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🇷🇴 Cross-border drive · Romania → Poland 🇵🇱

Driving from Bucharest to Warsaw

Heads up You'll hit three different toll systems on this trip Plan your stops, not just your finish time Contactless cards work at virtually every motorway pump See all →
Drive time
18h 15m
Distance
1,275 km
Same day?
Split it
12 h+, plan a stop
Fuel cost
≈ €168
petrol · diesel ≈ €148
Tolls
≈ €30
mixed
EV charging
Plenty fast
20 of 47 ≥50 kW
Countries
🇷🇴 🇵🇱
2 countries
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.

Alternative

+14m
Distance:
1,672 km
(+398 km)
Duration:
18h 29m

Via: A1 · D1 · M1 · D2

Avoids motorways

+3h 11m
Distance:
1,183 km
(−91 km)
Duration:
21h 26m

Via: DN2 · 17 · Н-10 · 801

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.

By car

18h 15m

1.275 km · €168 fuel

See details ↓
By bike

Not realistic

1.275 km is far beyond a typical multi-day cycle tour. Try a shorter pair like a day or weekend stage.

By bus

No direct service

Our coach data (FlixBus + BlaBlaCar) doesn't list a direct service for this pair. National operators (e.g., National Express in the UK, Eurolines feeders) may still cover it — check their site directly.

By plane
BBU → WAW

2h 36m

from €40

See details ↓
By train
5 changes

29h 8m

Železničná spoločnosť Slovensko, a.s. · OEBB Personenverkehr AG Kundenservice

See details ↓

Trip plan

How to think about the drive: one day, split, or overnight.

Overnight recommended

Too long for a single-driver day. Plan on 2 overnight stop(s) to do this trip right.

A natural overnight stop near the halfway point: Kalush (ua).

Distance:
1,275 km
Duration:
18h 15m (free-flow, no traffic)

Where to stop

Places along the route that make natural breaks for coffee, lunch, or a night.

  1. Sihlea 🇷🇴 ro

    ≈159 km

    ≈ 5.9 km detour from the main route

  2. Mărgineni-Munteni 🇷🇴 ro

    ≈319 km

    ≈ 8.6 km detour from the main route

  3. Milişăuţi 🇷🇴 ro

    ≈478 km

    ≈ 6.4 km detour from the main route

  4. Otyniia 🇺🇦 ua

    ≈637 km

    ≈ 6.4 km detour from the main route

  5. Shchyrets 🇺🇦 ua

    ≈797 km

    ≈ 10.9 km detour from the main route

  6. Łańcut 🇵🇱 pl

    ≈956 km

    ≈ 6.9 km detour from the main route

  7. Lublin 🇵🇱 pl

    ≈1,115 km

    ≈ 14.6 km detour from the main route

Key moves

Things to know before you set off — borders, sides of the road, tolls.

Cross-border drive · RO → 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.

Vignette required in RO

Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Bulgaria, and Romania require a sticker or e-vignette for motorway use. Buy at the border — missing one is a heavy on-the-spot fine.

Long rural stretch on S19 Via Carpatia im. Prezydenta RP Lecha Kaczyńskiego

Plan for about 140 km of two-lane country roads. Slower than motorway, but often the pretty part — fewer overtakes after dark.

Long rural stretch on S12; S17

Plan for about 115 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.

Tolls, vignettes & road payment

You'll hit three different toll systems on this trip

Must know

This route crosses countries with mismatched toll mechanics — France's ticket-and-pay, vignette stickers, electronic-only stretches. There's no single transponder that works everywhere, but a Telepass EU device covers FR/IT/ES/PT and a Bip&Go covers the same plus a few more. For a one-off trip, contactless cards plus a Swiss vignette and Austrian e-vignette is the simplest mix.

Driving rules & habits

Plan your stops, not just your finish time

Useful

OSRM gives you free-flow drive time. Realistic add: 10% on motorway-heavy routes, 25% if you're crossing two cities. Eat at off-peak hours (11:30 lunch, 18:00 dinner) — service-area queues at noon kill 20 minutes. EU fatigue research is consistent: 15-minute break every 2 hours, full 45-minute break before 6 hours. The drive between hours 7 and 9 is where avoidable accidents cluster.

Fuel stations

Contactless cards work at virtually every motorway pump

Tip

Major 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

Tip

Polish 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

Tip

Your 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.

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.

  • DN2 Șoseaua Colentina
    212 km
  • A7 —
    195 km
  • S19 Via Carpatia im. Prezydenta RP Lecha Kaczyńskiego
    140 km
  • Н-10 вулиця Володимира Винниченка
    127 km
  • S12; S17 —
    115 km
  • Р-84 вулиця Леоніда Глібова
    103 km
  • 4 —
    76 km
  • Т-26-07 Сторожинецька вулиця
    46 km
  • A3 —
    45 km
  • М-10 —
    27 km
  • О140302 Цвітна вулиця
    19 km
  • 881 —
    15 km

Route character

How much of the drive is motorway vs. secondary vs. rural.

Rural-road drive — narrow roads, small towns, patience required.

