Warsaw Centralna Station was a typical grey concrete Communist-era structure completed in 1975, with a vast main hall (Sala Glowna) above ground clearly designed to impress us decadent westerners, whilst actual passengers scurried through dark underground passageways lined with small retail kiosks. It had a complete & welcome refurbishment in 2010-2011, the main hall is now light and airy with the main ticket office, toilets, escalators down to the platforms and a mezzanine level with a McDonalds and a handy Biedronka supermarket.

Warsaw Centralna, taken from the 30th floor viewing terrace of the Palace of Culture skyscraper.

Warsaw Centralna. The station building houses the main hall (Sala Glowna), which has a ground floor and an upper level. The platforms are underground. This is the southern & eastern side of the building.

Main hall (Sala Glowna). Above, I'm on the upper level looking west towards the Biedronka supermarket, with the escalators down to the ground floor to the right. The steps & escalators below the main departures & arrivals board lead to the central mezzanine passageway above the platforms.

Main hall (Sala Glowna). Above, I'm on the upper level looking east towards McDonalds and the ticket office (on the ground floor, hidden behind the escalators in the background). The steps & escalators in the foreground lead from the ground floor to the central mezzanine passageway above the platforms.

Central mezzanine passageway: The steps & escalators down from the main hall take you to this underground passageway spanning the width of the station, with escalators down onto each platform. Here you'll find retail units, ticket machines and (at the far north end) the left luggage lockers.

Eastern & western mezzanine passageways:  There are also eastern & western mezzanine passageways, with escalators or steps down onto each platforms.

Escalators down to the platforms: Escalators & lifts link the central mezzanine passageway with each platform. There are also lifts.

Platforms: The platforms are underground, this is Peron 2, Tor 3. There are four island platforms numbered Peron 1 to Peron 4, serving 8 tracks. The platform number shown on departure indicators & printed departure posters is the Peron.

Information counter

There's an information counter at the far left-hand end of the row of ticket windows, shown by the white arrow in the photo below. It has it's own queue, separate from the other ticket windows.

There's a Warsaw Public Transport office in the south-eastern corner of the main hall, ground floor.

Finding your train

The platforms are underground below the main hall (Sala Glowna), but escalators & lifts make them easy to access with luggage. There are no ticket gates or ticket checks at Warsaw Centralna, just free and open access from street to station to platform to train.

From the main hall you descend via escalator, steps or lift the a mezzanine level, a narrow passageway spanning all the tracks lined with retail units. From here, lifts and escalators descend to each platform. There are two similar but smaller passageways over the tracks at the eastern and western ends of the station.

Warsaw Centralna has four island platforms numbered Peron 1 to Peron 4, serving 8 tracks, see station plan.

Confusingly, Polish stations use both a platform number (peron) and a track number (tor), where a peron may have one tor on each side of it. The platform number shown on departure indicators and departure posters is the Peron.

Most trains start at one of the outlying Warsaw stations (Zachodnia or Wschodnia) and only stop at Centralna for a few minutes, so use the printed departure posters or summary-of-departure TV screens to find the peron number, and go to that platform. There are departure screens in several locations in the passageway above the platforms, and in the main hall at the top of the steps down to that passageway. Don't necessarily expect your train to appear on the platform departure indicators until perhaps 10 minutes or less before it leaves. The train may well arrive only a few minutes before it is due to depart, this is perfectly normal, so be prepared, be ready at the right Peron!

Where to stand on the platform

In the middle of each platform there's an electronic display showing the formation of trains due to leave from that platform, see the photo below. The platform is divided into sektors 1 to 4, indicated by signs hanging from the ceiling. The display tells you in which sector your car number will stop. This saves you running up and down like a headless chicken when the train comes in!

Station facilities

Left luggage office & lockers

There are luggage lockers at the north end of the central mezzanine passageway, see the photo below. From the main hall, go down the steps or escalators to the central mezzanine passageway and turn right. The locker room is a long narrow passage on the right at the far end of the central passageway. Most lockers are coin-operated, but as of 2026 some now accept credit & debit cards, for prices see the left luggage page.

There is a staffed left luggage office in the same passageway.

WiFi

The station has free WiFi.

Food & drink

There are various cafe outlets on the ground floor of the main hall, and a McDonald's on the upper level.

There is also a large Biedronka supermarket on the upper level of the main hall, ideal for stocking up for a journey. Alternatively there are smaller food & drink outlets in the various passageways and a Carrefour in the adjacent shopping centre which also sells beer & wine - although on Polish trains you can only buy & consume alcohol in the dining car, you aren't allowed to drink your own alcohol in the other cars.

However, the nicest place for lunch if you fancy a minor splurge is the celebrated U Fukiera restaurant in the main square of the old town 20 minutes walk away, see photos below.

Left luggage lockers, on the right at the far northern end of the central passageway above the tracks, just before you enter the shopping centre.

