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Money & duty free for Poland

Currency information: 

Złoty (PLN; symbol zł) = 100 groszy. Notes are in denominations of zł200, 100, 50, 20 and 10. The coins are in denominations of zł5, 2 and 1, and 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 groszy. Poland is required under the terms of its accession to the European Union in 2004 to adopt the Euro as its national currency sometime in the future but this is not expected to happen for at least three years.

Credit cards: 

American Express, Diners Club, MasterCard and Visa are accepted in larger establishments. You can obtain cash from Visa credit and debit cards at banks and from ATMs. MasterCard is also accepted by some ATMs.

ATM: 

You can obtain cash from Visa credit and debit cards at most ATMs. Most also accept MasterCard, Cirrus and Maestro cards.

Travellers cheques: 

These can be exchanged but they’re usually more expensive and troublesome than ATM withdrawals. Also, exchanging traveller’s cheques in Poland has been reported to be problematic; most bureaux de change (kantors) won’t change them and the banks that do usually charge a commission on top of the one you’ve already paid when buying the traveller’s cheques.

Banking hours: 

Mon-Fri 0900-1600, Sat 0900-1300 in main cities. In smaller towns, banking hours are more limited.

Currency restriction: 

The import and export of local and foreign currency is unrestricted. Amounts over €10,000 or equivalent must be declared if travelling from or to countries outside the European Union.

Currency exchange: 

You can exchange foreign currency at all border crossing points, hotels and bureaux de change (kantors), some of which are open 24 hours. These are always good bets as they are fast, efficient and generally charge no commission (though it’s always safe to double-check their rate of exchange). Hotel rates and goods in large stores may also be listed in Euros, but payment is usually expected in złoty.

Poland duty free

There is no longer duty-free shopping within the EU, of which Poland is a member. You cannot, for example, buy duty-free goods in, say, the UK (or Slovakia or Germany) and take them to Poland. However, if travelling from the UK or other EU counties, you are entitled to buy fragrance, skincare, cosmetics, Champagne, wine, spirits, fashion accessories, gifts and souvenirs - at tax-free prices. There are allowance restrictions on these tax-free items but they are exceedingly generous (eg 90 litres of wine) and affect very few travellers. You can still enter an EU country with duty-free items from countries outside the EU (eg Croatia) but there are restrictions on anyone over 17 years of age without incurring customs duty:

• 200 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 100 cigarillos or 250g of tobacco.
• 2L of non-sparkling wine and 1L of spirits.
• Goods up to the value of €175.

Banned imports: 

Meat and milk from outside the EU; protected species and products (ivory, tortoise shell, coral etc).

Banned exports: 

The export of all articles produced before the end of WWII (9 May 1945) regardless of their artistic, historical or cultural value is subject to special regulations.

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