As the capital and largest city in Poland, Warsaw is among the most fascinating cities in Europe with a rich and complex history, beautiful and diverse architecture and a rich cultural and academic heritage. Built by the banks of the Vistula river, Warsaw has been the capital of Poland since the 16th century, when it was moved from Krakow.
From this point, Warsaw became a city of immense financial and political importance as the centre of one of the largest powers in Europe, becoming known as the Paris of the North.
Sadly, after multiple divisions of Poland, catastrophic conflicts in both world wars (some 85% of the city was destroyed in the Second World War), the devastation of its centuries-long Jewish community and being forced into communism, much of what had made this city famous seemed to have been lost.
However, the city has earned the nickname of the Phoenix City and is once again an important political, cultural and financial centre that has rebuilt its Old Town and many of its once lost buildings in a symbol of resilience that makes this an inspiring city. So what should you do when in Warsaw? We divide this article into Old Warsaw (pretty much everything predating the 20th century), New Warsaw (everything since), museums and religious buildings.
Old Warsaw
One of the most impressive facets of Warsaw is its Old Town, which was extensively rebuilt following its utter destruction in the Second World War. This area is filled with beautiful colourful buildings alongside magnificent churches, shops and restaurants, and the Old Town Market Square is its centre. Horse and carts clip-clop their way along cobblestone streets with an enchanting effect as you explore.
Of interest in this area are the mermaid statue in the square, which is a symbol of Warsaw, the Basilisk (indicating the place where a basilisk is said to have lived hundreds of years ago), the Wishing Bell (a 17th century bell that plays a role in a famous fairy tale), Zegar Zygmunta (a remarkable clock) and Mieszko the Stone Bear (a statue of a bear said to be a prince waiting for true love’s kiss to break his spell).
The area’s back streets are beautiful and great to explore, but we recommend making time to visit the Barbican (the Old Town’s ancient city walls, which withstood the destruction of the Second World War) and particularly the Royal Castle. This former residence of Polish royalty was originally built in the 14th century and once served as the country’s parliament.
It is among the most incredible buildings in the country, rebuilt in its opulent magnificence. It holds a number of fascinating objects, including paintings used as a reference for reconstructing the city, and allows you to walk through Poland’s former parliament, where the first codified constitution in Europe was drafted in 1791. There is also a restaurant here, while the gardens are a good place to unwind. The impressive Copper-Roof Palace is also next door.
This is a UNESCO World Heritage site, along with the rest of Warsaw’s Old Town, showing the immense work that went into restoring the city’s history and beauty, reminding us particularly of Vienna. There are many Chopin recitals in this area, which we recommend visiting.
In front of the Royal Castle, you’ll find Castle Square, famous for Sigismund’s Column (built in 1644 and dedicated to the king who moved the Polish capital to Warsaw) as well as a tower with a terrace offering beautiful views over the Old Town. There are also many beautiful churches nearby, but we’ll cover those in the religious buildings part of this article. This is also a good place to start the so-called Royal Route, with a statue to the national bard Adam Mickiewicz nearby, which leads south from here and takes you past some of the city’s most interesting landmarks.
Among the many beautiful buildings you’ll see on the route, there are the Presidential Palace (one of the official residences of the Polish head of state, originally built in 1643 but rebuilt since then), Ujazdów Castle (there’s been a castle on this site for hundreds of years and it now houses Warsaw’s Centre for Contemporary Art) and Łazienki Park.
Palace on the Isle
This is the largest park in Warsaw and is the setting for some of the city’s most interesting sites, including the 17th century Palace on the Isle (one of the most beautiful buildings in the city), the 18th century White House (where Louis XVIII lived during his exile from France), Myślewicki Palace, the Old and New Orangery and the monument to King John III Sobieski, as well as the relatively modern Chopin Monument, next to which they hold free Chopin recitals every Sunday.
The area near this park is also stunning, with the 17th century Belweder Palace being likely the most famous as the other official residence of the Polish head of state and the namesake of the famous vodka. Head further south still (consider getting a taxi as it’s quite some distance) and you’ll find Wilanów Palace, an opulent 17th century royal palace that survived both world wars and serves as a reminder of Poland as it once was, before the tragic events that followed its partition in the 18th century. If you get chance, visit this during the Festival of Lights, when this is lit up with beautiful decorations at night.
There are of course many other old sites to discover in the city, from the Jewish Cemetery (one of the largest in Europe), Krazienski Palace and its park, to Saxon Gardens – a lovely area to unwind and also home to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Grand Theatre
The area near the old town features many fascinating buildings, including the Bristol Hotel, the Polish Academy of Sciences (with the Copernicus Monument in front of it) and nearby university buildings and particularly the rebuilt Grand Theatre, one of the largest theatres in the world, built in 1833.
New Warsaw
Warsaw’s modern history is traumatic and can be seen everywhere you look, with the city rightly being proud of what it has overcome. Even if the Old Town, you’ll find monuments marking the lines of the Warsaw Jewish ghetto as well as notes explaining the destruction and reformation of the city, along with monuments like one to Józef Piłsudski, the Polish statesman largely responsible for Polish independence following the First World War.
