Book now When we visit a new city, we often feel overwhelmed by all the places that we should see and visit. To help you a little bit, here you can read about the “top 6 tourists attractions in Warsaw”, so you won’t miss anything important while sightseeing!
TOP1 Old Town – not that old
The Old Town is the heart of every city, it’s historic and modern centre of the urban area. The origin of Warsaw’s Old Town reaches back to XIII century, although the architecture is mainly from XVII and XVIII century. The Royal Castle with a beautiful viewing point on the rooftop is definitely worth our attention. The Market Square was once a home and place of business for Polish and international merchants. In the middle of the square, there is a statue of a mermaid with a sword and a shield which, according to old legends, is supposed to protect Warsaw from all the enemies. However, we have to keep in mind that while having a walk around this oldest area in Warsaw, we are seeing a lot of reconstructed buildings as almost entire of the Old Town was destroyed during the II World War. Here, we have a great opportunity to eat a traditional Polish dinner in one of many restaurants and bars located around the Old Town.
TOP2 Polin Museum – cradle of Jewish culture
Much of Warsaw’s history is connected with the Jewish culture that’s why you cannot say you were in Warsaw if didn’t visit the Jewish part of the city! Polin Musuem of the History of the Polish Jews is located in the green part of Muranów, which used to be a part of the Jewish ghetto. In Hebrew, ‘Poland’ is pronounced as ‘Polin‘ which broken down into 2 words means ‘dwell here’. The meaning behind the translation is that Poland was a good place to settle in, which caused 80% of the Jewish world population to live on the Polish land. That is why learning about Jewish history in Warsaw is very important. The museum’s goal is to bring and preserve the memory of the history of the Polish Jews. Through its galleries and displays, the institution also fights against stereotypes and faces the current world’s problems such as xenophobia and nationalistic prejudices.
TOP3 Forced symbol of Warsaw
Palace of Culture and Science is a definitely one of the main top tourists attractions in Warsaw. . Build in the 50s during comunism as ‘a gift from the Soviet nation to the Polish nation’ , is now the tallest construction in Poland, being 237 meters tall. 7 similar towers are located all over Russia, the Palace of Culture and Science is referred as the ‘Eighth Sister” in Poland. There are as many functions of the tower as there are floors inside, which some of them include offices, theatres (3 of them!!), museums, university and even the Warsaw’s city council! On the very top of Palace of Culture and Science, there is a beautiful viewing point of Warsaw’s panorama to which you can get by an elevator or if you feel strong – by stairs. The opinion about this monument is very different among the inhabitants of Warsaw if you consider the historic aspect of the building. Some people hate it, some people love it, but everybody agrees that it is has become the most famous symbol of Warsaw.
TOP4 Museum of Warsaw Rising
Warsaw’s history is very complex that’s why to fully understand why the city is as it is today, we have to look back to the past, and learn about the historic events that carved out modern Warsaw. The most-go museum is the Museum of Warsaw Rising, which opened on the 60th- anniversary of the beginning of this tragic event. The Warsaw Uprising took place on the 1st of August 1944 during the Nazi occupation of the city, and lasted only 63 days, during which estimated number of 200 000 polish citizens have died and around 80% of the city was totally destroyed. The museum shows the origins of the Rising, documents the life of Warsaw’s inhabitants during the event and also demonstrates the consequences of its actions. An 8-minute movie showing almost whole city in ruins, is one of the many visual effects in the museum, which affect our emotions and thoughts about the outcomes of the war. The Warsaw Uprising is known by every Pole as we commemorate the memory of those who died and fought for our freedom by a minute of silence, every 1st of August at 5 PM . If you are in the capital of Poland, you have to see this museum as it is a Warsaw place to visit for sure.
TOP5 The Royal Łazienki Park
Have you ever wondered what a life of a king could be like? Well, you have a chance to check it out by going to Royal Baths Park in Warsaw. The park was built in the XVIII century as a summer residence for the last king of Poland (than Polish- Lithuanian Commonwealth) – Stanisław August Poniatowski. The name “Royal Baths Park” comes from the original design of this site from XVII century, which where baths park, later transformed into a Palace on the Isle. Additionally to this, you can follow the footsteps of a king while walking around the many villas, statues, pavilions, and 4 gardens: the Royal Garden, The Modern Garden, The Chinese Garden and The Romantic Garden which are all a part of the park complex. A statue of Fryderyk Chopin is also located in the Royal Baths Park, which gathers people for a weekly concerts during the summer, playing his best compositions. The park is perfect option to spend a nice afternoon having a picnic, walking or feeding wild inhabitants of the park like peacocks and squirrels.
TOP6 Wilanów Park
Each city expands quickly throughout the time even without us noticing. The Wilanów park-palace complex was once a suburban residence for the king of Poland Jan III Sobieski where he used to go and rest from the city hustle. The stories say that the king personally looked after the plants in his gardens. The Wilanów Place located in the park was built in the XVII century and is a unique example mixed architectures (Polish aristocratic mansions, Italian suburban villas and French open palaces). Inside the palace you can visit the Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów which was established in 1805 making it the oldest art museum in Poland. The collection consists of art and objects of everyday use owned by kings of Poland and noble polish families. If you are looking for a beautiful area in Poland’s capital and see how the polish aristocrats used to live, than the Wilanów Park is definitely a place to visit in Warsaw for you!