Local transport: Taxi, metro

Taxis: There are several taxi ranks with plenty of taxis, one outside the north exit of the main hall, one outside the east exit.  Warsaw taxi fare calculator.

Metro: The Warsaw metro has a station at Warsaw Centralna, called Centrum. For Warsaw public transport information in English see www.wtp.waw.pl, the metro has its own website metro.waw.pl but this is only in Polish. To use the metro, buy a 20-minute timed ticket from the red ticket machines at the metro entrance, these accept contactless bank cards.  Metro route map.

Metro from Centralna to Gdanska: Metro line M1 will get you directly from Centrum to Warsaw Gdanska station. 

Metro from Centralna to the old town: Metro line M1 will take you 2 stops north from Centrum to Ratusz Arsenal, from where it's a 15-minute 1.1 km walk to Warsaw's old town square.

Warsaw metro line M1.

Taxi rank, east side of the main hall.

Hotels near the station:  Polonia Palace

If you're staying in Warsaw and need a hotel, try the historic Polonia Palace Hotel. It's just across the road from the Palace of Culture skyscraper, an easy 3 minutes walk from Warsaw Centralna, and 40 minutes walk from Warsaw's old town. Opened in 1913, it was one of the few hotels to emerge unscathed from WW2, and has been used by many famous people including General (later President) Eisenhower and General de Gaulle. It provides high quality rooms, but is relatively inexpensive by western European standards. It's one of my favourite hotels.  Check prices & book.

Warsaw's most prestigious and historic luxury hotel is the Hotel Bristol,  opened in 1901 right next to the old town. It also survived the bombing of the old town in WW2, being used as the German HQ.  Check prices & book.

Entrance and lobby of the Polonia Palace Hotel.

Above left, good enough for Eisenhower: A deluxe room. Above right, the Polonia Palace Hotel seen from the 30th floor viewing terrace of the Palace of Culture.

Looking south from the Palace of Culture:  Blue arrow = Polonia Palace Hotel. Red arrow = Warsaw Centralna, for long-distance & international trains. White arrows = above-ground entrances to Warsaw Śródmieście station, for regional trains to Wschodnia, Zachodnia & elsewhere.

Palace of Culture skyscraper

The Palace of Culture skyscraper is just across the road from Warsaw Centralna station and easy to visit even with only a couple of hours between trains. It's a major landmark you can spot from the train as you leave or arrive in Warsaw. A distinctive wedding cake Soviet skyscraper, it was given to Poland as a gift from the Soviet Union and originally disliked by Poles for that reason. "The best view of Warsaw is from the 30th floor of the Palace of Culture", they joke, "As it's the only view which doesn't include the Palace of Culture." However, they're now softening to it, just a little! There's a viewing terrace on the 30th floor, you'll need to leave any bags in the free cloakroom on the ground floor. The entrance for the viewing terrace is on the east side (the far side from Centralna, the right-hand side when viewed from the Polonia Palace Hotel. Once inside, head up one floor to the cash desk & lifts. 

Palace of Culture, seen from the Polonia Palace. 30th floor viewing terrace.

Warsaw old town

Warsaw's historic old town is the knife that's had its blade and handle both replaced, as it was almost totally destroyed in WW2 and has been 85% rebuilt from scratch. However, it's UNESCO-listed because of the effort and care that went into the restoration. It's well worth a visit. The Warsaw tourist information website is go2warsaw.pl/en.

It's a 2.7 km 33 minute walk from Warsaw Centralna to the old town square, see walking map.

It's a 1.5 km 19 minute walk from Warsaw Gdanska to the old town square, see walking map.

Or take metro line M1 2 stops north from Centrum to Ratusz Arsenal, then it's a 15-minute 1.1 km walk to the old town square. To use the metro, buy a 20-minute timed ticket from the red ticket machines at the metro entrance, these accept contactless bank cards.

For a great meal in the old town square, look no further than the U Fukiera restaurant on the inner square, www.ufukiera.pl.

Warsaw old town, main square (Rynek Starego Miasta).

The U Fukiera restaurant on Warsaw old town's main square, www.ufukiera.pl.

Warsaw Gdanska station

Warsaw Gdanska is a secondary station to the north of the old town, see location map. At times, trains that normally use Warsaw Centralna can be temporarily diverted to Warsaw Gdanska. There aren't many facilities here, but it's actually closer to the old town than Centralna. The station building is south of the tracks, linked to each of the 3 island platforms (6 tracks) by gloomy pedestrian underpass which also connects directly to Warsaw Gdanska metro station. There's a taxi rank and kebab shop, but if leaving from Gdanska, stock up for the journey before you get to the station.

How to get there: Warsaw Centralna to Warsaw Gdanska is an easy 7-minute 3-stop metro ride from Centrum to Dworzec Gdanski on metro line M1. You can buy Warsaw metro tickets from the small red metro ticket machines using contactless bank cards or coins. Or it's a 6-minute €7 taxi ride or a 51 minute 3.6 km walk.