Warsaw holidays
Warsaw, P oland's burgeoning capital, is a city that looks to the future without ever losing sight of its past. Almost destroyed in World War Two it has bounced back, so much so that its reconstructed medieval buildings have earned the historic centre UNESCO World Heritage status. Often overlooked in favour of Krakow, Warsaw is alive with dining hotspots, top-notch museums and peerless parks waiting to be explored. And where else can you find public benches that play bursts of Chopin at the touch of a button?
The beating heart of Poland
Follow the Royal Route to the Royal Castle, stopping along the way for ice cream at the Royal Lazienki Park, the largest in Warsaw, where peacocks and cheeky red squirrels gather. It’s also home to the Myslewicki Palace, built on an artificial island. Here you’ll find an orangery, amphitheatre, court theatre, the Museum of Hunting and Horsemanship, and numerous sculptures.
See the 15th Century St Anne’s Church, one of the city’s oldest surviving buildings, which boasts stunning hand-painted frescoes and High-Baroque interiors, or glimpse the urn containing Chopin’s heart in the Holy Cross Church. The Mausoleum of Struggle and Martyrdom housed in the former Gestapo headquarters documents the sobering story of Polish resistance fighters tortured and murdered during World War Two. The Stalin-built Palace of Culture and Science is a notable, though controversial, monumental building that dominates the skyline. It’s now home to theatres, a cinema, museums and more.
Spend some time at the Multimedia Fountain Park where on weekend evening s you can witness a spectacular show of light, sound and water which fills you in on Warsaw’s history and legends. For further illumination, head to the once-notorious Praga district, now transformed into a bohemian area, where the Neon Museum sits amid the artist spaces in the former factory buildings.
Reward yourself with a sumptuous dinner at Cafe Bristol just outside the Old Town where you can enjoy seasonal dishes in an early 20th Century Viennese-style coffeehouse. Or head to Hala Koszyki, Poland’s first and only covered food market, where 18 restaurants and 11 food stalls serve culinary treats from across the globe. End your day lounging with a cocktail at Charlie Bar, a speakeasy with art deco touches. Book your Warsaw flights today and start exploring.
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- The Fryderyk Chopin Museum pays tribute to one of Warsaw’s most famous sons with a comprehensive overview of the great composer’s life and work, including the very piano he penned many of his master works upon. Why not combine it with a visit to The Birthplace of Fryderyk Chopin and Park in Zelazowa Wola, where you can tour the maestro’s first home surrounded by acres of beautiful woodlands? Enjoy free admission to the museum on Wednesdays and summer recitals at the birthplace.
- The Polish Vodka Museum is one of Warsaw’s more offbeat attractions, housed in a building where revered brands Luksusowa and Wyborowa were once produced. A series of fun, interactive displays celebrate the history, production and culture of the nation’s favourite tipple. Hour-long tours here wrap up with a tasting of three different varieties of vodka and you can also take in city views from the slick cocktail bar 3/4 Koneser Bar.
- Ten kilometres south of the city sits Wilanow Palace. Dubbed the ‘Polish Versailles’, it dates to the 17th Century with Baroque and neoclassical influences. Check out the Garden Galleries with their beautiful frescoes, the extensive art collection housed in the Potocki Museum and the White Hall which displays portraits of the palace’s various owners down the centuries.
- One of Warsaw’s most compelling museums is the Warsaw Rising Museum, which casts light on the 63 days in 1944 which ordinary residents spent resisting Nazi occupation. Displays span over 800 items and 1,500 photographs, films and sound clips documenting this turbulent time before Hitler eventually ordered the destruction of the city. The museum also covers the city’s post-war years of Communist rule with equally poignant clarity.
- The family-friendly Copernicus Science Centre, named after the famous Polish astronomer, is one of Europe’s most advanced science museums. This highly interactive museum encourages visitors to get hands on – you can test the strength of earthquakes, monitor your own heartbeat and replicate Neil Armstrong’s moonwalk, for example. The museum’s planetarium offers a glimpse into the night sky and the chance to take in the view of Earth from the International Space Station.
- Srodmiescie is the city-centre district that’s just as metropolitan as it is diverse. Amazingly, most of the Old Town’s picturesque buildings are post-war reconstructions. Stroll through the Barbican gate to access the New Town, built in the early 15th Century – here you’ll discover the Maria Curie Museum. Explore further along Kozia Street, home to the Museum of Caricature and Kozia 9, an imposing modernist apartment block built for Communist Party officials set next to a small park.
- Muranow is another key area to explore. In the 19th Century this area saw an influx of Lithuanian and Belarusian Jews. It soon became one of Warsaw’s most built up and densely populated districts, its main street Nalewki becoming a major shopping hub. The area was razed during World War Two with many residential buildings erected after the war. Here you’ll find the Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews documenting the thousand-year heritage of Polish Jews, along with numerous statues and plaques dotted around.
- Traditionally one of the city’s poorer areas, the revitalised industrial zone of Powisle is now a thriving area home to a university library with an expansive split-level roof garden, modernised riverside boulevards and a cool bar set in a former rail station ticket office. You can also visit the Powisle Power Station, recently reimagined as a key dining, drinking and shopping hub. Other highlights include the Copernicus Science Museum and the Museum of Modern Art on the Vistula.
- Close to the Old Town lies Mariensztat, a small, tranquil area with a slower pace of life. The area was destroyed after the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, but it was soon rebuilt to become the city’s first post-war housing estate. Once notorious for its bordellos and bare-knuckle boxing matches, it’s now considered one of Warsaw’s most charming districts, dotted with leafy, winding streets and pockets of parks. Check out Chopin Point, where the composer performed his first concert, an attractive main square with a fountain and murals, and Magia Brylantow, a unique shop selling antiques and vintage jewellery.
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