Motorway
19%
Secondary
40%
Other / rural
41%

Drive difficulty

At-a-glance feel: how demanding is this drive for one driver?

Overall

Demanding

Tough drive — multiple complicating factors compound fatigue. Strongly recommend splitting across days.

  • Long drive: 18h 15m behind the wheel at free-flow speeds.
  • Cross-border: ro → pl. Keep documents accessible and check border rules.
  • About 918 km on non-motorway roads where speeds and conditions vary.

Elevation profile

Highs, lows, and the total climb / descent along the route.

Lowest point
59 m
Highest point
391 m
Total ascent
↑ 624 m
Total descent
↓ 593 m

Fuel & tolls

Rough cost expectation for a typical EU passenger car. Treat as an estimate — pump prices change weekly.

Petrol (RON 95)

≈ €168

95.6 L × €1.76 / L · 7.5 L/100 km

Diesel

≈ €148

76.5 L × €1.94 / L · 6 L/100 km

Electric (DC fast)

≈ €117

223 kWh × €0.53 / kWh · 17.5 kWh/100 km

Public DC fast charging — slower AC charging at home or hotels typically costs about half.

Motorway tolls & vignettes

≈ €30

  • RO — Vignette (motorway sticker / e-vignette) — €3.00 for 7 days Annual vignette is €28.00 if you drive often
  • PL — €0.05/km on the motorway network (≈ 535 km in-country ≈ €27)

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

47 found

20 at 50 kW or above (fast / ultra-fast).

Fastest first

  • iHunt EV 300kW AFI Palace Cotroceni — București 300 kW
  • Tesla Supercharger Bucharest 2 - Mega Mall — Bucharest 250 kW
  • Eldrive - Unirea Shopping Center Hub — Bucuresti 150 kW
  • Union Plaza — Bucuresti 150 kW
  • Vulcan Value Center Charging Hub — Bucharest 150 kW
  • GreenWay Elektrownia Powiśle — Warszawa 140 kW
  • Spațiu servicii A7 - Milcovul (sens Ploiești) — Milcovul 120 kW
  • Spațiu servicii A7 - Milcovul (sens Siret) — Milcovul 120 kW
  • Warsaw Supercharger — Warsaw 120 kW
  • Eldrive - OMV Coposu 50 kW
  • E.ON Drive - Hotel CH — Bucuresti 50 kW
  • Mol Timpuri Noi — Bucharest 50 kW

Weather by month

Average daytime high / overnight low and typical monthly rainfall, over the past five years.

🇷🇴 Bucharest

Month
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
8°
-0°
8°
-1°
14°
4°
18°
7°
21°
11°
29°
18°
33°
20°
32°
20°
26°
16°
19°
9°
11°
4°
7°
1°
48mm 22mm 46mm 70mm 69mm 31mm 44mm 27mm 41mm 56mm 94mm 46mm

hot mild cold

🇵🇱 Warsaw

Month
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
4°
-1°
5°
-1°
11°
2°
15°
6°
20°
9°
24°
14°
26°
16°
26°
16°
23°
13°
14°
7°
6°
2°
4°
0°
58mm 49mm 41mm 55mm 53mm 58mm 89mm 74mm 35mm 62mm 48mm 49mm

hot mild cold

Next 5 days at Warsaw

Live forecast — refreshes every few hours.

  • Mon 26

    ⛅

    11° / 5°

    0.5mm

  • Tue 27

    ☀️

    12° / 3°

    —

  • Wed 28

    ⛅

    12° / 4°

    —

  • Thu 29

    ⛅

    10° / 7°

    0.4mm

  • Fri 30

    ⛅

    10° / 7°

    1.2mm

Forecast: MET Norway

Directions

Turn-by-turn summary of the main manoeuvres, generated by OSRM.

