Skip to content
Plate Atlas
Driving abroad

Driving in Poland

The licence plates you will see on the road in Poland, how to read them, and what a car from abroad needs.

POLAND5090120140

Speed limits

Default limits for cars, unless signs say otherwise, as on the signs at border crossings.

In towns
50 km/h
Outside towns
90 km/h
Expressways
120 km/h
Motorways
140 km/h

100 km/h on single-carriageway expressways and on dual carriageways with two lanes each way.

Before you drive

Vignette and tolls
There is no vignette. Since 2023 state-run motorways and expressways are free for vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes; the privately run sections of the A1, A2 and A4 charge a toll. Vehicles over 3.5 tonnes and buses pay through e-TOLL on all national roads.
Environmental zones
Warsaw has had a clean transport zone (strefa czystego transportu) in the city centre since 1 July 2024, closed to the oldest petrol and diesel cars. Kraków set up a zone covering most of the city from January 2026, and Katowice one for the inner centre from 29 June 2026.

Rules and prices change. Check the official site before you travel.

PL

Country code

Cars registered here show the country code PL. Plates carry it on the blue EU band, which counts as the country sign: no separate oval sticker is needed in the European Economic Area, and the plate is also valid in other countries of the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. A car from abroad shows its own country code at the rear in the same way.

Reading the plates

Plates carry an area code that shows where the car was registered: 400 codes across 380 powiats. For example:

DBL 12345
Area codes on the mapAll area codes

Plates you will see

  • WA 12345

    Standard · Since 2000

  • KRA 2J45

    Standard · Since 2000

Special plates

Older plates still on the road

  • WAB 1234

    Standard · 1976–2000

Plate formats and history of Poland

Sources