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is warsaw worth visiting

Is Warsaw Worth Visiting?

I often ask the question “is ___ worth visiting?”. Well, nowhere that I’ve written about so far is worth visiting more than Warsaw, the capital of Poland. This city is all about resistance, renaissance and grit, and I’m a fan. It’s a place that carries on no matter what, and is flourishing in this 21st century into the capital city that’s it’s never been allowed to become before now. It is indignant, immovable, and driven forward by the indomitable spirit of its residents, despite a tragic recent history.

Warsaw is not the most beautiful, nor cutting edge, either in terms of geographic location, architecture or gastronomy, but it should be required visiting for anyone with a passing interest in history, or for that matter, humanity. I was inspired by Warsaw’s story and because of that I had a good feeling pretty much everywhere I visited.

Furthermore, whether you decide to visit Warsaw for just one day, a weekend, or longer, aside from its powerful story, there’s plenty of diverse things to see and do, from cooking classes, museum visits, bike tours and some really good local food. So here’s my travel guide to one of my new favourite cities: Warsaw…

What Makes Warsaw So Worth Visiting?

I realised that Warsaw is my spirit city (I know that sounds very new age and hippie, but I can’t think of any other way to express it) while doing a bike tour around the Polish capital. Yeah, the place is a little rough around the edges, and architecturally slow to emerge from communist rule in some areas, but once you understand a little more about Poland’s recent history you’ll quickly forgive that, and begin to understand quite what this city had to endure under both German and Soviet occupation from 1939, all the way through until the fall of communism in 1989…

A Woefully Inadequate Brief Recent History

Sandwiched between two of the 20th century’s worst regimes, Poland had the audacity to want independence and democratic rule in the face of the Nazis and the Communists of that era. Well, Hitler and Stalin both had very different ideas for Warsaw, with German occupation in particular, devastating the city.

The treatment of ethnic Poles and Polish Jews under German rule was utterly horrific, with the Warsaw ghetto and the failed uprising against Nazi rule in 1944 accounting for many of the worst war crimes committed in the city. Furthermore, the vengeful and complete destruction of Warsaw’s buildings, books and cultural institutions by the Germans, in response to the Warsaw uprising’s failed attempt at resistance in the face of overwhelming odds, left the city in literal and cultural ruins by 1945. Hitler had only ever envisioned Warsaw as a small provincial German town, befitting his ideals for more lebensraum (living space), so Varsovian refusal to accept their tortured fate easily played into German hands, and accelerated the city’s complete destruction in the final months of World War 2. The Soviets for their part, having arrived from the east were camped on the other side of the Vistula River, happily watching the complete destruction of Warsaw’s identity, as it would shortly provide them a blank canvas upon which to construct their own communist ideals, once they finally decided to roll their tanks in and ‘liberate’ Poland.

Warsaw's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by day and night, with soldiers on guard 24/7/365.

But here’s where it gets good. Warsaw’s Old Town was completely reconstructed post-war, without Marshall aid money (as this would have dented the pride of Poland’s new Soviet puppet masters). The locals basically clubbed together and did it themselves. Using mostly rubble from the ruins, and a hell of a lot of hard work and determination, Poles came to Warsaw from all over the country to rebuild the old town exactly as it was. They offered their labour in return for food and for the opportunity to contribute to their capital’s revival. This was achieved despite the ambivalence of the all-powerful Soviets, who saw no way to stop the overwhelming will of the Polish people to salvage some sense of their cultural identity.

Given all that the Varsovians (people from Warsaw) had already suffered, if you’re not impressed by that show of spirit, then just don’t come. Indeed, I suspect that many people judge Warsaw purely on the present, with no understanding of its past, and this may be why the city is still somewhat under appreciated.

the spirit of warsaw
Together we are rebuilding what should not have been destroyed - F@ck yeah, you are.

