Katowice

Katowice is a city in southern Poland. It's the largest city of Katowice Urban Area - the largest conurbation in Poland populated by about 2.7 million people. Conurbation consists of 19 cities. Beside Katowice there are eight cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants in this area: Sosnowiec, Gliwice, Zabrze, Bytom, Ruda Śląska, Tychy, Dąbrowa Górnicza, Chorzów. All of them are connected by a joint public transport system.

West towards Wrocław, Dresden or Berlin (D)
From main railway station take bus 110, 910 direction Osiedle Paderewskiego Trzy Stawy, 672 direction Wesoła Kopalnia or 674 direction Giszowiec Przyjemna and get off at Osiedle Paderewskiego Graniczna. Go straight along the street and turn first right (south). Go till the end of the street where you'll find McD and petrol station on motorway A4.

Note: All the buses mentioned above go to 3 Stawy Shopping Centre which is on the other side of the motorway. There's probably more buses that go there from other parts of the conurbation, just ask people about 3 Stawy.

East towards Kraków, Rzeszów, Lviv (UA)
Get to the spot for direction Wrocław (see above). From there you can go to the other side of the motorway by the pedestrian bridge. Optionally you can get off at 3 Stawy Shopping Centre, which is on "your" side of the A4. There are two petrol stations where you can ask drivers.

North towards Częstochowa, Łódź, Gdańsk > , Warszawa
From main bus station in Katowice (close to the railway station) take bus 805 and get off at the last stop Sosnowiec Szpital Wojewódzki (hospital). From there walk straight till you get to the petrol station on expressway S86. Optionally you can take any bus to Sosnowiec and walk to the hospital, just ask people about Szpital (pronounce shpital).

South towards Bielsko-Biała, Czech Republic
It is perhaps most reasonable to try to reach Tychy and hitchhike from there. However, hitchhiking out in southern direction is also possible from Katowice; just reach the Orlen petrol station on Trzech Stawów Street, which is adjacent to Murckowska (the big three-lane street). Don't hitch from the petrol station, too many locals! Try to catch a ride from Murckowska. Be prepared for about one hour of waiting (as did User:Onmyown; it is better during rush hour when cars go really slowly.

Sleeping out
New railway station works and it is open already. As long as you are not looking for a place where you can sleep on your foam mattress (most probably security wont let you do that) but you need to spend a night somewhere, it is a really great option. Heated well during the winter and it has got 24h McD in there. Also free WiFi is provided. Just keep in mind that the railway station has got maintance break from 1:30 AM to 2:30 AM

The huge Slanski (Shlanski) park at the border between Katowice and Chorzow (Xoshov) at least in summer time, is a very good spot to wild camp. Avoid stay near the entrance and the stadium cause police or guards may annoy you, force you to go away or pay bribes. Getting inside the wood you will find for sure and easily a safe spot to sleep.

Katowice