I paid €63.99 for First on the EC56, a seven-and-a-half-hour EuroCity run through southern Poland and into Germany. A 6-seat compartment, a dining car, a border check, and a verdict that changed on the way.
The EC56 route: Kraków Główny to Berlin Hbf via Wrocław.
Most PKP First Class reviews describe the EIP Pendolino, a slick 2+1 domestic service with meals and hosts. The Krakow-to-Berlin EuroCity, EC56, isn't that train: it's older stock with six-seat compartments, three facing three.
I paid €63.99 for a forward-facing window seat on 14 September 2025, a Sunday, for a scheduled 7h 5m run. The train is called the Wawel after Krakow's royal hilltop castle, and it pulls into Krakow Glowny well ahead of time with a long dwell before departure. First Class was empty when I boarded.
On arrival in Berlin I was fourteen minutes late, a bit stiff, and had changed my mind about the upgrade. Going in I thought First Class wasn't worth paying for on this train. Coming out I still think PKP oversells the product, but I'd book it again.
Happiness begins where expectations end.
Note to self, by the time we hit Frankfurt (Oder)
Scores below reflect First Class on the EC56 Wawel older-stock EuroCity running Krakow to Berlin. They don't apply to EIP Pendolino services on domestic Polish routes, which are a different product. The overall score is editorial, not a mean of the axes.
The EC56 is a single-day journey. The seven-and-a-quarter hours break naturally into four geographic segments: southern Poland farmland, Silesian industry, the German border check, and the run into Berlin. Here's what each one delivers.
The train leaves Kraków Główny mid-morning and runs through the Małopolska countryside towards Silesia. The scenery is rolling farmland and small towns. Board early, claim your compartment seat, and get your first coffee from the trolley service before the aisle fills up. Katowice is the first substantial stop - expect a brief platform halt.
The journey's most industrial section, crossing Upper Silesia. The train calls at Katowice, then picks up four smaller stops through Upper Silesia - Zabrze, Gliwice, Kedzierzyn-Kozle and Opole - before pulling into Wroclaw Glowny. Wroclaw itself is a striking station with restored Gothic architecture, worth looking up from the compartment. Good window for the dining car lunch service if you haven't booked a meal delivery to your seat.
After Wroclaw the train tracks westward, calling at Legnica and three further stops - Lubin, Glogow, Zielona Gora. It continues to Rzepin near the Polish-German border. This is the stretch to step into the corridor if you want a look at Second Class - briefly, courteously. The tighter seat pitch in Second is genuinely visible from a corridor walk-by.
The ten-minute stop at Frankfurt (Oder) is the day's set-piece. German federal police board the train: in my compartment they glanced in and moved on, in others they asked for passports outright. Keep an EU ID card or non-EU passport to hand either way. After departure the train tracks west through Brandenburg and past Ostbahnhof into Berlin Hauptbahnhof, usually a few minutes late.
The EC56 runs two classes, and the difference is narrower than PKP's marketing implies. Both are six-seat compartments with identical facilities: power socket at every seat, individual reading light, air conditioning, and overhead luggage rack. The variable is seat pitch - First Class has more legroom between the facing rows. Applied across seven hours in a full compartment, that single fact is the whole upgrade decision.
Same 6-seat compartment layout as First Class. Same amenities. Tighter seat pitch. On a full train you'll be 'knocking knees' with your opposite neighbour for the duration. Pays off on shorter hops; less fun on the full 7-hour run.
Same compartment shell, more legroom between the facing rows. Identical power, lighting, AC. The €24 upgrade buys elbow room, not luxury. Worth it if the compartment fills up (usually does) and especially for taller passengers on a full-day trip.
The EC56 has a WARS restaurant car attached mid-train, and it's the best soft-product story on this service. Sit-down table service, a proper menu, hot meals cooked on board - rare on a 2026 European daytime train. Deutsche Bahn has quietly shrunk comparable catering on EC and IC services over the past decade, and plenty of routes now make do with a trolley or nothing. The food I ate was good, the prices were fair given the captive audience, and it's one of the best arguments for taking this train over a flight.
There's also a trolley service that works its way through the compartments during the day. Coffee and snacks, cheap enough that you don't feel fleeced, though the coffee portion is small. One caveat on the restaurant side: a waiter handed me somebody else's schnitzel, the chicken I'd actually ordered turned up five minutes later, and I ate the schnitzel. Book a table earlier rather than later if lunch matters to you.
The EC56 is one direct Krakow-Berlin train a day, with three other daytime directs via alternative routings. Seating is reserved and walk-ons aren't a plan. Book two to four weeks ahead as a minimum, earlier for summer and December. The EC56 is through-running from Przemysl in eastern Poland, but it pauses at Krakow long enough that you'll have time to settle in before departure.
Sample pricing from my booking: First Class €63.99, Second Class €39.99, with flexible fares running higher at roughly €80 and €128. Interrail and Eurail global pass holders need a seat reservation. The fee is €1.30-€2.80 per passenger depending on the fare tier, plus a €2 booking charge via the Eurail or Interrail system. December 2025 brought a 54% expansion of Poland-Germany cross-border services, up to 17 daily trains, so check whether a better-timed departure now exists for your date.
I booked through Trainline, which charges a small fee but shows the itinerary in English - worth the extra to know exactly what I was booking. Koleo.pl is cheaper if you're comfortable with the Polish interface. I travel solo and took a forward-facing seat by the door, which was all that was left. The compartment was full at Krakow and stayed busy throughout; when a couple got off at Katowice, new passengers took their place.
Two practical notes for UK and Ireland travellers. Bring a two-pin round EU adapter for the seat-side power socket, which is otherwise useless to you. Pack a snack for the first hour, because WARS doesn't open early and the trolley takes a while to find you.
My video of the Kraków to Berlin trip in First Class (Planet Patrick).
The EC56 Wawel Krakow to Berlin in First Class isn't the premium product PKP's marketing implies. It's an older six-seat compartment with better legroom than the Second Class version of the same compartment. The WARS dining car is genuinely good, the ride is long, the stops are measured, and the border check is a European-rail set-piece rather than a burden. For €63.99, that's a solid day's travel.
Second Class on this exact train costs €24 less and gets you the same compartment with tighter seat pitch - the whole upgrade decision. On a 7.5-hour journey in a full compartment the elbow room is worth it; on a shorter hop, save the money. One thing worth stating plainly: this isn't the EIP Pendolino product you'll read about everywhere else. If you want that train, you need a different route.
Travellers crossing southern Poland to Berlin who want a comfortable long day on the rails, a genuine hot meal, and more knee room than Second Class will give you.
Anyone expecting the 2+1 Pendolino product, anyone who needs reliable wi-fi for a working day, or anyone in a hurry. A 90-minute flight still exists.
