Greater Poland

Greater Poland (in Polish Wielkopolska) is a lake district in west-central Poland in the Voivodship (province) Wielkopolskie Voivodship.

Cities

• Biskupin
• Gniezno
• Kalisz
• Kruszwica
• Mogilno
• Ostrów Lednicki
• Poznań
• Strzelno
• Żnin

Get in

By plane

The main (and in terms of passenger traffic) airport in the region is Poznan airport Lawica, situated very close (7 km {4 mi}) from the city centre, offering connections to more than 20 destinations across Europe, including e.g.: London, Frankfurt, Munich, Dublin, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Malmo, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Edinburgh. If your region is not connected by plane with Poznan, you can try other airports in surrounding Polish regions: to Wroclaw (Breslau), Bydgoszcz or even Warsaw, which has very good train connection with Poznan. Up-to-date flight schedule [1] at Poznan Lawica Airport.

By train

Region has very good connections with most other polish regions as well as some cities abroad. Its main (what doesn't mean, that's the only one) rail junction is Poznan, offering many inter-city and international connections:

• Berlin : 4 times a day BWE (Berlin-Warsaw-Express) train - travel time ca 3 hrs
• Kiev : 1 daily, ca 22 hrs
• Munich, Amsterdam, Basel, Koeln : 1 EuroNight train daily
• Warsaw : more than 15 daily, a little bit less on weekend days, mostly InterCity, EuroCity or express trains (ca 3 hrs)
• Szczecin : 10-12 daily (only fast and express trains) (2hrs30)
• seaside resorts : Kołobrzeg / Koszalin / Słupsk : up to 8 daily (in summer season), including 2 slow trains (appr. 5hrs)
• Gdansk (calling at Gniezno, Inowrocław, Bydgoszcz) : 6-8 daily (only fast trains - appr. 5hrs30) + 2 slow trains to Bydgoszcz (appr. 3hrs)
• Olsztyn (calling at Gniezno, Torun) : 3 daily (only fast trains - 5hrs)
• Lodz : 6 daily, mostly slow trains (4hrs30)
• Kraków (Cracow) (mostly calling at Wrocław, Opole, Katowice) : up to 10 daily (7hrs), including 4 going further to Przemyśl (appr. 11hrs)
• Katowice - up to 12 daily (a bit more than 5hrs)
• Wrocław (calling at Leszno) : more than 20 daily. A great choice of slow, accelerated, fast and express trains (from 2 to 3 hrs)
• mountain resorts in Sudety Mountains : Szklarska Poręba : up to 3 daily, Kudowa Zdrój - as well 3 daily (6 hrs)
• famous mountain resort in Tatra Mountains - Zakopane - 2 overnight trains in summer and winter season (10 hrs)

Get around

By train

Trains are the basic mean of transport in the region. The main i and the most important junction is of course Poznan, but regional centres : Leszno, Ostrów Wielkopolski and Pila offer as well many good connections. The most important line in the region is the one from Warsaw via Konin, Wrzesnia, Poznan toward the western border and further to Berlin. Other lines playing great role in the transport system are :

• Szczecin - Poznan - Leszno - Wrocław (Breslau)
• from the seaside (Kolobrzeg - Kolberg, KOszalin, Slupsk0 via Pila - Poznań - Jarocin - Ostrów Wielkopolski i further to southern Poland to Katowice (Katowitz) or to Lodz via Kalisz
• from Three-City (Gdansk - Danzig, Sopot, Gdynia) and from Olsztyn (Allenstein) via Inowrocław - Gniezno do Poznania
• from Bydgoszcz via Pila to Krzyz and further via Gorzow Wielkopolskie (Landsberg) to Berlin
• from Ostrow Wielkopolski along the southernmost parts of the region to Leszna and further to Glogow

The network of main lines is supplemented by local ones with several connections daily :

• Pila - Walcz (6)
• Pila - Zlotow - Chojnice (5 to 6)
• Poznan - Wągrowiec - Gołańcz (8 to 10)
• Poznań - Grodzisk Wielkopolski - Wolsztyn (7 to 9)
• Gniezno - Września - Jarocin - Krotoszyn (and further Wrocław) (3 to 5)
• Jarocin - Leszno (4)
• Ostrów Wielkopolski - Krotoszyn - Leszno (5 to 8)
• Leszno - Wolsztyn (5 to 6)
• so-called coal-magistral in the easternmost parts of Wielkopolska, but - as it joins not-touristic places - is play very little role for travellers.

Several trains on the routes from Wolsztyn to Poznan (departures from Wolsztyn appr. 5:30 and appr. 11:30, and from Poznan appr. 9:30 and 15:30) and from Wolsztyn to Leszno (departure from Wolsztyn appr. 6:00, back from Leszno appr. 15:30) are served - as the only ones in Poland - by steam locomotives. (Departures are given "appr." because of frequent timetable changes, which are the result of many track-works, especially in the Poznan juction).

It's essential to mention as well about narrow-gauged railways - some of them are used only for weekend and tourist traffic, but in the region we have the first independent from the nationl carrier (PKP) and private line : 23-km section from Stare Bojanowo (on the Poznan-Wrocław line) via Smigiel to Wielichowo. Every day more than 10 trains run on the route. Timetable : [2] (the carrier's - SKPL's - trains run as well on the other lines in the region : see below). As well narrow-gauged trains run on the following routes :

• Środa Wielkopolska - Zaniemyśl
• Pleszew - Pleszew Miasto (SKPL)
• Opatówek - Turek (SKPL)
• Gniezno - Witkowo
• Bialosliwie region (nearby Pila)
• a small part of the Krośniewice Commuter Line crosses Wielkopolska region (SKPL)

Contact

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