How to get to Bachotek

By plane to Warsaw

Fryderyk Chopin Airport (WAW)

Participants arriving from overseas will probably fly into the Warszawa (WAW) Fryderyk Chopin airport: the national carrier (whatever this means nowadays) is LOT. Many other carriers (e.g., British Airways, KLM, Lufthansa) fly to Warszawa. Some low fares airlines also operate Warsaw routes.

Modlin Airport (WMI)

Please note also that Ryanair operates between Warsaw Modlin (WMI) airport and several European cities, check your options. For train connections from that aiport see below, for more info see, e.g., here.

From airports to the railway station

From the Chopin airport, one may choose one of the convenient but not cheap private transportations to the main train station, see, e.g., here. The number 175 public transport bus is probably the cheapest option (transport of luggage is free, the ticket might be bought at one of airport news stands), but the journey by this means may pose some dangers, particularly to those travelling with large quantities of luggage, exposed wallets, documents, etc...

Of course you may take a taxi to the Warszawa Centralna railway station.

A good option might be the city SKM train service operating from both Chopin (line S3, tickets at ticket booths, validate the ticket in the train by the train driver) and Modlin (bus shuttle to the station, tickets at ticket booths) airports to the Warszawa Centralna railway station. For the time table see here — when checking the times, please use the proper names of the airports (Warszawa Lotnisko Chopina, Modlin Lotnisko) and the target railway station (Warszawa Centralna).

By plane to Bydgoszcz then Brodnica

The airport closest to Bachotek (about 120 km) is Bydgoszcz (BZG). At the time of this writing (January 2017) Ryanair (to/from UK, Ireland) and Lufthansa (to/from Germany) operate there. When shopping for deals, instead going directly to an airline's web site you can try the services of the many available travel portals.

When arriving in Bydgoszcz, you might get the bus 80 to town (bus 80 time table). It stops at the bus station where you can connect to Brodnica, only about 7 km from Bachotek (check the time table).

Lufthansa passengers (and other airlines if arriving conveniently) coming in from Frankfurt might take advantage of the bus service operating to Toruń, see at the bottom of this page. In Toruń get off at the Odrodzenia stop, which is just nearby the bus station, where you can catch a connection to Brodnica (for the time table see below). 

From Warsaw to Bachotek via Toruń

The best choice to get close to Bachotek by using a train is to travel to Toruń or even Brodnica. In the PKP railways' time table search for a train connection from Warszawa Centralna to Toruń Główny, or better still, Brodnica.

At the Warszawa Centralna railway station there are possibilities for exchanging money (on better terms than at the airport) as well as making the ticket payment with a credit card (VISA, MASTER CARD).

When really tight on time for your connection to Toruń, you may choose to go to the Warszawa Zachodnia railway station by the SKM train service from both Chopin and Modlin airports. You might gain by this up to 20 mins. Please check the platforms of your connections.

Train travel within Poland is not expensive, and it is advisable that delegates book first-class accommodation with reserved seats if possible: couchettes and sleeping cars (the latter are single-sex) are available on some overnight trains. Beware of pickpockets: they are known to operate on Warszawa Centralna station on trains arriving and departing from there. Never allow yourself to be forced to pass between two strangers while making your way down the corridor of a train.

From Toruń to Bachotek via Brodnica

Once in Toruń (railway station), you can get a taxi to the main bus station (ask for “dworzec autobusowy"). It'll cost you 4 to 5 EUR.

At the bus station you can get one of the buses quite frequently going to Brodnica (see the bus time tables page). Preferable are through-buses with destinations like Nowe Miasto or Olsztyn, as one can ask the driver to stop at the road sign to “Ośrodek wypoczynkowy Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika”, from where it's only about 800 meters (a 9 minutes walk).

When in Brodnica (either by bus from Toruń, see above, or by train from Warszawa) then you are almost there, about 7 km from Bachotek. You can take a taxi (not expensive, try phoning: 56/9628 or 56/9629 ) or phone the conference bureau at +48 564985384 for arrangements. If you decide to take this route, drop an email to secretary at gust dot org dot pl, we might help you even further.

Bachotek (the conference venue) can also be reached from a bus stop in Tama Brodzka on foot in about 20 min. Take the road to Nowe Miasto (Olsztyn), pass the lake on your left, go uphill for a while, next turn left by the information table which reads “Ośrodek wypoczynkowy Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika” (see the map and the photograph of the “key turning point” at the main, number 15, road to/from Olsztyn).

By car

If you prefer to drive to Bachotek, and are coming from outside Poland, particularly Western Europe, the easiest and fastest connection is using the E30 (A12 in Germany, A2 in Poland) crossing the border at Frankfurt/Oder. The border crossing is fast as due to the Schengen Agreement the passport checks are light. The A2 is a toll road (for details consult e.g., tolls.eu). Leave the highway A2 for E261/S5 to Gniezno. In Gniezno take the road no. 15 to Toruń, direction Olsztyn (Bachotek is situated very close to the Toruń-Olsztyn road).

People crossing the Lithuania-Poland border will drive via Suwałki and Olsztyn; the Belorus-Poland border — Briest, Warszawa, Brodnica; the Ukraine-Poland border — Lublin, Warszawa, Brodnica.

Pay particular attention to speed limits (50 kph in towns/villages, 90 kph outside, 110 kph on expressways and 140 kph on highways like the A2: any/all of these may be overridden by signs). Speed limits are strictly enforced by concealed radar traps, and “no overtaking” zones may be monitored using binoculars! The alcohol limit for drivers is 0.02%.

Arrived at the gate?

If yes, try to get into the fenced area of the Bachotek Holiday Retreat. This should be possible even at night, as the porter should always be in his lodge near the main entry gate. Once within, please go to the conference office located at the entrance to the Lecture Hall unless it is deep into the night when the porter will try to help, even if your languages don't match.

Else, try phoning +48 603694517...