• By car

Parking

There is a paid-parking zone in the center of the city. This applies Mon-Fri 8AM-6PM. Parking costs 3.00 zł for the first hour. Subsequent hours cost more although there is no hour limit. 0.60 zł is the minimum payment. You can pay with coins (must be exact amount - the parking meters give no change) or with the Warsaw City Card (not the tourist card).

Taxis

The maximum base fare (taryfa 1) is 3.00 zł/km and applies to journeys within the city (zone 1) on weekdays. Taxi drivers can charge 150% of the base fare (taryfa 2) at night or on weekends and public holidays, and 200% of the base fare (taryfa 3) for journeys into the suburbs. Watch out for blue rectangular signs saying taxi 2 strefa (Taxi Zone 2), they can charge 300% of the base fare (taryfa 4) at night and in the suburbs or on weekends and public holidays).

In addition, they can also charge you 6 zł initial fee (closing the door), 40.00 zł an hour for waiting for you if you you are not in the first zone, and for getting back to the boundary of the first zone if you left in zone 2. There are no surcharges for additional passengers (normally up to 4 should fit), or for luggage.

They cannot charge you for anything else. There is no obligation or custom of tipping the drivers. The driver is required to give you a receipt on request. The full route must be written on the receipt. If the route was suboptimal, the fare can then be challenged. Call the City Guard (Polish: Straż Miejska) at 986 (+48 22 986 from a mobile phone) should there be any problems.

The aforementioned prices apply only to officially registered taxis. Others (non-taxi carriers) may charge you whatever they feel like, so they are best avoided.

A legal taxi will have its number displayed on the front door under the window (black digits on white), on a TAXI sign (not TAX1 or TAKI), on a sticker with the base fare displayed on the passenger (rear) door window, and on the driver's ID card visible inside the cab.

• Public transport

The public transport system in Warsaw is generally well-developed, with some 200 bus routes and 30 tram lines. The route descriptions on the tram stops are easy to follow (although bus stop notices are more complex) and the tickets are cheap. It can be painfully slow, however, to travel between destinations far from the city center.

There is also a modern underground line going from south to north on the left bank, and a recently-introduced Rapid Urban Railway (Polish: Szybka Kolej Miejska or SKM) which has proved to be a big disappointment, but now it's becoming more and more popular. Travelling to districts like Włochy, Ursus, Rembertów or Wesoła by SKM instead of bus can save a lot of time.

Undeground (subway)

Warsaw's subway system, called Metro, opened in 1995 and is one of the newest underground railway systems in Europe. It runs daily from early morning until midnight at 3-10 minute intervals. On Friday and Saturday, Metro runs until 3 am. Trains and stations are clean and neat. The system currently consists of only one line, which was designed to carry commuters from the densely populated new districts at the northern and southern outskirts into the city center. As a result, the subway does not go to many tourist destinations, however several stations will take you in a general vicinity of some attractions. A second route is planned, which is supposed to link the center with the right bank of the river Vistula (i.e. Praga) with a segment containing 7 stations now expected to be completed in 2013 at the earliest.

Buses

Buses operate usually from 5.00 to 23.00, but you should always check the schedule. The intervals can be anything from as little as 5 minutes (crowded routes during peak hours) to nearly 2 hours (certain suburban routes). Usually, you will wait 20 minutes at most.

Warsaw has well-developed night bus communication, that will take you basically to every part of city. Most buses start and finish at the back of Central Railway Station (Dworzec Centralny). They start every 30 minutes, hour by hour, at XX:15 and XX:45.

Bus route numbers consist of three digits. Only the first digit has any meaning, the latter being merely ordinal. Here's the key to understanding Warsaw bus route numbers:

	Normal	Expedited	Suburban
All-Day Service	1xx	5xx	7xx
Certain Hours Only (Usually Peak)	3xx	4xx	8xx

Other than that:

•  Nxx  are night routes.
•  2xx  are local routes.
•  9xx  are special routes, which operate only a few days in a year.
•  E-x  are express routes, which link the farthest districts to the city centre, call at very few stops and operate during peak hours only.
•  Z-x  are routes in place of trams.

