Are you planning to visit Poland and wondering how much money you may spend there? Generally speaking, Poland is considered one of the cheapest countries in Europe to live in. Numbeo.com claims that a single person’s average monthly cost is €522 (2488zł) without rent. Curious if this is true? Stay with us and we’ll share with you a secret of the real costs of living in Poland as digital nomads.
Important notes
First of all – we come from Poland. We lived there for almost 29 years, basically our whole lives. We used to live in a small town, a medium city, and one of the biggest cities in the country. So before visiting in the summer of 2022, we knew more or less what to expect.
Secondly, the prices used in the post are valid for the period July-September 2022 and are accurate for Wrocław city, one of the biggest and supposedly one of the most expensive in Poland.
And last, at the end of the post, we’ll share the real cost of living while living a normal life in Poland until 2021, so you can see how that has changed over one year. When we were leaving Poland in August 2021 inflation was only 5.5% and in August 2022, it was already 17.2%. We ourselves were curious how and if that would influence our budget.
EUR/PLN exchange rate used in this post: €1=4,75zł
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Real Cost Of Living In Poland As Digital Nomad
Accommodation in Poland
In Poland, we lived in Wrocław. We don’t have our place there, and staying with family isn’t an option, so we used Airbnb to find our temporary home. As digital nomads, we have specific requirements that each place must meet:
- a whole place for ourselves,
- fully equipped,
- with great Internet,
- with a place to work,
- a parking spot is a must too, as we are traveling by car.
All of this translates into a higher price we have to pay for a place.
Our average monthly accommodation cost in Poland: 4500zł (€950)
Of course, the price will depend on various factors – for example, you’ll pay less if you’ll be satisfied with only renting a room instead of the whole place.
How to find accommodation in Poland?
The easiest way is to use websites like Airbnb or Booking. If you’re planning on staying longer you can try on websites like OLX or Otodom, but keep in mind that there you’ll mostly find offers with a minimum lease time of one year.
Grocery cost in Poland
We do our shopping in supermarkets. In Poland, you’ll find stores like Carrefour, Lidl, Aldi, Biedronka, Auchan, or E.Leclerc. When we came back we shopped in the same Carrefour that used to be our favorite for many years – it’s just best suited for our culinary needs. It’s said that shops like Biedronka, Lidl, or Aldi are the cheapest ones in general. But to be honest – we didn’t notice huge price differences. Plus in our opinion they are worse equipped.
Also, you’ll spot many small shops called Żabka – don’t do your groceries there. They are really overpriced and ok only for small emergency shopping.
Our average monthly groceries cost in Poland: 1250zł (€265)
It’s the price for vegetarian groceries as we don’t eat meat. In Poland, or at least in Wrocław, the selection of veggie products is amazing. Vegetarians, vegans – you’ll be in heaven.
Below you can take a look at sample receipts and photos from stores so you can check out the prices of various products for yourself.
Cosmetics cost in Poland
In Poland, cosmetics are mostly sold in drugstores called Rossman and Hebe, but can also be found in supermarkets. From our observations prices are very similar to those in other European countries.
Our average monthly cosmetics cost: 200zł (€40)
Going out in Poland
Restaurants in Poland
Interesting fact: while abroad we often miss our favorite restaurants from Wrocław. Yes, we just love eating out and we think Poland has one of the best restaurants (at least compared to many places we’ve already visited). Italian pastas, Neapolitan pizzas, sushi, Korean & other asian cuisine, and many more… Yummy!
Our average monthly eating out cost: 550zł (€115)
Cinemas in Poland
We also love going to the cinema.. In Poland, cinemas are really good (we especially can recommend Cinema City) – comfortable seats, modern screens, good sound quality, a wide choice of movies in VO, various screening types, and quite low ticket prices – only about €5-11 per person depending on a day and screen type.
Our average monthly going to the cinema cost: 120zł (€25)
Cost of transportation in Poland
We’re traveling by car so the only thing we need is gasoline. During our time in Poland we experienced quite a wide range of gasoline prices: from 7,95zł (€1,67) in July to 6,5zł (€1,35) in September.
On average we paid 7zł (€1,47)/L (95), so the whole tank (~45L) cost us about €65.
