Location
Sopot
Sopot is located in the North of Poland, a small town compared to its big neighbors Gdynia and Gdansk. It has wonderful hotels, beaches, pubs, restaurants and forests. Sopot is one of the best spots for summer holidays in Europe. Sopot is one of the smallest but one of the most beautiful Polish towns. A big forest surrounds Sopot to the west and Gdansk Gulf to the east. More info about Sopot can be found here. Also, useful information can be found in this pdf-file gdansk.pdf, especially on the pages 76 to 101, with a good map of Sopot on the pages 140-141.
Here is a map of the location of the students' dormitories and the conference site:
Registration Office
The addres of Student Dormitory No 7 (in Polish: Dom Studencki No 7): Sopot, Armii Krajowej 111. Here will be the registration office on the 5th and the 6th of June from 8:00 till 21:00 (later on we'll move the registration office to the Conference Center). Everyone that will stay in this, or the neighbouring Dormitory No 8, should go there.
Visa
It is advisable that you check about visa and entry requirements before making your
travel arrangements.
Required information about visas to Poland can be found at this webpage of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Climate
The climate is mostly temperate throughout the country. The climate is oceanic in the north and west and becomes gradually warmer and continental as one moves south and east. Summers are generally warm, with average temperatures between 20 °C (68 °F) and 27 °C (80,6 °F). Winters are cold, with average temperatures around 3 °C (37,4 °F) in the northwest and –8 °C (17,6 °F) in the northeast. Precipitation falls throughout the year, although, especially in the east; winter is drier than summer.
In fact, in Sopot weather in July is quite unpredictable. You should be prepared for average daily temperature between 15 °C and 25 °C.
If you are more interested, take a look into CIA's World Factbook.
Arriving to Sopot
More detailed info about arriving to Sopot can be found in the file gdansk.pdf, especially on the pages 12-13.Arriving by plane
You will land on Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa airport. It is ca. 15 km from Gdansk airport to Sopot. One can make it by public transport in 1 hour, and by taxi in 20 minutes. You can reach Sopot by:
- 9686 City Plus taxi
You will find them outside the terminal building. Cost: about 60 zł (18 €) and even 50% more during night or weekend. Note that only the 9686 City Plus taxi firm is allowed to carry passengers from airport so look for cars with 9686 logo on the side.
- Public transport
First, you need to take bus No. 110 (timetable) Ticket costs 2.80 zł‚ e.g. about 0.9 €, and is available from the driver (you need to buy a three tickets pack for 4.20 zł‚ and validate two of them). You leave bus at the last stop (Gdańsk Wrzeszcz station). There you take the commuter train (SKM) from platform 1 in the direction of Gdynia. You can buy ticket using ticket machine on platform or in ticket office (pol. Kasa biletowa). In the latter case you have to validate your ticket before you get into the train. Validators (pol. kasownik) look like big blue-yellow boxes and you will find them on the platform or near the entrance to the platform. Ticket costs 3.10 zł. You leave train at sixth stop (station named Sopot).
In case you land on Lotnisko airport in Warsaw you can get to Sopot by a train. Also see next section:
Arriving by train
You will probably heading the tri-city (Gdańsk, Sopot, Gdynia agglomeration) from Warsaw. You simply disembark from the train on Sopot station. For your convenience here is the complete list of PKP (Polish Railways) stations in tri-city: Gdańsk Główny, Gdańsk Wrzeszcz, Gdańsk Oliwa, Sopot, Gdynia Główna. Journey from Gdańsk Oliwa to Sopot takes about three minutes. (BTW: "Główny" means "main", so "Gdańsk Główny" means "Gdańsk - Main Station").
Transport
Taxis
Although most taxis are now trustworthy with honest meters, there are still certain drivers who can overcharge you for journeys. To avoid such unpleasant events use a taxi from one of listed firms:
- Monte Taxi (tel. 96 64)
- Servis Taxi (tel. 91 94)
Note: when calling from a cell phone you may need to prefix above numbers with 58.
Their cars are always marked by the firm logo!
Public transport
As Sopot does not have its own public transport (it is a small city) it uses Gdynia and Gdańsk public transport. Unfortunately all these companies have their own tickets. Here is the summary:
- ZKM Gdynia (web page only
in polish). Busses (and trolley busses) are white-blue coloured and
are most common in Sopot. Tickets:
- in Sopot: 2 zł in all bus lines,
- in Gdynia: 2 zł in ordinary bus lines, 3 zł in special lines (marked by letters),
- when crossing border between Gdynia and Sopot: 3 zł in ordinary lines, 3.50 zł in special lines.
Tickets can be bought from the bus driver in packs of four
half-price tickets. That means that you have to validate two of them
so the total value of validated tickets is correct. You can also buy
single tickets in kiosks.
- ZKM Gdańsk. Buses (and trams)
are white-red/orange coloured and are quite rare in Sopot. Ticket
price depends on travel duration:
Tickets can be bought from the bus driver in packs of three tickets (3×0.70 zł, 3×1.00 zł or 3×1.40 zł). Please note, that tickets for 0.70 zł and for 1.00 zł are half-price (see the bullet above).Time Price 15 min. 2.00 zł 45 min. 2.80 zł 60 min. 4.20 zł 24h 9.10 zł night lines, 45min. 4.20 zł - SKM (commuter train). It is a main mean of transport between Gdynia, Sopot and Gdańsk. The ticket price depends on travel length and is usually cheaper than a bus. You can buy ticket in a ticket machine (situated on platform) or in ticket office (pol. Kasa Biletowa). In the latter case you have to validate your ticket before you get into the train. Validators (pol. kasownik) looks like big blue-yellow boxes and you will find them on the platform or near the entrance to the platform. There is one line of SKM, parallel to ordinary trains line.
- There is also a common ticket for all transport means in the tri-city. It costs 18 zł and is valid for 24h.
More information you can find in the file gdansk.pdf.
Currency, Credit Cards & Banks
Banks & Currency Exchange
The official currency of Poland is the Polish Zloty. 1 PLN is approximately 0.295 &euro or 0.455 USD.Credit Cards
Most hotels and restaurants, as well as many shops, accept
- Access
- American Express
- Carte Blanche
- Diners Club International
- Mastercard
- Visa.