Things to Do in Warsaw: Our Tips for Your City Trip

Attractions

Warsaw isn’t huge, but it packs in a seriously impressive number of great places to visit. Especially when you’re strolling through the Old Town or the green parks, you’ll want to slow down and soak it all in. Plan for at least two days for your city trip.

If you’re short on time or just want to hit the absolute highlights, here’s a list of the top things to do in Warsaw:

1. Palace of Culture
2. Łazienki Park
3. Old Town
4. Praga
5. Warsaw Ghetto
6. Copernicus Science Centre
7. Walk along the Vistula

For some of these attractions, you can buy tickets online in advance. You’ll find an overview in the table below:

We’ve put together much more detailed info on the best highlights and must-sees in our dedicated sights article:

The 22 Best Attractions in Warsaw

Warsaw Sightseeing Pass

If you’re planning to visit a lot of attractions, the Warsaw Sightseeing Pass is totally worth it. It’s a classic tourist pass that gets you free admission to many top sights, lets you skip the lines, and already includes a public transportation ticket.

The pass is available for 24 hours (179 PLN), 48 hours (229 PLN), and 72 hours (269 PLN). You can pick it up at the tourist information center in the Palace of Culture or buy it in advance online.

Tours of Warsaw

You can absolutely explore Warsaw on foot on your own — but if you want to go deeper, a guided tour is a great idea. A local guide knows insider stories and off-the-beaten-path details you simply won’t find in any guidebook.

We’d warmly recommend these tours:

Warsaw: Jewish Heritage Guided Tour

Communism Tour in a Retro Fiat

Where to Stay in Warsaw

Warsaw is a manageable city, but when you only have a few days, your hotel’s location really matters. The Centrum and Old Town neighborhoods are the best base for most visitors. If you want something a bit hipper, the up-and-coming Praga district is worth considering.

Here are our hotel picks for each area, so you can get straight to sightseeing without wasting time getting around.

Hotel Indigo Warsaw in Centrum: It doesn’t get more central than this. The Hotel Indigo sits right on Nowy Świat, probably Warsaw’s most famous promenade, with the city’s most popular attractions practically on your doorstep.

Hotel Bristol in the Old Town: Thanks to its long history, the Hotel Bristol is something of an attraction in its own right. Sitting directly on the Royal Route, it’s a perfect base for exploring — though that prestige does come with a higher price tag.

For a more budget-friendly place to stay, we’d recommend the Oki Doki Old Town — small, charming, and with a really personal touch.

Moxy Warsaw in Praga: Praga is fast becoming one of Warsaw’s trendiest neighborhoods — not unlike certain parts of Berlin. If you want to experience that hip, creative energy, the Moxy is exactly the right choice. The room design is just as modern as the neighborhood itself.

Food & Drink: Our Restaurant Picks for Warsaw

Warsaw has seriously delicious food — two words: “Pierogi.” Yum! On our trip we tried out a bunch of restaurants, and these are our favorites.

Zapiecek: Zapiecek has several locations across Poland and an enormous variety of pierogi. The best part? You can mix and match different kinds.
Address: Swietojanska 13 and Jerozolimskie 28

Kamera Bistro: Kamera Bistro serves up tasty Polish cuisine in a really nice atmosphere. There’s live music here regularly too — when we visited, a band happened to be playing.
Address: ul. Foksal 11

Podwale Kompania Piwna: Podwale is a classic brewpub with great draft beer, hearty food, and huge portions.
Address: ul. Podwale 25

Oberza pod Czerwonym Wieprzem: This restaurant is tucked a bit away from the main tourist trail. We can’t pronounce the name without stumbling, but we can absolutely recommend the food. The menu playfully pokes fun at former communist leaders — there’s even a pork knuckle dish à la Erich. The restaurant’s name, by the way, translates to “Red Pig.”
Address: Zelazna 68.

