Planning your holiday budget for your trip to Poland can be overwhelming. How much money do you need daily for your everyday expenses during your tour? Well, that’s a tricky question with no easy answer. Everything depends on your needs, expectations and traveling style. But the good news is that you’ll probably find most things to be way cheaper than in your home country. To help you a bit with your budget planning, we’ve created a price list of some common items and services. We hope that it will give you an overall idea about the prices in Poland.
Currency in Poland
First things first: what’s the currency in Poland? No, not the euro. We are happy with our own currency, the Polish złoty (PLN or zł). The word “złoty” means “golden” in Polish. One złoty is subdivided into one hundred groszy. We have 500-, 200-, 100-, 50-, 20- and 10-złoty bills. As far as the coins are concerned, you’ll encounter 5 złotys, 2 złotys, 1 złoty, and 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 groszy.To learn more about exchanging money and payment methods in Poland, read All You’ve Wanted to Know About Paying in Poland… But Have Been Afraid to Ask. We also encourage you to read the history of the Polish złoty in a nutshell.
At the time of writing this article, the exchange rate was USD 1 = PLN 3,94. But how much are these złotys actually worth?
Average income in Poland
Generally speaking, the cost of living in Poland is lower than in many other European countries - but so are the salaries. The minimum wage for a full-time worker (40 hours/week) is PLN 1920,62 (about USD 487) after taxes. The official average net income is PLN 3742,44 a month (about USD 950), but you need to keep in mind that this number is inflated by the high executive salaries, so the median is probably somewhere around PLN 3000 (USD 760). This explains why the prices in Poland must be lower. So, what prices should you expect?
Grocery shopping
If you’ve chosen to have your Poland tour organized, you are not really likely to do much grocery shopping, but let’s take a look at the prices of a few products, just to give you an idea about how much they cost.
- loaf of white bread PLN 1.80 - 4.00
- milk (1 l) PLN 2.80 - 3.70
- bottle of water (1.5 l) PLN 1.00 - 3.00
- apples (1 kg) PLN 3.00 - 3.50
- bottle of vodka (0.5 l) PLN 30.00 - 40.00
- local beer (0.5 l) PLN 2.50 - 5.00)
Remember that tap water in Polish cities is safe to drink, so it may be a good idea to bring a refillable bottle instead of buying water.
Eating out
Unless you’re a big fan of cooking, you’ll probably dine out most of the time. And that’s great, as it will give you an opportunity to explore Polish cuisine and enjoy the delicious food. But what prices should you expect at Polish bars and restaurants? Of course, the price range can be quite wide, depending on the type and location of restaurant that you choose.
- water (0.5 l) PLN 5.00-9.00
- cafe latte PLN 10.00 - 15.00
- beer (0.5 l ) PLN 10.00 - 15.00
- alcoholic drink PLN 18.00 - 30.00
- vodka shot 4.00 - 10.00
- lunch PLN 25.00 - 40.00
- 3-course dinner PLN 80.00 - 100.00
- McMeal at McDonald's PLN 18.00 - 25.00
Serving tap water at restaurants is not yet a standard in Poland, however there are more and more places that do serve it
Buying souvenirs
Your best souvenirs from your trip to Poland will probably be stored inside your phone or camera, but it’s always nice to bring a little something with you home. In case you need ideas on what to buy, see our post on souvenirs from Poland.
- photo magnets PLN 3.00 - 6.00
- amber earrings PLN 60.00 - 200.00
- Bolesławiec pottery cup PLN 30.00 - 55.00
- Torcik Wedlowski PLN 16.00 - 20.00
We hope that this short list will give you an idea what to expect and how to plan your holiday budget. See you in Poland… soon!
P.S. If you’ve booked one of our Poland tours and need more information on prices in Poland (or any other kind of practical information related to your trip to Poland) your RealPoland tour consultant will be happy to assist you, so don’t hesitate to ask!
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