Poland's vibrant capital, Warsaw (Warszawa in Polish, var-shah-va), is the country's largest city and epicentre of Polish commerce and culture. It offers an abundance of museums, clubs and concert halls, as well as the widest array of eating options. It's a major transport hub, and even if you're not planning a long stay, chances are you'll change trains here or arrive at/depart from one of the city's airports.
First impressions may not be entirely positive. Warsaw was levelled during World War II by occupying German soldiers and rebuilt in the 1950s and '60s in bleak Soviet style. Modern touches added since communism fell in 1989 have softened the edges, however, and the passing decades have lent that old Soviet architecture a hip, retro gloss.
Warsaw's Old Town looks old but dates from just around 60 years ago. It was rebuilt from the ground up after being reduced to rubble during WWII. The reconstruction, which took place between 1949 and 1963, aimed at restoring the appearance of the town in the 17th and 18th centuries. The centre is the rebuilt Old Town Square (Rynek Starego Miasta ).
Royal CastleCASTLE
This massive brick edifice, a copy of the original blown up by the Germans in WWII, began life as a wooden stronghold of the dukes of Mazovia in the 14th century. Its heyday came in the mid-17th century, when it became one of Europe’s most splendid royal residences. It then served the tsars and, in 1918, after Poland regained independence, became the residence of the president. Today it is filled with period furniture and works of art.
BarbicanFORTRESS
Heading north out of the Old Town along ul Nowomiejska you'll soon see the red-brick Barbican, a semicircular defensive tower topped with a decorative Renaissance parapet. It was partially dismantled in the 19th century, but reconstructed after WWII, and is now a popular spot for buskers and art sellers.
This 4km historic route connects the Old Town with the modern city centre, running south from about Plac Zamkowy along elegant ul Krakowskie Przedmieście, and ul Nowy Świat all the way to busy Al Jerozolimskie.
St Anne's ChurchCHURCH
Marking the start of the Royal Way, this is arguably the most ornate church in the city. It escaped major damage during WWII, which explains why it sports an original trompe l’œil ceiling, a rococo high altar and a gorgeous organ. The facade is also baroque in style, although there are neoclassical touches here and there.
Church of the Holy CrossCHURCH
This neighbourhood is chock-a-block with sumptuous churches, but the one most visitors will want to see is the Holy Cross, not so much for the fine baroque altarpieces that miraculously survived fighting during the Warsaw Rising, but to glimpse a small urn by the second pillar on the left side of the nave. The urn, adorned with an epitaph to Frédéric Chopin, contains what remains of the composer’s heart, brought here from Paris after Chopin’s death.
Chopin MuseumMUSEUM
The baroque Ostrogski Palace is home to a high-tech, multimedia museum showcasing the work of the country’s most famous composer. You’re encouraged to take your time through four floors of displays, including stopping by the listening booths in the basement where you can explore Chopin’s oeuvre to your heart’s content. Visitation is limited each hour, so your best bet is to book your visit in advance by phone or email.
Saxon GardensGARDENS
Stretching out a couple of blocks west of ul Krakowskie Przedmieście, these magnificent gardens date from the early 18th century and were the city’s first public park. Modelled on the French gardens at Versailles, the gardens are filled with chestnut trees and baroque statues (allegories of the Virtues, the Sciences and the Elements), and there’s an ornamental lake overlooked by a 19th-century water tower in the form of a circular Greek temple.
Palace of Culture & ScienceHISTORIC BUILDING
Love it or hate it, every visitor to Warsaw should visit the iconic, Socialist-Realist PKiN. This ‘gift of friendship’ from the Soviet Union was built in the early 1950s, and at 231m high remains the tallest building in Poland. The structure is home to a huge congress hall, theatres, a multiplex and two museums. Take the high-speed lift to the 30th-floor (115m) viewing terrace (adult/concession 18/12zł; 9am to 6pm) to take it all in.
Warsaw Rising MuseumMUSEUM
This modern, high-tech wonder traces the history of the city's heroic but doomed uprising against the Nazi occupation in 1944 through three levels of interactive displays, photographs, film archives and personal accounts. The volume of material is overwhelming, but the museum does an excellent job of instilling visitors with a sense of the desperation residents felt in deciding whether to oppose the occupation by force, and the inevitable consequence, including the Nazis' destruction of the city in the aftermath.
Łazienki ParkGARDENS
This park – pronounced wah-zhen-kee – is a beautiful place of manicured greens and wild patches. Its popularity extends to families, peacocks and fans of classical music, who come for the al fresco Chopin concerts on Sunday afternoons at noon and 4pm from mid-May through September. Once a hunting ground attached to Ujazdów Castle, Łazienki was acquired by King Stanisław August Poniatowski in 1764 and transformed into a splendid park complete with palace, amphitheatre and various follies and other buildings.
Museum of the History of Polish JewsMUSEUM
This high-tech marvel of a museum, years in the planning, opened to great fanfare in 2014. The permanent exhibition traces 1000 years of Jewish history in Poland, from accounts of the earliest Jewish traders in the region through the waves of mass migration, progress and pogroms, all the way to WWII and the destruction of Europe's largest Jewish community. Take an audioguide (10zł) to get the most out of the rooms of displays, interactive maps, photos and video.
Jewish CemeteryCEMETERY
Founded in 1806, Warsaw's main Jewish Cemetery incredibly suffered little during WWII and contains more than 150,000 tombstones, the largest collection of its kind in Europe. A notice near the entrance lists the graves of many eminent Polish Jews, including Ludwik Zamenhof, creator of the international artificial language Esperanto.
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