By Karen Svold Coates, M.Sc. Biology · First-hand: both operators ridden with our dog, spring 2026 · Last updated June 2026

Dog on Polish Trains: RegioJet vs PKP Intercity, Compared First-Hand (2026)

Poland is one of the easier countries in Europe to travel by train with a small dog — no weight limit for a dog in a carrier, no forms, just a ticket and a leash. We crossed the country with Sofus, our 6.2 kg Coton de Tuléar, on two operators: RegioJet Business class from Warsaw to Kraków, and PKP Intercity first class from Kraków to Poznań. They gave us a direct comparison, and the honest verdict is that both are good and one is better. Here’s how each handled a dog, what they cost, the boarding realities, and the small trick that transformed every journey after.

Quick comparison

RegioJet carried the dog free and included food and drink; PKP Intercity charged a small dog ticket and shared compartments with strangers. RegioJet was the more comfortable experience — but its domestic Polish routes have since closed.

	RegioJet Business	PKP Intercity 1st
Route we rode	Warsaw → Kraków	Kraków → Poznań
Dog fare	Free	~15.20 zł (~€3.50)
Seating	4-seat compartment (buy all 4)	6-seat compartment (shared)
Included	Juice, water, coffee	—
Onboard prices	Very cheap	—
Muzzle rule	Read the room	Required, rarely enforced
Book at	regiojet.com	intercity.pl

Prices and rules are from spring 2026 — always confirm current details when you book.

RegioJet Business class: Warsaw to Kraków

A private four-seat compartment, the dog free, and juice, water and coffee brought to us throughout — for about €32 a head on a near-three-hour journey. The comfort was almost improbable for the price.

We booked at regiojet.com two weeks ahead. Business class comes in compartments of four seats; we were three adults, and on advice we bought the fourth seat too — so we had the whole compartment to ourselves and Sofus. It was one of the better decisions of the trip. Four seats came to €130.90 total. The dog travelled free.

What we hadn’t expected was the service: fruit juice and water on boarding, then several cups of coffee brought to the compartment during the journey — included, not sold. Onboard snacks were priced like a Polish supermarket, not a Danish train (a kombucha was a couple of złoty). The seats were wide and properly reclining, the windows large, the red upholstery and wood panelling genuinely comfortable. Sofus spent most of the journey on a lap watching the flat early-April countryside, calm from the moment we settled.

PKP Intercity first class: Kraków to Poznań

The long haul — 420 km, nearly five hours — with a small dog ticket and six-seat compartments you share with strangers. That sharing turned out to be the best part of the whole trip.

Booked at intercity.pl three days ahead: four first-class tickets plus a dog ticket (about €3.50 — PKP charges for a dog where RegioJet doesn’t), roughly €96 total for four seats and Sofus, on IC 3812 ‘Szkuner’, Kraków 12:40 to Poznań 17:29. First class here is six-seat compartments (three facing three), and with four seats we shared with whoever else booked. We’d feared that; we were wrong to.

Over the journey a slow rotation of strangers came and went — and at one stop a Polish woman in her late fifties saw Sofus and lit up, showing us phone videos of her own dog with her grandchild. A quiet young Mexican traveller joined in. Suddenly the compartment was three Danes, a South African, a Mexican and a Polish grandmother, all talking across languages about dogs and travel, with a small white dog working the room as the star. We boarded as strangers and got off almost as friends. A dog in a train compartment, we learned, is a conversation that hasn’t started yet.

The boarding is the hard part — on both

The journeys were calm; the getting-on was not. Crowded platforms at Warsaw and narrow corridors at Kraków (reached through a shopping mall and escalators) were the real challenge — made worse by heavy luggage.

At Warsaw Central the platform was crowded and our RegioJet ran 40 minutes late (a knock-on delay), so Sofus was in his carrier a long time — longer than the journey. We held the carrier close, above ankle height, out of the flow of hurrying travellers. At Kraków Główny, which sits under the Galeria Krakowska mall, boarding meant a long walk and escalators with all our bags, then a first-class corridor so narrow we had to reverse — luggage and all — to let other passengers pass. The lesson we kept relearning: travel light. Every extra kilo becomes a problem in a train corridor.

