How to get to Bachotek
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By plane
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. Low fares airlines also operate Warsaw routes. The airport closest to Bachotek (about 120 km) is Bydgoszcz (BZG), but at the time of this writing February 2007) there are yet not many carriers and flights operating to this airport. When shopping for deals, instead going directly to an airline's web site you can try the services of the many available travel portals.
From the airport, delegates should take the Airport City bus to Warszawa Centralna (“Warsaw Central”) station: the bus journey costs 10 PLN (the current exchange rate is about 3.9 PLN to 1 EUR). Airport-City bus goes from the airport to the city centre about every 20 minutes. It takes about 30 minutes to reach the railway station. The ticket for a person (no baggage ticket necessary) can be bought from the bus driver. The Airport-City bus stop is located exactly at the exit from the airport building, near to the taxi lane. The busses are yellow and relatively small. The Airport-City buses go further than the Warszawa Centralna railway station so be careful to leave the bus on time.
The number 175 bus is a cheaper option (cost: 2.40 PLN, luggage 2.40 PLN), but the journey by this means may pose some dangers, particularly to those travelling with large quantities of luggage, exposed wallets, documents, etc...
You may also need to pay ~3 PLN to the assistant at the Office for calling a radio taxi (telephone number 919) to the station, the ride will cost you (20-30) PLN.
At the 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, MASTERCARD).
From Warsaw to Bachotek by train
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.
Because PKP, the Polish Rail, closed down the Tama Brodzka station to which until 2006 one could get conveniently by train (Bachotek is within 30 minutes walking from Tama Brodzka — see the map), it looks as if the best choice to get close to Bachotek by using a train is to travel to Toruń. In the PKP railways' time table search for a train connection from Warszawa Centralna to Toruń Główny. Once in Toruń, you can get a taxi to the main bus station (ask for “dworzec autobusowy"). It'll cost you 3 to 4 EUR. At the dworzec autobusowy you can get one of the quite frequent buses to Brodnica (see the bus time table). Preferable are buses with further destinations (see the bus time table for such buses), as one can ask the driver to stop further on the road at the “Ośrodek wypoczynkowy Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika”. If the buses final destination is Brodnica then this is also OK. You are very close to Bachotek, about 7 km. You can take a taxi (not expensive) or phone the conference bureau for arrangements (0048 56/498-53-84 when calling from abroad or 056/498-53-84 from Poland). If you decided 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) is also to be reached from a bus stop in Tama Brodzka on foot (about 30 min.). Take the road to Nowe Miasto (Olsztyn), pass the lake on your left, next turn left by the information table which reads “Ośrodek wypoczynkowy Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika” (see the scheme below).
Even better, here are a Google map of the last mile and the photograph of the crucial 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, particulary Western Europe, you will have to choose a border crossing. The best known, although sometimes crowded, is Frankfurt (am Oder). The alternative is the less frequently used local crossing at Kostrzyn. Once in Poland, you should drive in direction of Poznań, then Gniezno, Toruń, Olsztyn. (Bachotek is situated very close to the road Toruń-Olsztyn). For those arriving from Eastern Europe, the choice of border crossing depends on the country they drive from. (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 motorways: 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 0.2 promille.

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 this number: +48 603 694 517...
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