There are a few routes that are of certain interest to tourists:

• 148, 175  and  188  operate to and from the airport.
• 180 the Warsaw Sightseeing Route between the Powązki Cemetery and Wilanów.

Requesting a stop - certain bus stops are request-only (Polish: na żądanie):

• If you want to get off, press the stop (red) button. In certain old buses, the button is located above the door (and it's not red).

• If you want to get on a bus, wave your hand (or star-jump, or do whatever it takes to attract the driver's attention).

Sometimes (all-year in air-conditioned buses and trams, October-March in every bus or tram), the door will not open automatically. To open it, locate the button drzwi (blue) and press it. Then you have 15 seconds until the door closes back.

Night buses operate on 38 routes: N01 to  N95 . The first digit indicates the area of Warsaw the bus travels to. All parts of the city are covered, but travelling to distant locations is particularly time-consuming. All buses operate at 30-minute intervals and depart from their central stop at Dw. Centralny 15 and 45 minutes after the hour, which facilitates changing.

When travelling on a night bus, it is essential to know the location of your bus stop at Dw. Centralny. 

All night bus stops except Dw. Centralny and Centrum are request stops. Signal well in advance as some night bus drivers may be too busy accelerating to notice.

Trams

Although trams are not faster than buses unless there is a heavy traffic jam, they may have some appeal for a tourist as it is easier to predict where they are going - they usually go straight ahead and only rarely turn. However, it may be worth travelling by tram in the city centre during rush hours. Because of Warsaw's dreadful congestion problems it can take 20 mins for a bus to get to the next stop which is only a few hundred metres away.

Trams with numbers above 40 operate during peak hours only. 

There is a special route  T  operated by historic cars from pl. Narutowicza.  Note: 'T' only runs in July and August.

The tram services can end as early as at 10PM, but most routes are served until midnight.

Tickets

Although there are many carrier companies, tickets are issued and controlled by the single Warsaw Transport Authority (Polish: Zarząd Transportu Miejskiego or ZTM) and are valid for all means of transport including the suburban trains (usually painted in green and white) and Rapid Urban Railway (S2 and S9 routes).

Tickets can be purchased in kiosks, ticket machines and any shop that displays the Sprzedaż biletów ZTM ("WTA tickets sold here") stickers for around 3-6 Euros depending on the type of transportation. For buses and trams, the ticket can also be bought on board from the driver. In Rapid Urban Railway (SKM) you can buy a ticket from train attendant or (in new trains) in the ticket machine. From 2 June 2008, along with the other fare changes, there is now no extra charge for buying tickets from drivers, though they can refuse to sell you a ticket if the bus is over 3 minutes late.

The ticket system is quite complicated, but as a tourist you shouldn't need to trouble yourself about knowing all the details. What you need to know, however, is that a single ticket costs 2.80 zł and there is a 50% concession for ISIC (international student ID) card holders, such tickets cost 1.40 zł. The same prices apply for a 40 minute travelcard where travel is allowed however you want as long as it is in the 40 minute time limit. There's also 20-minute ticket for only 2zł (or 1zł with ISIC card), which is the best way if you want to travel only a few stops. Remember, it's 20 minutes of clock (not timetable!) time.

Immediately validate your ticket after boarding the bus, subway, or tram. Travelcards, however, only need to be activated on your first journey, except in the underground where touching in and touching out (or inserting a ticket) is required to open the gate to the station.

Travelcards are probably the simplest way of paying for public transportation, if you're spending more than a day in the city and want to see as much as possible. If you will be taking a bus, subway, or tram at least three times in a given day, it's best to buy one of these cards, especially as they are valid for all modes of transportation, including night buses. There are several options for purchasing travelcards, but the most sensible way for most travelers would be either a 24 hour ticket, a three day card, or a one week card. Additionally, there are one month and three month travel cards for those who are staying in Warsaw for a longer time.

24 hour travelcard – Valid for 24 hours after being validated. The card costs 9.00 zł (normal ticket) or 4.50 zł (50% reduction).
3 day city travelcard – Valid for 3 days after being validated. This card costs 16 zł (normal ticket) or 8 zł (50% reduction).
One Week city travelcard – Valid for one week after being validated. This card costs 32 zł (normal ticket) or 16 zł (50% reduction).