The mat trick that changed everything

Lift the padded mat out of your carrier and lay it on the compartment floor. The dog recognises its own scent, claims the spot, and settles instantly — instead of negotiating laps and seats for hours.

We discovered this on the PKP journey and used it on every train after. The Trixie carrier’s base mat lifts out in seconds; laid on the floor between the seats, it became Sofus’s own patch of territory on an unfamiliar floor. He lay down and relaxed for the rest of the journey. It costs nothing, takes ten seconds, and travels inside the bag you’re already carrying. If your carrier has no removable mat, pack a small blanket that lives in the carrier between trips so it carries the right smell.

The things that caught us out

One bout of travel sickness in two months, on the leg we were least prepared for. Pack a wipe kit, and limit your dog’s food before a long journey.

On the PKP leg Sofus was sick — the only time in two months, of course with an audience — and we had two paper napkins to deal with it. Bring babywipes and a zip-lock bag for the used ones; it weighs nothing. Afterwards we learned to limit his food in the hours before a long journey (enough that he wasn’t hungry, not so much there was a lot to bring back up), which helps with motion sickness. If your dog is genuinely prone to it, ask your vet about dog anti-nausea options before you travel — a far easier conversation to have in the clinic than to wish you’d had somewhere between Kraków and Poznań.

The muzzle question

PKP’s rules require a muzzle for a dog outside its carrier; in practice it was never enforced for us. Bring one, keep it visible, and read the room.

Sofus started the PKP journey wearing his muzzle; at some point it slipped off and we didn’t put it back. He was out of the bag for essentially the whole journey and no conductor said a word — whether because he’s six kilos of white fluff or because the rule is loosely enforced, we can’t say. Our advice stays the same: carry the muzzle, have it visible, and never relax it around children or in a crowd.

An important note on RegioJet’s Polish routes

RegioJet ended its domestic Polish services on 3 May 2026 — so the Warsaw–Kraków route we rode is gone. Its international routes from Poland still run, and we recommend them.

We travelled on 8 April 2026 and were, without knowing it, among the last to make that domestic journey with RegioJet. The Warsaw–Kraków route no longer appears on their site. What you can still book are RegioJet’s international routes — Prague–Ostrava–Warsaw and Prague–Ostrava–Kraków–Przemyśl, plus a wide Central European network. On the strength of what we experienced, we’d travel with them again without hesitation.

The verdict

Both operators made travelling Poland with a dog easy and pleasant. RegioJet was the better experience on nearly every measure — more comfortable seats, included food and drink, cheaper snacks, the dog free, and the option to buy a private compartment. PKP Intercity charged a small dog fare and meant sharing a compartment — which, against our expectations, gave us the warmest hour of the whole trip. Book RegioJet for the international routes they still serve; book PKP Intercity for everything within Poland, and don’t dread the shared compartment.

FAQ

Do dogs travel free on Polish trains?

It depends on the operator. On RegioJet, our small dog in a carrier travelled free. PKP Intercity charges a small dog ticket — about 15.20 zł (€3.50), added during online booking.

Is there a weight limit for a dog on Polish trains?

For a small dog travelling in a carrier, there’s no weight limit to worry about — a big advantage of the train over flying. Larger dogs out of a carrier must be leashed and, per the rules, muzzled.

Do I need a muzzle for my dog on PKP Intercity?

The rules require a muzzle for a dog outside its carrier. In our experience it wasn’t enforced for a small dog, but carry one and keep it visible.

How much does a first-class ticket with a dog cost in Poland?

Our four PKP Intercity first-class tickets plus the dog fare, Kraków to Poznań (420 km, nearly five hours), came to about €96 total — remarkable value. RegioJet Business Warsaw to Kraków was about €32 a head with the dog free.

Can I still book RegioJet in Poland?

RegioJet ended domestic Polish routes on 3 May 2026, so Warsaw–Kraków is gone. Its international routes from Poland (via Prague and Ostrava) still run and are bookable at regiojet.com.