Show all 124 manoeuvres
  1. Calea Moșilor 0.1 km
  2. Șoseaua Colentina (DN2) 3 km
  3. (A3)
  4. (A3) 45 km
  5. (A7) 195 km
  6. (DN11A) 0.1 km
  7. (DN2)
  8. (DN2) 45 km
  9. Calea Republicii (DN2) 0.6 km
  10. Centura Bacău (DN2T)
  11. Centura Bacău (DN2T) 5 km
  12. Strada Poligonului (DJ119)
  13. Strada Poligonului (DJ119) 2 km
  14. Strada Alexei Tolstoi (DJ119)
  15. Strada Alexei Tolstoi (DJ119) 0.4 km
  16. Bulevardul Unirii (DN2)
  17. Bulevardul Unirii (DN2)
  18. Calea Romanului (DN2)
  19. Calea Romanului (DJ207G)
  20. Calea Romanului (DJ207G) 7 km
  21. (DN2)
  22. (DN2) 32 km
  23. (DN2; DN15D)
  24. Strada Sucedava
  25. Strada Ștefan cel Mare
  26. Strada Ștefan cel Mare (DN2) 3 km
  27. (DN2)
  28. (DN2) 8 km
  29. (DN2)
  30. (DN2) 37 km
  31. (DN2) 6 km
  32. (DN2) 21 km
  33. (DN2) 2 km
  34. (DN2)
  35. Bulevardul 2 Grăniceri (DN2)
  36. Strada Sucevei (DN2)
  37. (DN2)
  38. (DN2) 16 km
  39. Centura Suceava (DN2P) 3 km
  40. Centura Suceava (DN2P)
  41. Centura Suceava (DN2P) 10 km
  42. (DN2) 39 km
  43. (DN2) 0.3 km
  44. (М-19) 6 km
  45. (Т-26-07)
  46. (Т-26-07) 6 km
  47. (Т-26-07)
  48. (Т-26-07) 19 km
  49. Сторожинецька вулиця (Т-26-07) 13 km
  50. Центральна вулиця (Т-26-07) 2 km
  51. Шевченка вулиця (Т-26-07) 4 km
  52. (Т-26-07) 2 km
  53. (Н-10) 5 km
  54. (Н-10) 10 km
  55. вулиця Володимира Винниченка (Н-10)
  56. вулиця Володимира Винниченка (Н-10) 11 km
  57. Новонарізна вулиця (Н-10) 7 km
  58. вулиця Грушевського (Н-10) 2 km
  59. Жовтнева вулиця (Н-10) 13 km
  60. (Н-10)
  61. (Н-10) 12 km
  62. Прикарпатська вулиця (Н-10) 11 km
  63. —
  64. (Н-10) 9 km
  65. Галицька вулиця (Н-10) 13 km
  66. (Н-10)
  67. (Н-10) 7 km
  68. (Н-10) 0.1 km
  69. (Н-10) 7 km
  70. (Н-10; Н-09) 11 km
  71. Калуське шосе (Н-10) 19 km
  72. Івано-Франківська вулиця
  73. Івано-Франківська вулиця 2 km
  74. вулиця Степана Бандери 2 km
  75. —
  76. вулиця Леоніда Глібова (Р-84) 21 km
  77. Шкільна вулиця (Р-84) 6 km
  78. Жидачівська вулиця (Р-84) 5 km
  79. вулиця Івана Франка (Р-84) 5 km
  80. вулиця Шевченка (Р-84) 6 km
  81. Фабрична вулиця (М-30; Р-84)
  82. Фабрична вулиця (М-30; Р-84) 4 km
  83. (Р-84)
  84. (Р-84) 10 km
  85. (Р-84)
  86. (Р-84) 9 km
  87. (М-06; Р-84) 4 km
  88. вулиця Тараса Шевченка (Р-84) 12 km
  89. (Р-84) 0.2 km
  90. (Р-84) 11 km
  91. площа Івана Франка (Р-84) 0.3 km
  92. Городоцька вулиця (Р-84) 11 km
  93. (Р-84)
  94. (Р-84) 6 km
  95. (Р-84) 0.2 km
  96. (Р-84) 2 km
  97. Цвітна вулиця (О140302) 19 km
  98. (М-10) 27 km
  99. —
  100. — 0.1 km
  101. (4)
  102. (4)
  103. (4) 76 km
  104. (877)
  105. (877) 2 km
  106. —
  107. — 4 km
  108. (881) 15 km
  109. Tysiąclecia (875)
  110. —
  111. Via Carpatia im. Prezydenta RP Lecha Kaczyńskiego (S19) 140 km
  112. — 1 km
  113. — 27 km
  114. (S12; S17) 115 km
  115. — 0.4 km
  116. —
  117. Trakt Brzeski (628) 3 km
  118. Bronisława Czecha (628) 4 km
  119. Ostrobramska 0.2 km
  120. Ostrobramska 3 km
  121. Aleja Księcia Józefa Poniatowskiego
  122. Aleje Jerozolimskie
  123. Rondo Romana Dmowskiego 0.1 km
  124. Rondo Romana Dmowskiego

By plane from Bucharest to Warsaw

Indicative travel time on a non-stop flight, based on great-circle distance, average commercial cruise speed (850 km/h), and a 90-minute allowance for taxi, security, and boarding.

Total time
2h 36m
Door-to-door from :from airport.
In the air
67 min
At ~850 km/h cruise speed.
On the ground
90 min
Taxi + security + boarding (typical short-haul).
Route
BBU → WAW
945 km great-circle.

Indicative fare: from €40 — fares vary by season, day of week, and how far ahead you book. Always check the airline or a meta-search before planning around this number.

Show flight path on map

Estimate-only. We don't pull live schedules or fares for flights — see the methodology page for how this number is computed.

Air travel emits roughly 5–10× the CO₂ per passenger-km of rail for the same distance.

By train from Bucharest to Warsaw

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
29h 8m
5 changes
Lead operator
Železničná spoločnosť Slovensko, a.s.
+ 2 more
Alternatives
5
Itineraries returned by the planner.

Trains on the fastest itinerary

  • EC 280
  • EC 206
  • EIP 3800

All operators across alternatives

  • Železničná spoločnosť Slovensko, a.s.
  • OEBB Personenverkehr AG Kundenservice
  • PKP Intercity

Includes a high-speed rail leg (TGV, ICE, AVE, Frecciarossa-class).

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.

Keep exploring

Reverse trip: Warsaw to Bucharest

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More routes to Warsaw