Travel
By air. There are two cheap airlines that operate flights to Gdansk:
- Wizzair (many connections from the UK, Germany, and Benelux)
- Ryanair (several connections from UK and Ireland).
They also run flights to Gdansk from Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, and
Scandinavia. From my experience, both airlines are reliable, but you
should not expect comfort or helpful customer service.
Regular airlines (LOT, Lufthansa, SAS, and Air Berlin) offer flights
to/from Gdansk via Warsaw, Frankfurt, Munich, Copenhagen, and Berlin.
By train.
Gdansk is very well connected to Warsaw (3h by train). There are also daily trains from Cracow, Wroclaw, Berlin, and Vienna. Check http://intercity.pl/en/ for timetables and prices.
By coach.
Poland has a good network of long distance busses, with the advantage of reasonable travel times and very cheap tickets (typically between 5 and 10 EUR).
Check http://www.polskibus.com/en for details.
Getting from/to the airport
There are two sensible options of getting from the airport to the centre of Gdansk (and back): either take the metropolitan train (so called SKM or PKM), or a taxi.
- SKM train: take line 2 from the airport to the terminal station (Gdansk Wrzeszcz) and then switch to line 1. Leave at the central station (Gdansk Glowny) or at the terminal station (Gdansk Srodmiescie). The ride takes about 40 mins. and costs 3,50 zl (approx. 0,80 EUR). To get from there to the seminar venue, see here.
- Taxi: pick up one in front of the terminal. The ride should take 15-25 mins. depending on the traffic, and cost no more than 40 zl (approx. 10 EUR).
Accommodation
I suggest you book something in the Old Town which is 5 mins by bus / 20
mins walking from the venue. Prices in the "good value for money" type
of hotels should be in the range of 70-90 EUR per night. Renting an
apartment can be a sensible alternative to a hotel room. See for example:
http://www.booking.com/hotel/pl/stay-inn.en-gb.html?aid=304142;sid=3f93f7bef8ab44b6183757998353bdde;dcid=4;dist=0;group_adults=1;group_children=0;no_rooms=1;srpos=1;type=total&
http://www.booking.com/hotel/pl/grand-tourist-apartament-tower-view-gdansk.en-gb.html?aid=304142;sid=3f93f7bef8ab44b6183757998353bdde;dcid=4;checkin=2015-09-23;checkout=2015-09-25;dist=0;group_adults=1;group_children=0;no_rooms=1;srfid=4b555d7f69d3199a39df9bb328d978aa9c75580dX3;type=total;ucfs=1&
Regarding cheaper accommodation, there is plenty of hostels in the Old
Town. A good alternative can be renting something in Gdansk-Oliwa (15
mins away by suburban train from the city centre, 25 mins from the
seminar venue; very quiet neighbourhood). For a single room with private
facilities, you can pay as little as 25-30 EUR, but it requires some
more searching. In either case, booking.com is the search service that I
recommend for finding accommodation in Gdansk.