If you eat a lot, you’ve got to drink a lot too — and Warsaw’s locals are surprisingly good at that. We even found our own favorite bar:

Hoppiness: Hoppiness is a craft beer bar that could easily hold its own in the hippest neighborhoods of Berlin. There are twelve taps, and every beer is better than the last. There’s a very real danger of getting stuck here all night.
Address: Chmielna 27/31 Lok. 76

Beyond beer, Poland is big on spirits — vodka above all, in every imaginable variation. There are plenty of bars where you can get a vodka shot for the equivalent of about 1 euro. You can order it by the bottle too, of course.

Our tip: In Warsaw, you can also join a culinary tour visiting three to five restaurants, where your English-speaking guide introduces you to Polish cuisine. Tastings included!

Warsaw Food Tour

Getting There

By Train

If you’re traveling from Berlin, the train is a great option — the “Berlin-Warsaw Express” is operated jointly by the Polish and German rail services and takes you directly to Warsaw’s main station, Centralna, with no transfers needed. Tickets are available from 29 euros, and a seat reservation plus a coffee and pastry are already included in the price. Great value!

By Plane

For longer distances, flying is the way to go. You can search for cheap flights on Skyscanner. Most airlines fly into the larger Chopin Airport; Ryanair also serves the smaller Modlin Airport.

From Chopin Airport, it’s a 25-minute ride to the city center. The train departs directly from Terminal A and a ticket costs 4.40 PLN. If you arrive after 11:00 PM, you can take the night bus N32.

From Modlin, trains and buses also connect to the city center in about 45 minutes, though you usually have to transfer — which we find a bit inconvenient.

If you’d prefer a more hassle-free transfer, you can book a shuttle in advance. Especially if you’re traveling with a group, it’s really worth it.

Shuttle Transfer from Chopin or Modlin Airport

Getting Around

The most important things to do in Warsaw are all reachable on foot. You can even walk to spots a bit further out, like Łazienki Park, if the weather cooperates.

When it’s raining or you need to get somewhere quickly, Warsaw has a solid public transportation network — metro, buses, and trams.

The metro is the fastest option, but there are only two lines: the red line runs east–west, and the blue line runs north–south. You’ll probably end up using the trams and especially the buses more often.

You can buy tickets at machines on the platform or at many kiosks and post offices. If you have a full day of activities planned, a day pass for 15 PLN is worth it. For just getting from A to B, 20-minute tickets cost 3.40 PLN.

Don’t forget: In Warsaw, you must validate all tickets at the start of your journey on the bus or tram.

Best Time to Visit & What to Pack

We do have one piece of bad news: Warsaw gets some rainy days in pretty much every season. But honestly, it’s not a dealbreaker — the showers are manageable, and Warsaw has plenty of great indoor attractions to fill a grey afternoon.

The best time to visit is between June and September, when temperatures hit a pleasant 77°F and you can enjoy the sun with a cold drink on the banks of the Vistula. One thing to know: Warsaw is famous for very cold mornings, even in summer, so bring a layer.

The Christmas season has its own charm too. Poland is strongly Catholic, so the whole city lights up at Christmastime, and you can wander through countless Christmas markets.

Overall, Warsaw’s climate is similar to northern and central Europe — comfortable shoes and a weatherproof jacket are a must. Oh, and you won’t need a plug adapter.

Money & Travel Costs

Poland is part of the EU, but the currency is still the Polish złoty, usually abbreviated as PLN. The conversion is pretty straightforward: you get roughly 4 złotys per euro.

That exchange rate works in your favor: compared to Western Europe, everyday costs for food and drinks are really affordable. A main course can cost as little as the equivalent of 5 euros, and a beer runs 2 to 3 euros.

Cash or Credit Card?

In Warsaw, you can pay by card almost everywhere — even for small amounts, it’s completely normal and widely accepted.

Paying by card also means you don’t have to worry about currency conversion, and you won’t be left scrambling to spend leftover złotys at the end of your trip. If you do need cash, there’s an ATM on practically every corner.

Watch Out: Dynamic Currency Conversion

When you withdraw money from an ATM or pay by card in a store, you’ll often be asked whether you want automatic currency conversion — meaning your bill gets shown in euros right away.

That might sound convenient, but you’ll typically lose around 10% in the process due to a worse exchange rate. Always decline and pay in the local currency instead.