Things to Do in Warsaw

Warsaw for Beginners – Free Walking Tour (2:30 Hours, 3.8 km) 

Perfect for first-time visitors, this tour takes you through Warsaw’s must-see landmarks, blending history, culture, and local insights. In just 2:30 hours, you’ll get an essential introduction to Poland’s capital. 
 

Meeting Point: Palace of Culture and Science

 
Start: In front of the entrance of Kinoteka (cinema) 
 

Tour Itinerary:

 
🔹 1. Palace of Culture and Science (PKiN)
 

• Warsaw’s most controversial building, a "gift" from Stalin in the 1950s
• Why locals have a love-hate relationship with it

🔹 2. Nowy Świat and Krakowskie Przedmieście 

• One of Warsaw’s most beautiful streets, part of the Royal Route
• Presidential Palace – seat of Poland’s President, but with a dramatic history
• Holy Cross Church – where Chopin’s heart is kept

🔹 3. Castle Square & The Royal Castle

• Why the Royal Castle is not as old as it looks
• The story of Sigismund’s Column – and how it survived WWII
• Warsaw’s complete post-war reconstruction

🔹 4. Old Town Market Square

• A fairytale square rebuilt from ruins
• The legend of the Warsaw Mermaid – the city’s protector

🔹 5. Warsaw Barbican & City Walls 

• Medieval fortifications that once protected the city

Get a taste of local culture, discover quirky facts, and unveil hidden treasures. What's more? You'll have the chance to ask all your burning questions along the way. This isn't just a tour - it's your backstage pass to the heart of the city!

The tour takes place with a minimum of 2 walkers. 

Discover the turbulent history of the Warsaw Jews since the Middle Ages. Explore the remnants of the famous pre-war Jewish District which in 1940 was turned by the Nazis into the Ghetto and then completely destroyed in 1943.

We’ll show you the fascinating yet dramatic story of the Jews in Warsaw and tell you how the present Jewish community is making its way back to Warsaw after all the turbulent times. 

You will visit the following places related to the Warsaw Jews:

• the former medieval Jewish quarter
• Krasiński Park
• relic of Nalewki Street
• memorial of the Ghetto Wall
• Monument to the Heroes of the Uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto
• Mordechaj Anielewicz Bunker
• Umschlagplatz Memorial

We are Antek and Tomek and we would like to invite you on our very personal city tour through the Old Town.

We live on the right side of Warsaw, in the Praga district, and we are out and about on the left side every day. We would be thrilled if you would join us.

In addition to the classic sights, we also want to show you the many small, hidden gems:

- Castle Square with the Sigismund's Column
- The beautiful Royal Castle as seen from the Royal Gardens
- The viewing platform in the Old Town, where I will explain the uniqueness of the Vistula Valley in Warsaw
- The Market Square with the colorful reconstructed houses
- The city walls with the Barbican
- The birthplace of Marie Curie
- The Ghetto Wall Monument
- The Warsaw Uprising Monument

We have added "More" to the name of the tour so that you know it is more than just a simple walk through the Old Town.
Of course, we will talk about Polish cuisine and vodka. We will also give you many tips on where you can eat in peace and where to find the best traditional cakes.

We are both Warsaw natives who love this city like our own family. During our tours, we welcome every unexpected question. And once we have started a conversation, you too will come to love this city.

Cold War Warsaw: Spies, Communism & Hidden Resistance Tour

 Step into a world of secrets, shadows, and silent resistance. This immersive journey through Warsaw takes you deep into the heart of Cold War Europe—where spies whispered, ideologies clashed, and freedom fought to rise. 

Start at the monumental Hotel MDM, built to impress and control, a showcase of socialist realism. Discover the House of Writers, where writers secretly nurtured rebellion under the radar and smuggled books into Poland from the west. 

Then fast-forward to 1992: the first McDonald’s in Poland drew over 13,000 customers on opening day—a dramatic symbol of the Iron Curtain’s collapse and discuss Ryszard Kukliński the most important spy in Polish history. 

Marvel at the Palace of Culture and Science, a Stalinist “gift” towering over Warsaw—loved, hated, unforgettable and potentially used by the Polish secret service. Head to  the Communist Party HQ, where power once plotted, now eerily silent. 

Finish at St. Alexander’s Church and  hear how John Paul II, a Polish Pope with a powerful voice, sparked a peaceful revolution, and Ronald Regan, the President of the United states, made a deal to work together. This tour blends espionage, architecture, resistance, and transformation—perfect for lovers of history, politics, and hidden stories. 

Discover the most bohemian and alternative part of Warsaw on this free tour through the Praga district. The perfect opportunity to get to know Polish culture!

[Note] If you don’t see a tour scheduled on the only date available to you, please send me a message. With two or more walkers, I may be able to add an additional walk, for example in the afternoon.