Of course, prices vary depending on the gas station, although they are quite similar. From our observations, Circle K, Shell, and BP have the lowest prices, while Orlen and Lotos are the most expensive ones. The highest prices are on highways.
When traveling by car, you also need parking. We always look for free ones first. In Poland, it isn’t really hard, especially outside city centers. In city centers, the average price per hour is around 5zł (€1), and we think the easiest way is to park in shopping malls if you need it only for a couple of hours.
If you’re traveling by plane we advise you to rent a car as it’s a very comfortable way of discovering Poland. You can use websites like rentalcars.com or look in local rental offices. The cheapest options we’ve found costs about €400 per month, of course plus fuel.
Another option is public transport. But to be honest, trains and buses aren’t really reliable and often experience huge delays, especially long-distance ones.
Cost of tourist attractions in Poland
Prices depend on the place. Most entry fees are quite low in our opinion, especially compared to other countries we’ve been to so far. Here are some examples of prices for one adult:
- Zamek Królewski na Wawelu (Wawel Royal Castle) – 30zł (€6,3)
- Kopalnia soli Wieliczka (Wieliczka Salt Mine) – 60zł (€12,7)
- Pałac Kultury i Nauki, Warszawa (Palace of Culture and Science) – 25zł (€5,2)
- Zamek krzyżacki w Malborku (Malbork Castle) – 70zł (€14,7)
- Zamek Ogrodzieniec (Ogrodzieniec Castle) – 21zł (€4,4)
- Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau (Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum) – 80zł (€16,8)
- Muzeum Panorama Racławicka (Panorama of the Battle of Racławice) – 50zł (€10,5)
Going to the doctor in Poland
We are Polish citizens so we don’t have to buy additional health insurance during our stay. If you’re from one of the EU countries (and insured in your residential country) you can use a free EHIC card (European Health Insurance Card) to receive treatment in another member country for free or at a reduced cost, if that treatment becomes necessary during your visit.
But EHIC doesn’t cover a lot of things so more important is to have travel and/or health insurance. Its prices may vary a lot depending on your country and your needs. We highly recommend buying good insurance as you never know when you’ll get sick or something bad will happen. Also, you probably won’t be happy with paying thousands for hospitalization, treatments etc.
You can take a look at special insurance for digital nomads: WorldNomads or SafetyWing. Prices start from $42 per month.
Internet costs in Poland
We already mentioned at the beginning that we always look for a place with a good Internet connection – and in Poland, in many places, the Internet is stable and fast. Outside the apartments, we use our mobile data plans. 4G is almost everywhere, but 5G is available in some places as well. You can choose roaming or can get a local prepaid SIM card to save a buck. Here’s a great article comparing lots of various prepaid options in Poland.
Also, to stay safely connected while traveling, don’t forget about a good VPN. We recommend Surfshark or NordVPN.
What can you save on?
Looking for savings during traveling? We’ve prepared a whole post where we’ve listed 20+ Tips On How To Save Money While Traveling. Be sure to check it out: 💰💰 20+ Tips On How To Save Money While Traveling 💰💰
Cost of living in Poland as digital nomad – Summing up
To sum up… Our average monthly cost of living in Poland was about 7000zł (€1475). So it looks like the costs are comparable to other countries we’ve visited, especially to Portugal we were spending around €1500 per month, and Spain – €1250.
But you have to take into account that we are comparing prices from different points in time. A few months have passed and prices in those countries have probably increased a little. Our guess is that now it would be about €50-100 more. But on the other hand, none of those three countries is experiencing inflation as high as in Poland… We, when we came back after a year, also felt it – groceries, gasoline, and eating-out prices soared.
Comparing digital nomad lifestyle to standard living in Wrocław, Poland
We were living in Wrocław for almost 6 years. During 2021 our average monthly costs of living were around 5000zł (€1050). This amount included things like renting a flat, food, going out, buying clothes/cosmetics, using private healthcare, paying bills… You know, everything needed for everyday life.
The main difference in price (nomad vs normal) is caused by the method of renting an apartment (long-term vs Airbnb).
Summing up
Ok, that’s it. We hope you found this post useful and that ųit will help you plan your expenses or even convince you to start your own journey shortly. If you have any questions about living in Poland – just ask, and we’ll be happy to answer. 🙂
