🇩🇪 Cross-border drive · Germany → Poland 🇵🇱
Driving from Berlin to Łódź
- Drive time
- 4h 56m
- Distance
- 472 km
- Same day?
- Yes, doable
- under 8 h
- Fuel cost
- ≈ €58
- petrol · diesel ≈ €52
- Tolls
- ≈ €21
- per-km
- EV charging
- Plenty fast
- 12 of 45 ≥50 kW
On this page
Route map
Route options
Other paths OSRM found between the two cities — handy when traffic, tolls, or scenery matter more than raw speed.
Avoids motorways
+3h 13m- Distance:
- 468 km (−4 km)
- Duration:
- 8h 9m
Via: 92 · 72 · 24 · B 1; B 5
How else can you make this trip?
Driving is the focus of this guide; here's how cycling, coach, and (soon) train and plane stack up for the same pair.
4h 56m
472 km · €58 fuel
See details ↓
Not realistic
472 km is far beyond a typical multi-day cycle tour. Try a shorter pair like a day or weekend stage.
5h 30m
FlixBus-eu
See details ↓
6h 10m
Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn GmbH · PKP Intercity
See details ↓
Trip plan
How to think about the drive: one day, split, or overnight.
Easy one-day drive
Comfortable as a single day for one driver. Leave after breakfast, arrive with time to settle in.
- Distance:
- 472 km
- Duration:
- 4h 56m (free-flow, no traffic)
Where to stop
Places along the route that make natural breaks for coffee, lunch, or a night.
-
Rzepin 🇵🇱 pl
≈118 km≈ 1.8 km detour from the main route
-
Buk 🇵🇱 pl
≈236 km≈ 3.8 km detour from the main route
-
Konin 🇵🇱 pl
≈354 km≈ 11.5 km detour from the main route
Key moves
Things to know before you set off — borders, sides of the road, tolls.
Cross-border drive · DE → PL
You'll leave one country and enter another on this trip. Keep your ID close, even inside Schengen, and check current border-control status before you go.
Tolls on motorways in PL
Budget for motorway tolls — France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal charge per-km, Croatia and Greece by section. Contactless cards work almost everywhere; have one loaded.
Long rural stretch on 2 Autostrada Wolności
Plan for about 342 km of two-lane country roads. Slower than motorway, but often the pretty part — fewer overtakes after dark.
Long rural stretch on Autobahn der Freiheit
Plan for about 58 km of two-lane country roads. Slower than motorway, but often the pretty part — fewer overtakes after dark.
Must-know before you go
The things a driver from another country wouldn't think to ask about — fines, stickers, payment cards, opening hours.
City access & emission zones
Berlin Umweltzone covers everything inside the S-Bahn ring
Must knowBerlin
Green sticker required, no exceptions. The zone runs 24/7. Old diesels (Euro 4 and below) are banned outright. Foreign plates can order the sticker online at umwelt-plakette.de — about €13 plus shipping. Allow 7–10 days. Without it you're looking at a €100 fine even for parked cars.
Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart need a green Umweltplakette
Must knowGermany's low-emission zones (Umweltzone) are simpler than the French system but stricter on entry. You need a colour-coded sticker physically on your windscreen before entering. The vast majority of zones today require a green sticker (Euro 4+ petrol, Euro 6+ diesel). Order via TÜV / DEKRA / certified workshops — about €6–13, ships in days. Driving without one costs €100 even if your car would qualify.
What your car must carry
Triangle, first-aid kit, hi-vis vest — all three
Must knowGermany requires a warning triangle, a first-aid kit (compliant with DIN 13164, with a "use by" date — €10 at any pharmacy), and a reflective vest in every passenger car. Roadside checks do happen at borders. The first-aid kit is the one foreign drivers most commonly miss.
Driving rules & habits
Left lane is for overtaking only — return immediately
UsefulOn unrestricted Autobahn sections (where you'll see no speed-limit-end signs), faster cars expect to use the left lane unobstructed. Drift into it without checking the mirror and a 911 closing at 250 km/h becomes your problem. Indicate, overtake, return right — every time. Slowing in the left lane to "make space" is more dangerous than predictable speed.
