How really cheap is in Poland?

im going to krakow, and ive heard it is very cheap, but how cheap is it reallY? thanks

depends what you call cheap

I heard that everything is for free.

well, im from ireland, where it is very expensive, will i be shocked by how cheap it is, or will it only be marginally cheaper than ireland?

well if you come over with euro's, yes you will find that it is cheaper.

.......you may need a hearing aid then <grin> <joke> :)

When i went to Poland from Norway i was shocked over how cheap it was there ,i would think you would be pleasantly supprised. Norway is the most expensive country in europe possibly most expensive in the world.

I have a job that has me working for 3 week ,then i have 3 weeks off. I'm thinking about buying an apartment in Poland and live there in my 3 weeks off ,and then rent the place out when i'm not there.

Good question! The American dollar is not doing nearly as well as the Euro or British Pound, but I know it is better than the Polish zloty......whilst in London, I know it is going to be very expensive to buy clothes and such, but how about in Poland? Are clothes relatively the same price wise or are they much cheaper in Poland?

Ranj, my wife says that she could find clothes cheaper in London than in Poland

Really? Does she have any suggestions on where to shop? Will not have a lot of time in London, but would like to shop a little before I leave there.

i will ask her, and get back to you next week if thats cool, a couple of the girls here should also be able to point you in the right direction too.

Bills and services are relatively cheap here but If you want to buy for example some top quality Italian clothes then they will be probably more expensive here than in western Europe because fewer people can afford them, so they are imported in smaller numbers.

Oxford Street, all the high streets shops are on their Ranj - here's an idicator on prices:-

A pair of nice shoes - between £40 - 60, a dress from lets say Topshop would be about £50 - 70 (dollar is about 1.85 to the pound at the moment)

Bonus is - all the sales are on the moment so you should get some really really good bargins and since the average size of a women in the UK is about a 12 / 14 you should have an abundance of choice in the 6 - 10 sizes :)

Ranj, drop me an email and I'll send you a list of places where to go :)

^-- Porta, I must be honest with you... you are probably going to struggle to get anyone to live as a tenant for 3 weeks at a time. A way it would possibly work is short term rentals of your apartment as a "hotel" - kind of more like a bed and breakfast...?!!

Poland used to be very cheap but then a lot of things were imported from the former Soviet Union. I have heard that petrol, gas and electricity are as expensive in Poland as they are in the U.K. Prices are not really important as they mean very little in themselves-if you live and work in that particular country it is the spending power of your wages that counts. Now, in Poland, if you earn £100 per month, you have serious problems.

When are you going to Krakow? I'll be going there soon as well.

Last summer I went to H&M in Poznan with a friend from Germany. She said that the prices were much lower in Poland for the exact same products.

On the contrary, when I was living in London, I often found that in high street shops, size 6 is the first to sell out. If anything, the size 8s and 10s are quite abundant. And if there's a sale, ALWAYS, its the size 10s, 12s, 14s, 16s which are left behind whilst all the smaller sizes gone! I'm wondering if all the size 6 women out there just go snapping up all the best designs for themselves and the shops don't bother putting in new stock or is it that the shops don't bring out a lot of size 6 stock in the first place? It always drives me mad!!! In many other UK cities, high street stores don't even bother bringing in size 6 stock or they bring in very little, whereas in London, they always have size 6s, but like I said, you must be very quick to see them and grab them because its unlikely you'll ever see the item in the shop again if you wait just a few more days to make up your mind!

On the topic raised in this discussion, I can't say from personal experience whether Poland is "cheap" but I am going there next month for holiday and will soon find out! The Polish people I know have told me before that Poland is an expensive place to live in - kind of like England, but... I can't remember exactly if they said its because in Poland there aren't enough jobs to go around, or if they said that Polish jobs don't pay as well as abroad/UK, hence they migrated from Poland seeking jobs and a new life.

OK, here's another question....I have seen different responses.....In America, I wear a size 4/6....what is the conversion in the UK? I have seen where I am suppose to add 2 and add 4. For example, for a size 4 it is either an 8 or a 10....which is correct?

