The back story
Warsaw: the back story
Warsaw is a city rebuilt: the UNESCO-listed Old Town rose again after the Second World War, along with the Royal Castle, the Royal Route and Łazienki. Today they stand beside the Palace of Culture, the Varso Tower and the new Museum of Modern Art.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Rhododendrites · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsWarsaw’s Old Town was destroyed in the Second World War and rebuilt so faithfully that it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, the Warsaw Tourism Office notes. From the Royal Castle on Castle Square, the Royal Route runs south along Krakowskie Przedmieście and Nowy Świat to Łazienki, the summer residence of the last king of Poland, and on to Wilanów, the palace of King Jan III Sobieski. In the centre, the Palace of Culture and Science and the Varso Tower stand side by side; Varso is the tallest building in the European Union, at 310 metres with its spire.
The Old Town and the castle
The Royal Castle, the Old Town Market Place with its Mermaid, the walls and the Barbican, and the New Town beyond.
The Royal Route
Krakowskie Przedmieście and Nowy Świat, with the Holy Cross Church, where Chopin’s heart rests in a pillar, and the University.
Start at Castle Square early in the morning, then walk the Royal Route south.
The palaces
Łazienki, with the Palace on the Isle and its peacocks, and Wilanów, with its gardens and the Poster Museum.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Scotch Mist · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsThe new Warsaw
Highline Warsaw at the top of the Varso Tower, the Museum of Modern Art on Plac Defilad, and the Copernicus Science Centre on the river.
Remembering
POLIN, the Warsaw Rising Museum and the traces of the Warsaw Ghetto: see the Remembrance section below.
Our advice: the Warsaw Tourism Office publishes one-, two- and three-day plans on go2warsaw.pl.
Why it's on our list
- The Old Town and the castle
- The Royal Route
- The palaces
- The new Warsaw
- Remembering
Location
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More in depth
The back storyArts & Culture in Warsaw: the back storyChopin’s city: the Chopin Museum and the summer concerts in Łazienki, the Grand Theatre – National Opera, the National Philharmonic, the National Museum, the new Museum of Modern Art and the Polish poster.
The back storyGreen Warsaw: the back storyAlmost a quarter of Warsaw is green: royal gardens at Łazienki and Wilanów, the Saxon and Krasiński gardens, the Vistula boulevards, and a primeval forest at the city’s edge.
The back storyGetting around Warsaw: the back storyTwo metro lines, trams, buses and city bikes, the Central Station for trains across Poland and to Berlin, Prague and Vienna, and Warsaw Chopin Airport in the city.