to/fro the apt to Warsaw Glowny. but walked all over, never used a taxi, ride share or buses.. Krakow...obviously walked, walked all over.

The main station in Warsaw is not called "Główny". Apart from the wrong grammar (Warszawa is a female noun and adjectives end with an "a", not "y"). It's name is Warszawa Centralna. Be very careful not to call it "główny" especially if you want to take a taxi to it as Warszawa Główna is this station: https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warszawa_G%C5%82%C3%B3wna

It handles suburban and regional trains to Poznań, Łódź, Bydgoszcz. You will probably miss your train if it departs from Centralna and not Główna.

BTW, it's not as though you can pick and choose stations. You have to go where the trains go. The closest station to Hotel Bristol in Warsaw is Warszawa Powiśle (walking distance) but unless you arrive on a regional train, it's not an option. Intercity trains do not stop there. The closest stations with Intercity trains are Warszawa Gdańska and Centralna, both will require some transport if you have luggage.

Oops...sorry, I meant Centralna for the second train station in Warsaw. That's the one where one gets off if one is coming from the west as we were. The Polish girls standing there also near the exit provided us with the correct information.

I sugest you to choose Kraków Główny, Wrocław Główny, Poznań Główny, Toruń Miasto (as Toruń Główny is on the opposite side of Vistula), Gdańsk Główny and Warszawa Centralna. If you plan to visit other cities, then they could be Lublin Główny, Rzeszów Główny, Opole Główne, Radom Główny, Łódź Fabryczna or Łódź Kaliska, Łowicz Główny, Bydgoszcz Główna and Szczecin Główny :)