I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect with Warsaw. I didn’t really know much about it, the name doesn’t translate into a nice sounding place in English and I’ve heard that it’s not a pretty place. I was intrigued.

I find the best travel experiences often happen when I have low or no expectations and that was definitely the case with Warsaw. This city has a great energy, many interesting attractions and I actually did find it pretty. There are many beautiful parks, a lovely Old Town, great public transportation and outdoor eating and drinking everywhere we seemed to go. It is just my type of place.

It’s made even more amazing by the knowledge that the Nazis absolutely pummeled this city in World War II destroying about 86% of the city. The reconstruction effort is unbelievable. I would never guess areas like the Old Town were constructed so recently.

Below you will find our guide to Warsaw – packed full of what to do in Warsaw, Warsaw tourist attractions, Warsaw accommodation, where to eat in Warsaw, how to get to Warsaw, public transportation in Warsaw, our travel budget and everything else you need to know.

Top things to do in Warsaw

If you are wondering what to see in Warsaw, don’t worry. There are a lot of things to do in Warsaw Poland. There are great museums, the reconstructed Old Town, beautiful parks and stunning palaces. Here’s 16 Warsaw things to do which are worth adding to your Warsaw sightseeing list.

Old Town

Warsaw’s Old Town is a small, but pretty section of the city. As mentioned above, it was reconstructed after World War II although I would never have guessed. It is UNESCO World Heritage listed. Walking around this area should definitely be on your list of Warsaw places to visit.

The best place to enter the Old Town is at Plac Zamkowy (Castle Square). This large square is bordered by the Royal Castle on one side which you can visit.

At the Old Town Market Square, you can also visit the Historical Museum of Warsaw to learn more about Warsaw’s history. Barbician is also a place worth visiting. From here, you can walk along the City Walls.

Monument to the Warsaw Rising

This striking monument is a short walk from the Old Town and honours the Polish revolt against the Nazis in 1944.

Palace of Culture and Science Viewing Terrace

The Palace of Culture and Science can literally not be missed. It was built in the 1950s as a gift from the Soviets and is still one of Europe’s tallest buildings. You can see it from many places and it has quite an ominous presence.

The best part about this building has to be the viewing terrace on the 30th floor. From here, there are fabulous views in all directions out over Warsaw and it is definitely one of the must see attractions in Warsaw.

Church of the Holy Cross

This 17th Century church is just south of the Old Town and is a pretty stop. The inside of the church is beautiful. It also contains the heart of Warsaw’s Fryderyk Chopin who died in Paris.

The Fryderyk Chopin Museum

Poland’s most famous composer is remembered in this museum with four levels of audiovisual exhibits which detail Chopin’s life, loves, possessions, work and time in both Paris and Poland. It is one of the most popular places to see in Warsaw.

I must admit that I did not know much about Chopin before visiting this museum. However, I found it quite enjoyable, not just to learn about Chopin but to get a snapshot of the time he lived in.

The audiovisual displays helped to keep the kids interested as well. They particularly liked listening to his music although they kept saying it was from Angelina Ballerina – a cartoon about a ballerina mouse! Sadly, that is probably the only time they have heard classical music, so I think it is an extra good thing that I brought them here!

There is also a children’s room with some interactive games and a public playground behind the building.

National Museum of Warsaw

This big museum is full of galleries showcasing exhibits from across the world.

S and I enjoyed looking through the collection of Medieval Nubian artwork and artifacts. There were also some interactive games in this area that we enjoyed playing together. Unfortunately, I cannot comment on the rest of this museum as Mr 3 was grumpy and tired so we did not get long enough here.

Polish Army Museum

Next door to the National Museum is the Polish Army Museum. It details the history of the Polish Army.

The best part, especially if you are travelling in Warsaw with kids, is all the tanks, fighter jets, canons and other weaponry which are located in the museum grounds. The kids and J loved walking around and checking this out. This part of the museum is open every day and does not require any admission fee.

Copernicus Science Centre

This science museum is just awesome! Both S and I loved it.

The Copernicus Science Centre was only opened in 2010 and it shows. It’s in a modern building and everything is flash and works well. There are many different areas and everything is hands on. I am not sure I have ever had so many things to do in a museum before.