Meanwhile, the largest monument of the city’s communist past is the Palace of Culture and Science, built in 1955 as a present from the Soviet Union to show friendship between the two nations. It is built in a similar style to many others in the Soviet Union from the same era, notably the main Moscow State University building.
While it understandably divides opinions in Warsaw, it is an important building in the city that offers fantastic views. The area surrounding the building has many other modern high-rise buildings, making for an impressive skyline. Those interested should consider visiting the former site of the Polish politburo (ironically having served as the Polish stock exchange since), with an artificial palm tree in front of it called Greetings From Jerusalem Avenue, a reminder of the once large Jewish presence in the city (over 30% before the Second World War, now under 1%).
Near this area you’ll find a large number of modern shops, bars and restaurants, as well as businesses and beautiful buildings, including old palaces, parks and churches. The National Philharmonic building is an interesting structure in this area, while we particularly recommend stepping back a century in time and visiting Warsaw’s Fotoplastikon, a stereoscopic theatre that is virtually unchanged since it first opened in 1905.
The pride of the city in having rebuilt following the Warsaw Uprising and the Second World War is undeniable, with there being many landmarks remembering that period of history, including the Monument to the Heroes, the Warsaw Uprising Monument, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Memorial and the Little Insurrectionist statue, dedicated to the children who died in the Warsaw Uprising.
You will also find memorials in places like Mila 18, one of the last strongholds of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and the former Gestapo headquarters. You will likely also see a symbol around the city of a P and W together, resembling an anchor. This is the symbol of the resistance used during the Warsaw Uprising.
Today, Warsaw is a beautiful and ever-changing modern city. Head across the Vistula and make your way into Warsaw Zoo, and its nearby resident bears just outside of the zoo. Praga was once known as being a poorer part of the city, but today it is the setting for a mix of interesting bars, restaurants and galleries. While in this area, we recommend visiting the Wedel chocolate factory, where Poland’s delicious Wedel chocolate has been made for over a hundred years.
There are many other interesting sites in the city and if you don’t mind a little detour, the city’s former gasworks and its Tibetan art gallery (painted underneath a motorway). We also recommend taking a leisurely stroll along the banks of the Vistula, which is a beautiful area not only due to the nature but also because of its remarkable buildings, including the university library, the Copernicus Centre and its street art, not to mention a pre-war mermaid statue, a symbol of the city’s resilience.
Museums and Galleries
As a major cultural and historical centre, Warsaw has a fantastic selection of eye-opening and innovative museums and galleries. To begin with, the Museum of Warsaw in the Old Town Market Place provides an interesting overview of the history of life in the city, while its top floor (mind the stairs) offers some of the best views of the Old Town around. The Marie Curie Museum, based in the house Marie Curie grew up in, is also nearby.
The National Museum in Warsaw is one of the largest museums in Poland, with an extensive collection of ancient art, Polish artwork and works by international artists. Look for the Canaletto landscapes of old Warsaw, Jan Matejko’s enormous painting of the Battle of Grunwald, their collection of medieval Polish Chricstian art and their Faras Gallery, featuring artworks from the 6th century Faras Cathedral, moved before the flooding of the Nile.
We also recommend visiting the Museum of Vodka (including a tasting, giving you an overview of Polish vodka, a source of national pride), the Neon Museum in Praga (which showcases the neon signs that Poland was known for during the Cold War) and Zacheta (a beautiful modern art gallery).
Replica of a traditional Polish synagogue
Particularly poignant and perhaps the best museum in Warsaw is POLIN Museum, a moving dedication to the history of Jewish people in Poland, including a beautiful reconstruction of a traditional synagogue. It is also a beautiful building in and of itself.
Religious Buildings
Poland is a largely Catholic country, with over 90% of people identifying as Catholic. Warsaw, as its capital, unsurprisingly is home to an enormous selection of beautiful churches. However, it is also a diverse city and has beautiful non-Catholic religious buildings too.
For Catholic churches, particularly beautiful are the Basilica of the Holy Cross (home to Chopin’s heart), the neoclassical St Anne’s Church, the distinctive 14th century St John’s Archcathedral (adjacent to the Jesuit Church), St Alexander’s Church (modelled after the Pantheon in Rome), St Augustine’s Church (which survived the Second World War), the neoclassical Carmelite Church (where Chopin first performed), the Visitationist Church, the Baroque St. Kazimierz Church, the 15th century St Mary’s Church (among the oldest buildings in the city), the Field Cathedral of the Polish Army and the iconic St Florian’s Cathedral.
Outside of Catholicism, the onion-domed Russian Revival Cathedral of St. Mary Magdalene is the centre of Orthodox Christian life in the city, and is among the most beautiful churches in the city. The Holy Trinity Church is a Lutheran church, known for its impressive rotunda, being one of the most unique and largest churches in the city.
Warsaw also has a rich Jewish heritage, and although the Jewish population is tragically much smaller than it once was in the city, the neo-Romanesque Nożyk Synagogue remains and is the only surviving Jewish house of prayer in the city.
Nożyk Synagogue