Driving in Katowice

Poland: 1 scheme to know about before you drive in.

The short answer for Katowice

Katowice has one driving restriction on our books: the Strefa Czystego Transportu Miasta Katowice (low emission zone). What is a low emission zone?

What it means for your car

Petrol or LPG. Euro 3, or first built in 2000 or later, for a spark-ignition vehicle — and that holds from the zone's opening on 29 June 2026 until 31 December 2033, whether or not the driver lives in Katowice. From 1 January 2034 it becomes Euro 4, or a 2005 build year, with no end date. Unusually for a Polish clean transport zone the resolution draws no distinction by weight: the petrol requirement is written once and applies to a car and a lorry alike. Residents of Katowice sit under a separate schedule with the same petrol figures, so on the petrol side a visitor is no worse off than a resident.
Diesel. Euro 5, or first built in 2009 or later, for a compression-ignition vehicle driven by anyone who is not a resident of Katowice. That runs from the zone's opening on 29 June 2026 until 31 December 2033, and from 1 January 2034 it becomes Euro 6, or a 2014 build year, with no end date. Residents get a slower ladder — Euro 4 or 2005 until 30 June 2029, Euro 5 or 2009 to the end of 2033, then Euro 6 — so a visiting diesel faces a tighter test than a local one for the first three years. As with petrol, the resolution sets no separate figure for heavy vehicles: the same standard covers a car and a lorry.

Sources last read on 2026-09-14, from the authorities' own pages. The next scheduled check is 2027-03-21.

The schemes, one by one

• Strefa Czystego Transportu Miasta Katowice Low emission zone

  Katowice has run a clean transport zone since 29 June 2026, over a small block of the city centre bounded by ul. ks. Piotra Skargi, ul.

  Moniuszki, ul. Pańki, ul. Dudy-Gracza, ul.

  Warszawska, ul. Francuska, ul. Mariacka Tylna, ul.

  Dworcowa and ul. Słowackiego. The national act bans everything but electric, hydrogen and natural-gas vehicles, and the council's exemptions decide the rest.

  A driver from outside Katowice needs Euro 3 or a build year of 2000 for petrol, and Euro 5 or 2009 for diesel; that holds until the end of 2033, when it becomes Euro 4 and Euro 6. Residents of Katowice have a gentler tier and anyone from the wider Górnośląsko-Zagłębiowska Metropolia who already owned the vehicle before the zone opened is exempt indefinitely.

  There is no charge, no windscreen sticker and no day allowance: entitlement is read straight out of the national vehicle register. Motorcycles, public-service buses, special, veteran and historic vehicles are outside the ban. The fine comes from the misdemeanours code and is up to 500 zloty.

Driving to Katowice?

Starting from

Check the route to Katowice

Lists the schemes on the road you would take, and when you would reach them.

Before you set off

Other cities in Poland

• Krakówabout 69 km away, 1 verified scheme
• Warsawabout 259 km away, 1 verified scheme
• Szczecinabout 467 km away, 1 verified scheme