The best part is that its great for all ages. There were tons of kids here but there were also plenty of people without kids. There are lots of clearly worded explanations (in Polish and English), so its easy to cater to every age. When it was something S could understand, I would explain. When it wasn’t, we had fun playing!

There is also an area just for 14+ year olds and an area for 5 and under. My only complaint is that the 5 and under area requires a separate ticket – this doesn’t cost anything but it gives you a time slot. I saw no indication of this on entry, so when we got to the area, we had to go back out again and get the ticket. By that time our slot was a few hours in the future and it wasn’t worth waiting around for. I wish we had known about it on entry. So definitely make sure you get this ticket when you arrive (ask for the Buzzzz Gallery).

It is extensive – we spent 4 hours in the science museum and didn’t do everything. We didn’t even check out their outdoor discovery park or enter the age specific areas. We highly recommend this as one of the best Warsaw attractions for kids (or big kids!).

The Heavens of Copernicus Planetarium

In a building conjoined to the Copernicus Science Centre is this planetarium.

I have actually never been to a planetarium before, but I have always wanted to. Thanks to the Warsaw Pass (more below), I finally had the perfect excuse. S and I watched the Galileo show.

The planetarium is big and modern. We laid back on our seats and watched the stars and planets unfold. It went for about 50 minutes with the first half being a presentation of the night sky and where different planets and constellations are at this time of year at different times of the night. The second half was a film about Galileo and his discoveries especially about the sun being the centre of the universe and the history of the telescope.

It was well done – informative and fun to watch. It was in Polish but we were given English headsets. Miss 5 was mesmerised. It is enjoyable and works well with a visit to the science centre.

Saxon Gardens

If you are looking for free things to do in Warsaw, a pretty spot or a cool playground, the Saxon Gardens are a beautiful city park located close to the Church of the Holy Cross and the Palace of Culture and Science.

They are home to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which is housed in the only remains of the Saxon Palace that used to stand on this spot before the Germans destroyed Warsaw in World War II. On our visit, there seemed to be visiting African dignitaries so we were lucky enough to see a small ceremony.

There is also a great kids’ playground.

Krasinski Gardens

This is another big city gardens, this time located just outside of the Old Town. It’s a great area to kick back on a sunny day and there is also a cute little kids’ playground that our kids enjoyed. You can also see where part of the Jewish Ghetto wall used to stand.

POLIN Museum of the History of the Polish Jews

This absolutely amazing museum should definitely be on your list of best things to see in Warsaw. It blew me away, saddened my soul and had me wanting to come back to learn more.

It’s located on the site of the old Warsaw Ghetto which existed when the Nazis ruled the city to house the Jews. The museum only opened its doors in 2013 and is housed in a great looking building with a Monument to the Warsaw Ghetto Heroes out the front. This monument is in memory of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943.

The core exhibition, which only opened in October 2014, is incredibly well done. It details the history of the Jews in Poland from when they first arrived in the area until today. It is engaging, well put together, colourful and interactive. It brought the history alive for me using films, books, quotes, photos, maps and informational boards.

We have been to a few Jewish sites in recent weeks and it was great to visit one which wasn’t just about the atrocities in World War II but brought together the story of the Jews since they were in this part of Europe. It was also a very interesting historical perspective on this area, especially as I do not know much about the history of Poland.

It is also very upsetting. I think it’s impossible to walk away from any story about the Holocaust without wanting to scream “WHY” and “HOW can this happen”. Now that I have kids, especially kids that have Polish Jewish ancestors, I find it hard not to cry or vomit or both. It touches me in a different way than it used to.

However, I did find the historical perspective fascinating. The whole museum is very informative and extensive. I felt like I rushed through and still spent three hours here.

We did not bring the kids to this Warsaw attraction as we both wanted to give it the time it deserved and it is not really an attraction for young kids. I am not ready to explain topics like this to a 5 year old. For older kids, I think it would serve as an excellent introduction to this area of history.

Lazienki Park

Lazienki Park is a gorgeous, massive park just south of the city centre. It is well worth a visit here, especially on a beautiful summer’s day. There is a great vibe and it is a nice place to just hang out. It was one of our best places to visit in Warsaw.

It is also home to many attractions, the biggest being the Palace on the Water. It was the former summer residence of King Stanislaw August Poniatowski and it makes for such a beautiful sight. There is also a botanical gardens located here.