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Warsaw was once home to Europe’s largest Jewish community. Today, you can walk those same streets and see almost none of that world. But it’s still here, buried under layers of rubble, denial, and silence. 

All walking tours through the Jewish Ghetto are somehow confusing - you can only spot small bits of usually insignificant buildings here and there. So how do you explain a lack of visible past in a city with a history so long and intense? How do you bring to life what’s gone and won’t come back? 

On this tour, we’ll trace what remains. With so little still here physically, I’ll be presenting carefully researched, unique pictures, memoirs, art, and other pieces we can use to reconstruct what was once here. 

We’ll visit the Jewish Historical Institute, the burned floor that hints at the Great Synagogue, the fragments of the ghetto wall hidden behind courtyards, the Umschlagplatz where thousands boarded trains to Treblinka, and the memorial mound where Anielewicz and the last uprising fighters made their final stand. 

We’ll also stop at the Szmul Zygielbojm Monument - a man who gave his life in London to protest the world’s silence. We’ll see the Ghetto Heroes Monument, Jan Karski’s bench, and the POLIN Museum, a museum dedicated to the history of Polish Jews that spans back to the 10th century. Its name means “Poland” in Hebrew. One of the questions we’ll ask is: why couldn’t it simply be called “The Jewish Museum” in the Polish language? 

 This is not just a tour of physical landmarks - we won't shy away from uncomfortable truths.

We’ll talk about how a city once full of Yiddish theatres, synagogues, newspapers, and political debates was turned to ash and never rebuilt. How antisemitism long preceded the Nazis and survived them too - sometimes even in the Polish parliament. 

We’ll confront myths that are still alive: that Polish Jews went meekly, that they didn’t fight back, that there were no choices - and we’ll see how these myths still shape uncomfortable conversations today. 

We’ll explore what made Warsaw’s Jewish community so vibrant - and why it became a target of such intense hatred. Through stories of life, resistance, and loss, we’ll dive into the roots of antisemitism: religious prejudice, political scapegoating, conspiracy theories, and cultural isolation.
 

We’ll ask the hard questions: 

- Why were Jews so often disliked - before the war, during it, and after? 

- Why wasn’t the Jewish community ever rebuilt, and why is it almost impossible to find Polish art or narratives expressing longing for that lost part of society? 

- What does it mean to be a Jew when you’re not religious? 

- Why is it still so hard to talk honestly about Jews in Poland today? 

My connection with this place always felt quite strong for someone born more than half a century after WWII. My grandmother was born in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942 and survived only because Polish neighbors hid her as their own child, risking death under Nazi law. Another part of my family was deported east by Soviet occupiers, living through hunger and Siberian exile. For me, Warsaw’s Jewish story isn't a distant history or school material, but fundamental roots of our identity that we unfortunately can only partly recover. 

This walk is for anyone who wants more than just names and dates. I combine careful research, family memories, and dedication to historical and scientific accuracy. Together, we’ll try to see how the past still echoes in Poland’s streets and politics - from the righteous who risked everything, to the neighbors who didn’t, to today’s arguments about how we tell this story at all. 

All you need to know about Warsaw in one tour.  

This 2-hour tour, guided by Warsaw enthusiasts, is your perfect Warsaw starter pack, including must-see spots of the 2 oldest Warsaw districts, its lesser-known gems, and stories and legends that bring them to life.  

On this 2-hour long tour, we will show you the essentials. You will explore the medieval core of Warsaw: founded in the early 14th century the Old Town, and established one hundred years later - the so-called New Town (the second oldest district of Warsaw). You will learn how Warsaw, from a wooden medieval settlement, in 700 years marked by invasions and occupations, developed into a big, modern, European capital.
 

You will see and understand stories behind:

• The Royal Castle
• Sigismund’s Column
• The Cathedral of Saint John
• The Magic Bell
• The Vistula River viewpoint
• Market Square
• Medieval defensive walls
• The Barbican
• Marie Curie’s birthplace
• The monument of the Warsaw Uprising

Expect tons of history seasoned with anecdotes, legends and insider tips.

At the end of the tour you will get a printed MINI GUIDE about major Warsaw tourist attractions, most-visited museums, local food delicacies and city hacks. 

World War 2 tour explores the most important places related to dramatic war events: 

• Castle Square
• A former Nazi-German district
• Execution sites
• Pilsudski Square (former Adolf Hitler Square)
• The Jewish Ghetto. 

You can't understand present-day Warsaw without knowing what happened here 80 years ago. Warsaw was among the cities which suffered the most during World War II. 
The city and its inhabitants experienced the horror of bombings, and the terror of everyday life under the eye of the SS but also courageously fought in two uprisings: the 1943 Jewish Ghetto Uprising and the 1944 Warsaw Uprising.