Phone-mounted radar warnings are illegal
UsefulActive radar-detector apps (and the "police nearby" feature on Waze / Google Maps) are technically banned in Germany — fines hit €75. Most drivers leave them on without consequence, but if you're stopped for any reason, the officer can ask to see your phone. Switch the warning layer off when crossing into DE if you want to play it strict.
Fuel stations
Contactless cards work at virtually every motorway pump
TipMajor brand stations (Shell, Total, BP, Repsol, Cepsa, OMV, Eni, Esso) take Visa and Mastercard contactless without an issue. American Express and Diners are spotty south of the Alps. A €100 pre-authorisation hold is normal — it releases within 5 days. Carry €50 cash for the rare independent station.
Diesel and petrol typically 15–20% cheaper than DE/CZ
TipPolish fuel prices are among the lowest in the EU. If you're crossing from Germany or the Baltics, fuel after the border. Major brands (Orlen, BP, Shell) accept all major contactless cards; some independent stations are cash-only — the queue is the giveaway.
Money & connectivity
EU roaming covers calls, texts and data at no extra cost
TipYour home EU SIM works at home rates across every EU member, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The "fair use" cap on data only applies if you're abroad more than four months. For a 2-week road trip, just use your phone normally — but switch off "data roaming" if you're leaving the EU into UK / CH for any segment.
Emergency & breakdown
112 works everywhere in the EU and continental neighbours
TipSingle number for police, ambulance, fire — works from any phone, any network, any country. On motorways, the orange SOS pillars every 2km connect direct to the regional traffic control centre and pinpoint your location. Use them over your phone if you can — it speeds the response.
Rules, fees, and thresholds change. Always verify against the official source the day before you drive — this page is a checklist, not a legal reference.
Main roads
The highways this route spends the most kilometres on.
-
2 Autostrada Wolności342 km
-
A 113 Autobahnzubringer Dresden19 km
-
S14; 91 —15 km
-
A 10 —13 km
-
72 Aleksandrowska6 km
-
A 100 —3 km
Route character
How much of the drive is motorway vs. secondary vs. rural.
Rural-road drive — narrow roads, small towns, patience required.
- Motorway
- 7%
- Secondary
- 3%
- Other / rural
- 90%
Drive difficulty
At-a-glance feel: how demanding is this drive for one driver?
Overall
Challenging
Long day with at least one complicating factor. Split into two days or share the driving.
- Cross-border: de → pl. Keep documents accessible and check border rules.
- About 415 km on non-motorway roads where speeds and conditions vary.
Elevation profile
Highs, lows, and the total climb / descent along the route.
- Lowest point
- 36 m
- Highest point
- 214 m
- Total ascent
- ↑ 314 m
- Total descent
- ↓ 140 m
Fuel & tolls
Rough cost expectation for a typical EU passenger car. Treat as an estimate — pump prices change weekly.
Petrol (RON 95)
≈ €58
35.4 L × €1.64 / L · 7.5 L/100 km
Diesel
≈ €52
28.3 L × €1.85 / L · 6 L/100 km
Electric (DC fast)
≈ €40
83 kWh × €0.49 / kWh · 17.5 kWh/100 km
Public DC fast charging — slower AC charging at home or hotels typically costs about half.
Motorway tolls & vignettes
≈ €21
- PL — €0.05/km on the motorway network (≈ 419 km in-country ≈ €21)
Prices last refreshed 2026-10-12.
Fuel and EV charging along the route
Stations within a few kilometres of the road, sampled at evenly-spaced waypoints.
EV charging
12 at 50 kW or above (fast / ultra-fast).