The park is free, but the attractions within the park have admission charges. These are included if you buy the Warsaw Pass.

Centre for Contemporary Arts

Located in yet another beautiful city park, next door to Lazienki Park, is the Centre for Contemporary Arts.

I must confess that we did not have time to go in here. However, we walked up to this beautiful museum mistakenly thinking we were in Lazienki Park and it looks like an awesome art centre. There are also many cool looking cafes and bars in the vicinity and I will definitely visit here next time I am in Warsaw.

Hop on hop off sightseeing bus

We took the City Sightseeing hop on hop off bus that was included with our Warsaw Pass on one of our sightseeing days. This is an easy way to get around most of the attractions listed here – it is in walking distance of all but the Willanow Park, although it is about a 15 minute walk to the POLIN Museum of the History of the Polish Jews.

Our kids love these double decker buses so they were very excited to get to go on one. There is a commentary we could listen to with provided earphones. My only complaint is that the bus, like the one we caught in Tallinn, would go right past stops unless you were standing in the doorway waiting – is this a European thing?! It also didn’t always take the route on the map we had. I suggest if you take this bus that you tell the driver when you hop on where you want to get off to avoid any problems.

Willanow Palace Museum and Park

Last, but certainly not least, on my list of the best things to do in Warsaw, is the Willanow Palace Museum and Park.

This beautiful palace and park is located about 30 minutes by bus from central Warsaw and is well and truly worth the bus fare.

Built in the 17th century, this palace initially served as a summer royal residence. It is now home to a collection of European and Oriental art and beautiful interiors.

I am not usually someone who enjoys this type of attraction – I like seeing beautiful palaces on the outside, but interiors often bore me. However, I found this one to be quite different. It is just so beautiful and so well set up that we felt like we were wondering around someone’s home and I very much enjoyed it.

S also had a great time. She loves checking out other people’s houses and her Frozen fascination has her loving royal palaces. She especially loved getting to see the Queen’s apartment – it was quite impressive.

There is also a lovely park around the palace. Some is manicured perfectly with flowers and fountains and there is also a great stretch by a river which is also just beautiful. We had a great time exploring this attraction.

Warsaw Pass

We used Warsaw Passes to see the attractions listed above. This is an economical and convenient way to see the best places in Warsaw and also includes unlimited use of the hop on hop off sightseeing bus. The attractions covered by the pass include everything listed above that has an admission charge apart from the Polish Army Museum (but you can wander around the outside of this for free).

It also includes a couple of others attractions as well as an in depth guide book to Warsaw with more attractions than you will ever get around.

Kids under 7 are generally free (we only had to pay at Copernicus), so it is not worth getting the Warsaw Pass for young kids. I definitely recommend it for adults.

Accommodation in Warsaw

There are actually a lot of budget friendly hotels in Warsaw. Here are some we considered that come well recommended:

• Ibis Warszawa Stare Miasto Old Town – This hotel is of an international standard for a great price walking distance to many of the attractions. Click here for the latest prices.
• Novotel Warszawa Centrum – This good hotel is in an convenient location for a great price – only about US$50 a night when we were there. It also has the option of family rooms and up to two kids under 16 stay for free so this a good choice if you have kids. Click here for the latest prices.
• Hampton by Hilton Warsaw City Centre – This highly rated hotel is in a convenient spot for a good price. It has the option of rooms with sofa beds which makes this a great choice if you have kids. Click here for the latest prices.

We stayed for over a week, so we ended up staying in an Airbnb apartment. We had a great location and a fully equipped apartment with kitchen, washing machine etc for a good price. My only complaint? The curtains were basically non existent and the sun is up at 4am at this time of year! We had lots of early mornings.

If you are not a member of Airbnb yet, I would love it if you could sign up using this link – we will both get US$20! You can then check out the apartment we rented here.

Places to eat in Warsaw

You will not have to wonder where to eat in Warsaw for long – there are general stores and restaurants everywhere. We found it easy to find affordable, tasty meal options especially at lunch time when many places had lunch specials.

I had no problems whatsoever as a vegetarian. The places we went generally had a vegetarian section of the menu and in simple local places, non meat potato dumplings were always an option. I also saw a few vegetarian restaurants.

