ECM20 Kraków 2001 - General Information

General Information

Conference venue

The conference area is located at a distance of about 1.5 km from the Old Town and within a walking distance from Hotels and University Dormitories. ECM 20 Registration and Information Desk will be open for participants from Saturday, 25 August, from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. in the lobby of the Collegium Chemicum, Jagiellonian University, ul. Ingardena 3, located in the University Area. The University Area is easily reached from Kraków Main Railway Station (Kraków - Dworzec Główny) either by bus or by tram:

Bus line No 179 links Kraków Main Railway Station (Kraków - Dworzec Główny) to the University Area (5th bus stop: AGH).
Tram line No 15 links Kraków Main Railway Station (Kraków - Dworzec Główny) to the University Area (5th tram stop: Oleandry).

Single tickets for buses and trams can be purchased at tobacco kiosks (2.20 PLN in the area of City) or directly from the bus (or tram) driver (2.70 PLN).
From Balice Airport the conference area can be reached by bus line No 208, which links Balice Airport and the University Area (bus stop: Czarnowiejska) or by Bus line No 192 (fare as above), which links Balice Airport and the University Area (bus stop: Cracovia). Single tickets for bus No 208 can be purchased at tobacco kiosks (2.60 PLN) or directly from the bus driver (3.10 PLN).

Language

The conference language is English.

Visas

No visas are necessary for participants coming from most countries of the world. Nevertheless the non-European community participants are adviced to check if they meet the visa requirements for their entry to Poland. The Chair of ECM 20 will write, on request, a personal letter of invitation for any individual scientist. This invitation letter will only be provided to help with travel arrangements (visas, etc.) and excludes any financial commitments on the part of the organisers or any reduction of the conference fees.

Transportation

By train:
Kraków has direct international connections with Berlin, Bratislava, Bucharest, Budapest, Dresden, Frankfurt, Kiev, lvov, Odessa, Prague and Vienna, and also with almost all important towns in Europe via Warsaw, or via other Polish towns.

By plane:
The International Airport in Balice, about 15 km from the Kraków City Centre, has direct connections to Frankfurt, London, Milan, Paris, Rome, Vienna, and Zurich. There are numerous connections via Warsaw and some other Polish airports, not only to European capitals and all important cities, but also to all the world metropolies. From Warsaw to Kraków the ECM 20 participants are encouraged to take quick trains, Express or Intercity (2.5 hours). From Okęcie Airport in Warsaw to the Main Railway Station please take bus provided by Polish Airlines LOT or city bus No 175 or Radio-taxi MPT (phone 919) to avoid the risk of fraud.

By road:
Kraków can be reached by road E77 from North (via Warsaw, Kielce) or from South (via Chyżne) and by road E40 from West (via Wrocław, Opole, Katowice, including an optional paid motorway A4 Katowice - Kraków) or from East (via Rzeszów, Tarnów). Please note that there are many inexpensive coaches connections between Kraków and main European cities.

Climate and clothing

In the second half of August the weather in Kraków should be quite sunny, with temperature 20 - 30° C during the day, and about 10 - 15° C at night or early morning. However, a warm sweater or jacket and an umbrella might be very useful in case of a weather change.

Currency

Local currency in Poland is new Polish Złoty (zł, PLN). The exchange rate is about:

1 EUR = 3.8 PLN
1 PLN = 0.26 EUR
Credit Cards such as Visa Card, MasterCard, Diners Club and AmEx are accepted in many restaurants.

Wojciech Nitek : nitek@chemia.uj.edu.pl