Living cost in Poland
Approximately € 100 per month for food if you are cooking by yourself. Eating out is more expensive. You will also need some money for books and writing materials. Personal spending: about € 50 per month including leisure activities such as cinema (ticket price € 5). Depending on your life-style and habits you have different needs.
Current average rate of currencies You can find on web site of Polish National Bank: www.nbp.pl
Currency exchange: If you wish to exchange euro (or other currency) into PLN you have at you disposal exchange desks at border crossings, airports, railway stations, hotels and special exchange counters called KANTOR.
There are many banks in Poland. They are usually open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6p.m. You can open an account in Poland (usually only passport is needed) or get money directly from the account in your home country through a cash machine. If you decided to open a bank account in Poland and you do not speak Polish, we would advise you to ask a Polish colleague to accompany you.
In the Academy’s building there is a cafeteria Amigo where one can buy beverages, sandwiches, sweets and some hot meals. The price of lunch is approximately 10 PLN.

Where to sleep?
Taking into account the longer stay in Poland, you better apply for granting a student dormitory (about 100 euro / month per person) - http://student.us.edu.pl/akademiki-us-sosnowiec or rent a private room. In finding an accommodation, a worker of the Academy will be found helpful. If you want to find your accommodation yourself, check online service centres: www.gratka.pl, www.nieruchomosci-online.pl

Connection and transport:
How to travel?
Considering an excellent location of Dąbrowa Górnicza, you can commute easily among the most interesting places in the region and country. The driveway to Katowice takes about 30 minutes, to Cracow, less than 1 hour, to Warsaw, 2.5 hours and to the Polish Baltic Sea famous city - Gdańsk, about 8 hours.

In the region, buses and trams are the best means of transport. The detailed timetables and a price list of bus and tram tickets are accessible on www.kzkgop.pl www.pks.pl website

If you want to take longer trips, the best mean of transport is a train. The fastest railway is the intercity connection servicing both domestic and international connections. Timetables and price lists are available on a www.intercity.pl website. However, the Polish National Railways offer cheaper connections called "pospieszny" (fast train) - price lists and timetables are available on a www.pkp.pl website. It is possible to get a timetable via sms. In order to get the information about the 5 approaching connections e.g. from Gdańsk to Cracow after 10.15 a.m., you need to send an sms meaning: Gdansk do Krakow Głowny 1015. (without the Polish signs) on 71757.

Direct railway connection to:
• Warszawa, capital city (distance 270 km);
• Katowice, (distance 20 km);
• Łódź, (distance 180 km);
• Częstochowa, (distance 69 km);
• Gdańsk, (distance 618 km);
• Wrocław (distance 190 km)

Students of the Academy of Business in Dąbrowa Górnicza are entitled to a price ticket discount in a regional and domestic transport, on the basis of the student identification card, issued by the Academy.

Approximately € 20 per month is a monthly payment for local transport (bus, tramways). Taxi journeys are more expensive: about € 20 per drive from Dąbrowa Górnicza to Katowice.

In the international communication, the fastest and usually the cheapest mean of transport is a plane. It is possible to get to the Pyrzowice Katowice airport in about 30 minutes by bus from Dąbrowa Górnicza and to the Cracow Balice airport in about 1 hour. The detailed price list and a flight schedule are accessible on a website of cheap carriers: www.wizzair.com, www.easyjet.com, www.ryanair.com.

Airport in the vicinity:
• Katowice - Pyrzowice Airport (distance 24 km);
• Kraków - Balice Airport (distance 70 km);

Shopping
In Dabrowa Gornicza and region there is a great base of stores, shops and shopping malls. The opening hours may vary but most shops are open from 10.00 till 18.00. Supermarkets are usually open from 10.00 till 22.00 at weekdays and till 20.00 at weekend.


Where to eat?
Studying at the Academy of Business in Dąbrowa Górnicza, you can attend the AMIGO 2001 student club and the canteen, which prepares meals 7 days a week (breakfasts, dinners and suppers). There are also numerous restaurants to choose (www.sphinx.pl, www.dagrasso.pl, www.pizzeria-vinci.pl, www.telepizza.pl, www.pizzeriasantorini.pl, www.pizza-ambrozja.pl).

Where to entertain?
In the "Pogoria" shopping centre (5 minutes on foot from the Academy) you can do your shopping (www.ch-pogoria.pl), use an offer of hairdressing and cosmetic salons, watch a good film in the HELIOS cinema (www.heliosnet.pl) and also have a meal in restaurants (www.kfc.pl, www.mcdonald.pl, www.pizzadominium.pl). 

The Place of the Culture in Dąbrowa Górnicza is the animator of regional cultural activities (www.palac.art.pl). There are organized numerous concerts, theatre performances of artists of both national and foreign stages. There also functions the “Sztygarka” City Museum (www.muzeum-dabrowa.pl) and the City Library (www.biblioteka-dg.pl)

Basic costs and tourist information offices: www.thevisitor.pl

Polish specialities and eating habits
There are the things one must try before leaving Poland:
Polish cuisine has elements taken from the cooking traditions of many national groups that lived in the country side by side for centuries, notably the Jews, Ukrainians, Belarussians and Lithuanians. There are also some Russian, German, Czech and Austrian influences as well as dishes from more distant regions: Italy, France and the Middle East.
We have traditional dishes, such as schabowy (a pork chop), bigos (cabbage served with vegetables and meat traditional stew typical of Polish and Lithuanian cuisine that many consider the Polish national dish), gołąbki (chopped pork and rice wrapped up in a cabbage leaf, then cooked in a tomato sauce) or pierogi (pockets with mushrooms, meat or fruit) on the other hand, we eat more salads and vegetables.
For breakfast we usually have cereals, tea, coffee or milk, yoghurt, or toast, sometimes sandwiches or eggs. Many people have lunch in the early afternoon. Dinner, served in the late afternoon, is the main meal. Salads, potatoes, rice or pasta with meat are served. A piece of cake or fruit is a good dessert as well as traditional Polish desserts like doughnuts (Polish: pączki) or Polish gingerbread (Polish: pierniki) from Toruń.
Eating out - Cities have a wide range of restaurants, bars, pubs, and fast foods places. Some restaurants specialize in national cuisine - Polish, Italian, French, Chinese and so on. Vegetarians will find good restaurants as well. Cafes, apart from tea and coffee, offer cakes and other sweet desserts.