Fastest first
- Ionity Poznan 350 kW
- Tesla Supercharger Berlin 250 kW
- Auto-Focus 3 — Fürstenwalde 175 kW
- Alexanderstraße — Berlin 150 kW
- PKN Orlen — Tulce 100 kW
- PKN Orlen — Krzyżowniki 100 kW
- Karl-Liebknechtstraße 13 — Berlin 50 kW
- PKN Orlen — Poznań 50 kW
- Greenway Galeria Malta Poznań — Poznań 50 kW
- Greenway Galeria Handlowa Panorama Poznań — Poznań 50 kW
- PKN Orlen — Łódź 50 kW
- PKN Orlen — Łódź 50 kW
Weather by month
Average daytime high / overnight low and typical monthly rainfall, over the past five years.
🇩🇪 Berlin
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
5°
0°
|
7°
0°
|
11°
2°
|
15°
6°
|
20°
10°
|
24°
14°
|
25°
15°
|
25°
15°
|
22°
13°
|
15°
8°
|
8°
3°
|
5°
2°
|
| 69mm | 52mm | 45mm | 36mm | 45mm | 65mm | 112mm | 49mm | 37mm | 65mm | 61mm | 61mm |
hot mild cold
🇵🇱 Łódź
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
4°
-1°
|
5°
-1°
|
10°
1°
|
15°
5°
|
19°
8°
|
24°
13°
|
25°
15°
|
25°
15°
|
22°
13°
|
13°
6°
|
6°
1°
|
4°
-0°
|
| 57mm | 46mm | 39mm | 38mm | 42mm | 56mm | 85mm | 90mm | 49mm | 57mm | 48mm | 45mm |
hot mild cold
Next 5 days at Łódź
Live forecast — refreshes every few hours.
-
Sun 25
⛅
8° / 8°
0.1mm
-
Mon 26
⛅
11° / 5°
—
-
Tue 27
☀️
12° / 3°
—
-
Wed 28
⛅
12° / 4°
—
-
Thu 29
⛅
9° / 6°
1.8mm
Forecast: MET Norway
Directions
Turn-by-turn summary of the main manoeuvres, generated by OSRM.
Show all 15 manoeuvres
- —
- (A 100) 3 km
- Autobahnzubringer Dresden (A 113) 19 km
- (A 10) 13 km
- Autobahn der Freiheit 58 km
- Autostrada Wolności (2) 342 km
- (S14; 91) 0.1 km
- (S14; 91) 15 km
- —
- —
- Szczecińska
- Szczecińska
- Aleksandrowska (72) 3 km
- Bolesława Limanowskiego (72) 3 km
- —
By coach from Berlin to Łódź
Indicative duration of the fastest direct long-distance coach found in the FlixBus and BlaBlaCar Bus EU schedules.
- Travel time
- 5h 30m
- Direct
- Operator
- FlixBus-eu
- Departures / day
- ~1
- Approximate based on the published schedule.
Show coach corridor on map
Schedules sourced from the FlixBus and BlaBlaCar Bus GTFS feeds via transport.data.gouv.fr. Times are indicative; verify on the operator's site before booking.
Booking link coming soon.
By train from Berlin to Łódź
Fastest cross-border rail itinerary from the public Transitous planner. Times reflect a typical Monday-morning departure on the next available service-day.
- Fastest journey
- 6h 10m
- 4 changes
- Lead operator
- Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn GmbH
- + 3 more
- Alternatives
- 6
- Itineraries returned by the planner.
Trains on the fastest itinerary
- RE1 (33769)
- EIC 49 Berlin-Warszawa-Express
- IC 8320 Barbakan
All operators across alternatives
- Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn GmbH
- PKP Intercity
- Łódzka Kolej Aglomeracyjna
- DB Fernverkehr AG
Show route on map
Routing via the public Transitous OTP planner (community-run MOTIS instance). Cached 24 hours; verify on the operator's site before booking.
How this page is built
Compiled by COD Solutions Oy from open European data — OSRM over OpenStreetMap for the route geometry, Open-Meteo for monthly climate normals, OpenTopoData SRTM 30m for elevation, EU Weekly Oil Bulletin for cross-border fuel-price bands, and Open Charge Map for EV charging stations. See our methodology for refresh cadence and limitations.