Things To Do In Warsaw

So what are some of the top things to do in Warsaw that will give you the best possible idea of what life is (and was) like here in the Polish capital? I visited to experience some of these tours and activities first-hand. Here are my thoughts and impressions…

Bike Tour

Despite the fact this was late December, I booked myself onto a Warsaw bike tour. As I’ve mentioned in other posts, I find walking tours excruciatingly boring, and the idea of standing motionless in front of monuments when it was close to freezing filled me with dread, so getting the blood flowing with a little ride in between sites seemed like a much better idea. I also wanted to see as much of the city as possible, so doing a bike tour meant we could cover more ground and not be limited to the Old Town.

warsaw bike tour

I booked my tour with a company called Station Warsaw Tours. This was a three-hour bike tour that took us through several of the main sites, including the Royal Palace on the edge of the Old Town, the Warsaw Uprising Monument and Krasiński Square, the Royal Way (or Krakowskie Przedmiescie to use its proper name), the old Jewish ghetto area from the second world war, some of Warsaw’s up and coming developments down by the Vistula River, the tomb of the unknown Soldier at Piłsudski Square, and of course the Soviet-built Palace of Culture and Science. Exploring Warsaw by bike meant that I got a real flavour of modern-day Warsaw, and what this city is today. Our tour guide on the day was a brilliant Polish guy called Marcin, who was passionate, funny, patient and full of energy on what was a pretty cold December day. For those worried about your ability to complete the tour by bike, it was easy riding and the bikes were solid. There was only one uphill part which most people walked anyway. We also stopped for about 20 minutes half-way around at a local cafe for something to eat and drink. Interestingly, Marcin said the bike tours in winter have only been possible in the last 10 or so years, as until then Warsaw was typically blanketed in snow from November through March.

warsaw city walls
Top: How Warsaw once looked; Bottom: Probably the freshest looking city walls in Europe.
the warsaw rising monument
The Warsaw Uprising Monument on Krasiński Square.

Pierogi Cooking Class

Arguably the most famous dish in Poland is a plate of Pierogi. Pierogi are little dumplings, crammed with various fillings (usually savoury), and most commonly boiled and served with either caramelised onions, sour cream or butter. I am a huge fan of dumplings, be it Asian Gyoza, Wontons, or Pierogi, so a Pierogi cooking class was the first thing I booked in Warsaw.

Pierogi & More run small group classes of up to 12 amateur cooks. The class was led by a lovely Polish lady called Maria, who divided her time perfectly between each ‘chef’, sharing her expertise on dough rolling and dumpling filling/closing techniques equally between participants. Each person (or couple) had their own space to first mix and then roll out their Pierogi dough, before taking on the responsibility of filling and then sealing each Pierogi with a different filling; either meat, potato and cheese, sauerkraut or chickpea lentil fillings, which catered to vegans, vegetarians and omnivores alike.

Maria and her team took photos of the group throughout the activity and once all the Pierogi were prepared, she cooked them up for us and served them up to the group. There was certainly no shortage of dumplings for us all to eat, and despite this being a morning class, Maria also gave us all a couple of shots of Polish liqueur to wash it all down with. I’ve struggled in the past doing my own dumplings, and the advice I got from Maria on dumpling sealing was very useful for my future efforts. The class was great fun, and there were lots of sniggering comparisons of each other’s crappy folding work, so I reckon a class like this would make for a very fun group activity, with plenty of opportunity to take the p@ss out of each other’s efforts!

Pierogi cooking class in Warsaw

Chopin Concerts

Warsaw was the birthplace and home to Piano virtuoso Fryderyk Chopin before he moved to Paris aged 21. The city takes great pride in his work, and he was proud to be a son of Poland. There are several Chopin concerts in Warsaw that you can attend – I chose ‘Chopin – Painted by Candlelights’ which is a 1-hour concert (that’s all my philistine heart could manage). It’s hosted in an intimate salon, which was precisely the type of venue that Chopin himself preferred to play in, with space for around 3o people inside. When booking your seats, you can pay a little more for one in the first two rows. While you’ll always be close to the pianist in such a small venue (there are only 4 or 5 rows of seats), I would still recommend the first two rows, as the view to the pianist was unobstructed. There were also one or two pillars in the salon, so at risk of getting caught behind one of those, just pay the extra 10 bucks for the better seats.