According to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Clothing_Sizes, US size 4 is roughly equal to UK size 6, and US size 6 roughly equals UK size 8.
I'm confused myself. If I buy bottoms from A & F / Hollister I wear size 0.
If I buy bottoms from GAP I wear size 0 or size 1 depending on design.
Some clothing manufacturers don't seem to follow standard sizes.
In UK most times I wear size 6, but sometimes, for example when it comes to Jane Norman clothes, I wear size 8.
Your best bet would be to actually try on the clothes in the shop and see which fits best.
Its not just women's clothes that are like this, baby clothes are even worse. Some brands seem to "undersize" their baby clothes, so that I have to buy one size up all the time. Other brands seem to be very generous in their sizing and their clothes typically lasting much longer than the sizing on the tag indicates.

Just ask some specific prices (goods, services etc.) and it will be easier for us to answer.

for example (exchange rate British pound/Polish zloty: 1 GBP = 5,6 PLN approx.)
a 0,5 litre Polish beer (Żywiec, Tyskie, Lech)
- in a shop: 2,50-3,00 PLN
- in a pub (bar) 6-12 PLN (I guess some places may charge even more, but I haven't been in Kraków for a while)
- pizza 10-20 PLN (I guess?)
- tram/bus ticket ~3 PLN
- train ticket for about 80 kms ~14 PLN (or more for faster trains)

some other shop prices:
- bread 1,50-3 PLN
- tomatoes, bananas, oranges ~4-5 PLN/kg
- grapes ~8-12 PLN/kg
- apples ~2-3 PLN/kg
- orange juice 4 PLN (apple juice 3 PLN)
- Polish vodka 0,5 litre 20-30 PLN (of course there are some more expensive too)
- Finlandia vodka 0,7 litre ~50 PLN
- Italian dry red wine 0,7 litre - cheapest IGT, DOC ~20 PLN, cheapest DOCG ~30 PLN
- milk 1 litre ~2-2,50 PLN
- music CDs 30-80 PLN (usually the more popular the more expensive)
- films on DVDs 40-80 PLN, but if you want Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or Kill Bill for example, you can find it for 15-20 PLN (just plain movie, no extras)

Very informative posts, Krzysztof. Thanks.

Would I be correct in saying that a US dollor is equal to around .35 Polish zloty ?

no - other way round i think

1 USD = 2.76812 PLN 1 PLN = 0.361255 USD

has Krzysztof got nothin better to do.

only kiddin yer you can buy ted baker jeans in freeport braintree essex for 20 gbp's
now thats cheap but for the quaulity you get in poland it's very cheap.
we took 40 quid out a day had dinner and got drunk,and a taxi back to wrescescz (however you spell that place) the music was good and the ladies just lovely. what more could a man ask for. thats why i am goin back alot he he

lol wrszezcz... lived there first time i was in poland - going home had to buy a train ticket to the next stop coz i couldnt pronounce it!

Thanks...trying to figure out your costs vs what we pay here !

size 6 stock is limited generally because its not a size that is a big seller - so there are usually less in that size ordered, but also in general (due to the more shaply female these days) they are the sizes that are left, I would love to know the places that still have size 10 left because I can never find them....

Ranj, if you are a 4 / 6 in the US then you will be 6/8 - 8/10 in the UK, not sure if they size the same as do here in the UK, they have made sizes more generous so in actual fact size means nothing hence the reason we are bringing in euro sizes which go by the actual size - i.e. 30 cm, 32cm etc....good luck in ya bargain hunting :)

back on topic, Poland is good for reasonably priced shoes.

hey mate we got pissed on polish vodka got on the train to somewhere happened to be gdansk did not buy a ticket for two days then found out we had to get one from the kiosk so we did then found out two days later we had to stamp them too just before getting stopped by a guard on the train.ooops
people from the uk need to know buy a ticket from the machine or kiosk then use the machine to stamp or validate the ticket other wise you will be in trouble we were very lucky.used the old tickets we had bought then stamped them for the next two days,

we are naughty but nice