Best day to visit Szczecin. Friday or Saturday April '013

[21c123]

I will be in Berlin from April 17th to 24th 2013 and I am planning to spend a day in Szczecin.

Do the bus and trams run more frequently on a weekday or a Saturday?

Arriving by train using a BVG 7 day ticket to get to Tantow and local ticket onwards , so I would need to buy a day ticket for Szczecin.

Any advice/help appreciated. My only previous trip was in April 2008.

Regards
Michael Taylor
Binbrook, Ontario, Canada

[koziutek]

I will be in Berlin from April 17th to 24th 2013 and I am planning to spend a day in Szczecin.

Do the bus and trams run more frequently on a weekday or a Saturday?

Haven’t been in Szczecin since 2005, but with the help of internet I can respond some of your questions.

Generally speaking, as in majority of world’s transit networks, weekday is a better day for a visit for sure.
Tram headways are comparable, most routes run every 12 min. both on weekdays and on Saturdays, the difference is that on Saturdays such frequency is being provided roughly between 9am and 6pm, while on weekdays it begins in the early morning and lasts until 7.30-8pm. The exceptions are:
rt. 7 & 12 (they get boosted to a 6-min frequency during the weekday peaks)
rt. 4 & 10 run only on weekdays; 4 from 7am to 5pm, 10 only during the peaks.
rt. 1 – on weekdays it runs only in the peak, on Saturdays every 24 min. from 9am to 7pm.

The differences are more significant for the buses, Saturday headways usually vary from 20 to 60 min., while the weekday service is as twice frequent as that on most routes.

I’m not familiar with equipment assignments, but I suspect that you can spot more older 105N cars during a weekday – they will be replaced soon with another bunch of second-hand Tatras.

You can find detailed schedules posted on http://www.zditm.szczecin.pl/rozklady/index.html - no English version unfortunately, so here is a short glossary:

Linie tramwajowe dzienne zwykłe – trams
Linie autobusowe dzienne zwykłe – local buses
Linie autobusowe pospieszne - rapid buses (double fare applies for single tickets, but the 24-hour pass allows to use them w/o any surcharges)
Linie autobusowe nocne - nighttime buses
DNI POWSZEDNIE– weekdays
SOBOTY - Saturdays
DNI ŚWIĄTECZNE - Sundays and Holidays (luckily, there are no holidays in Poland during the period of your visit)
WIELKANOC, BOŻE NARODZENIE I NOWY ROK – Easter, Christmas & New Year’s Day (ignore that)

Arriving by train using a BVG 7 day ticket to get to Tantow and local ticket onwards , so I would need to buy a day ticket for Szczecin.

Yes, if you'll use your BVG pass for getting to Tantow, you’ll need to purchase separately a ticket for the Tantow – Szczecin part and a pass for Szczecin’s transit.
There is a promo Berlin – Szczecin ticket including a round-trip on the train and free transit rides in Szczecin, but it costs 20 euros, while a return Szczecin – Tantow costs 6.60 EUR and the 24-h pass costs 12.00 PLN – roughly 2.90 EUR. So it doesn’t make sense in your case.

[stoch_95]

[...] Szczecin – Tantow costs 6.60 EUR [...]

Ticket for a train from Szczecin to Tantow costs 2,60€, there is a special tariff for this conection.