The piano used at the 'Chopin - Painted By Candellight' concert in Warsaw

Our Pianist was a gentleman called Lech Liam Furdyna, a Polish-American. He was pretty much exactly what you’d expect and want from a classical musician, focused, serious, and little eccentric as he zoned into some of Chopin’s most famous compositions. We even got a glass of wine to accompany the performance.

While I certainly wouldn’t call myself an avid fan of classical music, the concert did a good job of transporting us back to Chopin’s time, to be entertained as in eras gone by. If you’re travelling with a romantic partner, this intimate concert would be ideal, as I couldn’t help but notice a lot of hand-holding and loving looks exchanged over the course of that hour. I got my ticket from Get Your Guide, you can do the same right here…

Museums in Warsaw

Naturally, the focus of several of the city’s most famous and popular museums is World War 2, and its aftermath. In particular, the Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews covers hundreds of years of Jewish hertiage in Poland, as well as exploring the horrific existence and fate of the city’s Jewish population in the Nazi controlled Warsaw ghetto. Equally, the Warsaw Uprising Museum is an exploration into 1944’s resistance against the city’s occupation, and is required visiting when in Warsaw.

For anyone interested in discovering what life may have been like in Warsaw while living under communist rule from 1944 until 1989, then the aptly named Life Under Communism Museum is for you. With artifacts and stories from that era, it’s an interesting and quirky look into Poland’s recent past as a Soviet satellite state, the ‘Polish People’s Republic’. The museum is run by a local tour company, Warsaw Adventures, and they’ve developed a unique story-telling style with their exhibits, which include several iconic household items and brands from the time.

Visiting the Praga District

After learning quite how much of Warsaw was destroyed during WW2, I wanted to explore the oldest remaining residential part of the city. This is an area called Praga, on the eastern other side of Vistula River. I had heard about some cool street art from that part of the city too, so I decided to take a wander around. I gotta first say, it is pretty run down. The waitress at Cafe Toast, who I was chatting too about my plans to go for wander, seemed a little concerned when I first shared with her my idea. She explained that Praga has its fair share of dodgy characters, but that none were likely to approach me. With that reassurance, I got on with my own personal walking tour, as I was keen to see what Warsaw’s architectural style was like before the Germans got there.

a typical street in Praga warsaw
A typical street scene in Praga, Warsaw.

Anyway, how was it? Well, in England, we affectionately describe places like Praga as ‘a bit of a dump’, but like few other places I’ve visited before, I immediately saw the huge potential that this area has to become whatever Warsaw wants for it, including possibly the next red hot European real estate enclave. Praga has amazing public transport links to the city center – it takes just 5 minutes to get to the Stare Miasto 02 old town station from there, and the buildings and streets, although mostly in a state of disrepair, have a unique and very local feel about them. The buildings were tightly packed, many individual flats had their own balconies, and the bohemian vibe of the area will only grow and grow as Poland continues its seemingly unstoppable evolution into one of Europe’s leading economic power houses. The street art I saw was pretty cool too, as it gave me an appreciation of Warsaw’s modern-day artistic scene, although I missed many of its larger building-side murals- next time though. There were a few drunks knocking about, but they were totally harmless, and the smugness that I felt doing my own private walking tour of an ‘insider’ part of Warsaw even made up for all the dogshit everywhere. If you prefer to be guided by a local rather than doing it yourself, you can also book a private street art tour of Praga in English, German, Spanish, or Russian.

the girl with the rainbow rain in praga warsaw
This pretty much sums up the spirit of Warsaw for me.

The Warsaw Polaroids - Praga Street Art Edition

A cursory look on a language translation site does indeed confirm that 'Cwel' means tw@t
The mermaid is allegedly the official guardian of Warsaw - she must have still been asleep for most of the 20th century.
football sculpture in praga
The morning after the night before - New Year's day in Praga, Warsaw.

