Things to do in Warsaw & Central Poland

Warsaw Old Town, more than 85% destroyed in 1944 and rebuilt by its citizens from archival records before its UNESCO listing in 1980, leads from Castle Square and Sigismund's Column to the Old Town Market Square, where the Museum of Warsaw tells the city's story through 7,352 objects, and on to the Barbican; climb the 150 steps of St. Anne's Church Bell Tower for a view over the roofs, and tour the Great Assembly Hall, Throne Room and Canaletto Room of the Royal Castle in Warsaw. Along the Royal Route, the gardens of Royal Łazienki Park surround the Palace on the Isle, and Wilanów Palace, the Baroque residence of Jan III Sobieski, is often called the Polish Versailles. The POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews traces 1,000 years of history in its Core Exhibition, the Warsaw Rising Museum is devoted to the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, and by the Vistula the Copernicus Science Centre pairs hands-on exhibitions with a planetarium. In the centre, the 30th-floor Palace of Culture and Science Viewing Terrace, the Highline Warsaw Observation Deck 230 m up Varso Tower, the communist-era signs of the Neon Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw sit close together, and in Toruń the Nicolaus Copernicus House and the Living Museum of Gingerbread, where visitors bake gingerbread in traditional wooden moulds, make a rewarding trip.

Good to knowPlan around closing and free days: the Royal Castle in Warsaw is closed on Mondays and offers a shorter free route on Wednesdays with limited same-day tickets, POLIN and the Warsaw Rising Museum are closed on Tuesdays and free on Thursdays, the Łazienki buildings are free for individual visitors on Fridays, and Wilanów Palace is closed on Tuesdays and for part of the winter. Copernicus Science Centre tickets are timed and can run short on the day, so buy online and check its monthly closing days. The Palace of Culture and Science terrace takes no reservations, so an evening visit for the city lights is easy, and in Toruń the Nicolaus Copernicus House is closed on Mondays while the gingerbread show runs a bilingual English session every day.