On our last night, we ate at a great Nigerian restaurant near our apartment called La Mama African Restaurant which was delicious! We have never tried this cuisine before and now I very much want it again. It also happened to have a kids play area which was an extra win. It’s a good price too.

Getting to Warsaw

We caught a Polski bus to and from Warsaw. This bus line has an extensive network in Poland as well as quite a few international routes as well. They are quick, easy, comfortable, clean and have free wifi in Poland. They also have some great deals on their website – it was only about $5 for our Wroclaw bus at the time that we booked.

Vilnius to Warsaw bus

This is a long journey – much longer than it looks on the maps. The roads are very local and the speed limit is often only 70 km/h. All up this journey took about 8.5 hours.

We caught a Polski bus which runs this journey twice a day. It only stopped a couple of times and was quick and easy. We had wifi once we went over the Polish border. There are also power points on the seats which was handy.

The bus from Vilnius to Warsaw is a pretty journey – the upside of no big freeways were lots of villages, farms and other scenery.

It is not possible to take a direct Vilnius to Warsaw train, so the Polski bus is by far the best option.

Read more about our time in Vilnius here.

Warsaw to Wroclaw bus

This is a quick and easy journey on the Polski bus and we only made a very brief stop.

It takes just under 5 hours between these cities. We had the front seats so it made for an extra pleasant journey since we had excellent views of the country side.

You can also catch a train between Warsaw and Wroclaw – more information here. Ryanair also flies between these destinations.

Read more about our time in Wroclaw here.

Getting around Warsaw

Public transport in Warsaw is easy. In addition to the hop on hop off sightseeing bus, there are buses, trams and trains in Warsaw which all make it easy to get around. Tickets are bought at kiosks and ticket machines which are seemingly everywhere.

Bus 180 is one worth looking up – it will get you to just about everywhere mentioned in this guide. For this reason, I recommend staying somewhere near this bus route which goes from Willanow Park, past Lazienki Park, near the National Museum, near the Chopin Museum, near Copernicus, past the edge of the Old Town and out the front of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews.

Medical services in Warsaw

I really wish I wasn’t able to share any personal experiences on this topic, but unfortunately I can.

Z has a skin infection that was not getting better, so we had to find a doctor. Thankfully Mr Google took us to this site. This doctor came to our apartment and was great for only 100 zloty.

We were then referred to the local hospital. This was also a very good experience (except for worrying about Z of course!). We ended up going twice and getting a whole lot of prescriptions. Z nearly had to be admitted but thankfully we avoided that. We were very impressed with our treatment.

Budget

We are travelling Europe on a budget of only 80 Euros a day for the four of us – we actually went just under this in Warsaw – as long as we don’t count the medical costs we had with Z. I can tell you, though, that medical costs are very reasonable. In fact, at our first hospital visit they couldn’t work out how to charge us so they didn’t!

We did not find things quite as cheap as in the Baltics, but still very good value.

Warsaw for kids

It is very easy to visit Warsaw with kids. It is very stroller friendly with generally wide even footpaths, lots of parks to walk through and we could usually push the stroller straight on to trams and buses.

We were often give kid menus at restaurants and colouring sheets and pencils. The kids had no problems with Polish food.

There are some fabulous and fun things to do in Warsaw – the Copernicus Science Centre is an obvious choice. We would also have liked to make it to Warsaw Zoo which sounds fabulous. Parks and playground are everywhere. Our kids were free at just about every attraction and (I believe!) free on public transport.

Our verdict

As you should be able to tell by now, we had a fantastic time in Warsaw. If you are wondering if Warsaw is a good place to visit, don’t! It’s great.

We are city slickers and always love bigger cities and Warsaw did not disappoint. It has a great energy and cosmopolitan feel, a fascinating (but very tragic) history and is just a nice place to hang out.

We had to deal with some stressful experiences in Warsaw – my daughter’s passport is damaged and needs replacing and my son’s medical problems. I think the fact that we were able to get past this and still enjoy our time in Warsaw shows what a great place it is. Usually when stuff goes wrong, I wish I was back in Australia, but I didn’t wish that once here.

All in all, we had a fabulous stay and we would definitely recommend Warsaw.

Read more about our time in Poland and dwarf hunting in Wroclaw!

Have you been or do you want to go to Warsaw?

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Tags:  Poland Travel Blog