Where to Eat in Warsaw

I’m a big fan of the food in Warsaw. It was great value, refined, and there was plenty of choice at different price points to suit all tourists. In the interests of cultural immersion and research, I, of course, did my best to eat as much Polish food wherever and whenever I could, so here are my recommendations for places to eat in Warsaw…

The Best Pierogi in Warsaw

As I’ve already made clear, I’m am a big fan of Pierogi, and anything dumpling-related. I ate Pierogi in several different places in Warsaw, but it was my first Pierogi meal (jeez, I’m struggling here cos I think Pierogi is plural) that ended up being by far the best. The restaurant attached to the hotel I was staying at, Hotel Sante, served up the most delicious Pierogi I’ve had. As I’m writing this now my mouth is watering. To be honest, I wasn’t really expecting amazing food, because the hotel is mostly known for its Spa facilities, but on arrival I was Hank Marvin (starving) so headed straight down to the restaurant for dinner.

roasted vegetable salad and polish pierogi
The food at Hotel Sante Restaurant was excellent, and great value too!

I first ordered a lovely seasonal winter salad, with roasted pumpkin, peppers, goat’s cheese and lots of other little treats, before moving onto the coup de grâce of Polish Pierogi. Served with pea shoots, lovage, caramelised onions and olive oil, they were absolutely magnificent, and none that I had subsequently even came close. The restaurant is a bit out of town, but totally worth the tram ride to get your chops around these dishes.

Stolica Restaurant

Stolica in the heart of Warsaw’s Old Town, is one of the city’s highest rated Polish restaurants, so I intrepidly headed there to stuff my face. The restaurant itself is modelled on the inter-war period, and has a fresh and classy interior, befitting that golden era of Warsaw’s recent past. From the menu I ordered a beef & chicken consommé with beef dumplings, beef cheeks served with beetroot dumplings filled with goat’s cheese, and Polish ulipki, which are crispy rolls filled with vanilla cream. Each dish was lovely, although I did learn that I am not a fan of consomme as I’m a fan of strong flavours, and it’s just way too plain for my tastes.  Service was good, the ambience classy but not stuffy, and the food was very good. Highly recommended for lunch or dinner in the Old Town.

A fine 3-course meal at Stolica restaurant in Warsaw old town

Soul Kitchen

Sould kitchen is high-end yet pretty informal restaurant located close to Centrum metro station, about 5 minutes walk from the Palace of Culture and Science, in Warsaw’s modern downtown area. The menu had some absolute belters on there – the person on the table next to me ordered what looked like a perfect beef wellington. For my part, I went with a classic Polish sour rye soup, served with veal sausage and horseradish puree, followed by a main course of slow-roasted pork rib. Everything about the meal was great, apart from the pork being a little tough. Perhaps they were in a bit of hurry and my particular joint was removed from the oven a little before the advertised 16 hours. Nonetheless, this place is definitely worth checking out when in the downtown area. And for anyone who loves to leave their mark wherever they travel, you can scrawl your name and a review on the restaurant walls before leaving too!

Gościniec Polskie Pierogi

potato pancakes with goulasch and pierogi at Gościniec Polskie Pierogi in warsaw
Yes, I did order all this for myself, but only in the interests of research. not because I am a greedy b@stard.

Gościniec Polskie Pierogi was a restaurant that I tried to visit several times while in Warsaw, but each time there was a line out of the door. This is clearly a beloved restaurant chain among the Poles themselves (there have four locations in Warsaw), so that just made me more determined to visit. I finally made it there on my last day in Warsaw, and I was not disappointed by the food, nor the buzzing ambiance inside. It’s casual, good value fare, and will make for a great lunch or dinner spot during your time sightseeing. I had Pierogi for starter (of course I did) and then Polish Potato pancakes served with a lovely rich and peppery pork goulasch. I couldn’t move afterwards, and would recommend not ordering two mains for one person! I must say the Pierogi were not up to Hotel Sante’s standard, but were still good, while the pork goulasch was more interesting and flavoursome than anything I’ve had in Austria or Hungary, albeit prepared differently. Check it out for a great value piece of local Varsovian restaurant culture.

Toast

Toast is a cafe and breakfast spot on the other side of the Vistula River is Warsaw’s oldest remaining district, Praga. I was in town to have a wander so decided to have breakfast here. The atmosphere was hip, but completely unpretentious, and the menu was reassuringly small. The clue is in the name here at Toast – these guys specialise in unique french toast creations. After settling into my seat, I asked the waitress what she would recommend, as I was hoping to be steered away from the delicious sounding, yet relatively boring eggs benedict-like offering. Thankfully, she was a vegetarian, so I was successfully guilted into a mozarella, leek, samphire and chilli oil french toast creation, which was confusingly delicious. Hints of sweetness from the french toast, but with a very spicy vein running through it, even for my wannabe alpha tongue. This a great spot for an experimental breakfast in Warsaw that actually works, and I would encourage you to make the trip over to Praga just to experience something a little unique and support these guys.

Spice up your breakfast in Warsaw at Toast

Warsaw During Christmas & New Year

Nailed the bottom photo.

I visited Warsaw a couple of days before New Year’s Eve and I stayed for the turn of the year. I was out in the streets for the New Year celebrations and fireworks, and it was a wholesome family-friendly experience. The main place to gather for the fireworks seemed to be on Castle Square, right next to the giant Christmas tree and the reconstructed Royal Palace. It really felt like the whole city was out to ring in 2025 with their families, friends and loved ones, and the atmosphere was friendly throughout, and not at all intimidating or chaotic. Warsaw also does a great job with its Christmas lights, with several of the city’s most popular streets decorated and there are loads of Christmas themed photo opps dotted around. I wasn’t so impressed with the Christmas markets though. I only found two – one on the old town square and one located along the city walls. Neither were able to tempt me into sampling the local produce, and just seemed to lack the effortless charm that other more established European Christmas markets have in places like Vienna. Watch this space though, as with many things in Warsaw, things are evolving quickly.

The Warsaw Polaroids - Christmas and New Year Edition

Clockwise from top left: New Year's Eve fieworks in Castle Square; the ice rink in the old town square; a communist era old-timer decked out in Christmas bling; a big 'ole Christmas tree in the old town.

Public Transport in Warsaw

Warsaw has a brilliant public transport system, which is super easy to navigate and use, especially when also using Google Maps to help you get around. Tickets are cheap and cost just 1 EUR per journey, or you can buy a 24 hour ticket within Warsaw’s zone 1 for just 3.5o EUR. This covers the use of trams, buses and the metro system. You can buy single tickets on individual buses, trams and at metro stations, while the 24 hour tickets can be purchased at stations. Most ticket machines have English translations and contactless payments, so it’s very easy to get around like a local.

While the Old Town of Warsaw is quite compact and very easy to walk around, as you explore more of the city, you’ll realise that the downtown area is located quite a bit further south, while Praga and other points of interest, including Łazienki Park also require public transport to reach easily. So unless you’re an avid walker, it’s probably worth becoming acquainted with Warsaw’s public transport network.

Warsaw's metro network is clean, safe and easy to use.
warsaw tram network
Trams are also a great way to get around town cheaply and efficiently.

Is Warsaw Worth Visiting? Outro...

The Polish capital made quite the impression on me, I must admit. It has history, great food, a flourishing contemporary culture, and an unspoken humility about it. There are plenty of interesting things to do here, especially if you like modern history, with some of the most moving and informative museums in Europe, as well as tours and activities which cater to various different tastes. Despite Poland’s raging economic growth in recent years, Warsaw is still highly affordable in terms of eating out and things to do, and its star will only shine brighter in coming years. I look forward to seeing how it continues to thrive, and I cannot wait to return.

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