Warsaw is nirvana for museum lovers, with its often enormous institutions deep-diving into many aspects of the city’s past.
The POLIN Museum that looks at 1,000 years of Polish Jewish history, and the Warsaw Uprising Museum are the two big hitters, but the Museum of Life Under Communism and the entirely unique Neon Museum are smaller but no less intriguing exhibitions.
That said, Warsaw isn’t exclusively about museums. Intersperse other activities between these repositories of the Polish past with visits to royal sites and its viewing points old and new – all are commendably worthwhile attractions.
All our recommendations have been hand selected and tested by our destination expert to help you discover the best things to do in Warsaw. Find out more below, or for more Warsaw inspiration, see our guides to the city’s best hotels, restaurants and bars.
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Best museums
POLIN (Museum of the History of Polish Jews)
Learn about a millennium of Jewish history
The POLIN, one of the country’s best museums, traces the thousand-year history of the Jewish population of Poland in an impressive, purpose-built wedge of 21st-century architecture. The excellent audio guide takes you through the extensive exhibition in around two hours, starting with the arrival of the Jewish people in the Polish kingdom and ending with a film about Jewish identity in today’s Poland. The various sections examine everything from medieval privileges to the Holocaust.
Insider tip: This is a huge, exhaustive museum, but the good news is that halfway round, you can take a deserved break at the museum bistro.
Website: polin.pl
Nearest tram stop: Muranów
Price: ££
Museum of Life Under Communism
Experience daily life in the people’s republic
This museum may be small, but it’s one of the most fascinating and easily digestible in the capital. Download the audio guide to your phone and take a walk through many aspects of life under communism. As well as a mock-up of a 1970s kitchen, there is a wall of old cassette players, a Polish Fiat cut in half and a 1980s telephone box.
Insider tip: Part of the exhibition is a working café where you can order drinks and cakes that would have been around before 1989, enjoyed at basic tables. Children can play with communist-era toys in the room next door.
Website: mzprl.pl
Nearest tram stop: Plac Konstytucji
Price: ££
Polish Army Museum
See 1,000 years of Polish military might
The Polish Army Museum opened in its new location in 2023, with its exhibitions focusing on “1,000 years of Polish military glory”. The various sections within this huge repository trace all things military from medieval times to the Second World War. There’s also an outdoor section where tanks, artillery, aircraft and other bits of tech stand rusting in the rain. All in all, it is a well‑curated and educational place, mainly of interest to those into military history.
Insider tip: This museum and the nearby Museum of Polish History are located in the Citadel, a massive red-brick structure built by the Russians in 1831 after an uprising that sought to free Poland from the grip of the Tsar.
Website: muzeumwp.pl
Nearest tram stop: Plac Inwalidów
Price: £
Warsaw Railway Museum
Explore Poland’s largest rolling stock collection
If you are into trains, you are going to love this low-key railway museum in an old station. The first part of the exhibition looks at the development of the railways both across the world and in Poland. Hall two is all about memorabilia and train models, and the third part is a special 1950s reception room where important delegations would be welcomed to Warsaw. Outside there are 50 locomotives and carriages from the past 150 years.
Insider tip: The museum is housed in the old Warszawa Główna, the city’s main station until Centralna was built in the 1970s.
Website: stacjamuzeum.pl
Nearest tram stop: Plac Zawiszy
Price: £
Museum of Warsaw
Discover the history of Warsaw in 300,000 objects
Located in the heart of the Old Town, this museum occupies several townhouses that were rebuilt post-Second World War. This is no ordinary chronological city museum that starts with prehistoric finds and ends sometime in the 1990s – the concept here is to tell Warsaw’s story through certain objects. The 21 thematic rooms include spaces dedicated to clothing, clocks, maps, postcards and much more.
Insider tip: The exhibition here is bigger than it may seem from the outside and a visit can take a couple of hours. There are temporary exhibitions too, so it’s a good job the museum has a late opening night for these on Thursdays (to 8pm).
Website: muzeumwarszawy.pl
Nearest tram stop: Stare Miasto
Price: £
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Museum
Visit the first female Nobel Prize winner’s home
Marie Skłodowska-Curie was born in Warsaw in 1867. The fact that she discovered radium, among other advancements, is remarkable particularly as she managed it all in the male preserve of 19th and early 20th-century science. This small museum is located in the house where she was born and gives an overview of her life and work, including her Nobel Prizes.
Insider tip: It is a very small exhibition so it’s a good idea to tick it off as you are passing between the Citadel and Stare Miasto (the Old Town).
Website: mmsc.waw.pl
Nearest tram stop: Muranów
Price: £
Neon Museum
Experience the Poles’ love of illuminated signs
Nostalgia and retro museums abound in Eastern Europe, but very few are dedicated to a single topic from the days of the Cold War. This wonderful collection is dedicated to the neon signs that were a part of streets across the communist world. Everything you see has been saved from the rubbish tip by Anglo-Polish couple Ilona Karwińska and David Hill and made into one of Poland’s most memorable museum experiences.
Insider tip: The museum has recently moved to a very apt location within the Palace of Culture and Science, so you can visit two attractions at once.
Website: neonmuzeum.org
Nearest metro: Centrum
Price: ££
Museum of Polish History
Get a preview of a new museum
The Museum of Polish History, a de facto new national museum, is so new that the permanent exhibition is still in the making, due to open in 2027. With rippled, grey Portuguese marble cladding the entire structure inside and out, the museum makes the ambitious promise to tell Poland’s story from the very beginning to the present day. Until then, temporary exhibitions will be displayed in its halls.
Insider tip: The main part of the museum might still be in the works, but the huge rooftop terrace is open, affording 360-degree views of the Polish capital. Most impressive is the city’s modern skyline visible through the haze.
Website: muzhp.pl
Nearest tram stop: Plac Inwalidów
Price: £
Best free things to do
Chopin recitals
Listen to Chopin in the park
Chopin has almost god-like status among the Polish people, with every Pole able to hum several of the 19th-century piano genius’s works. Every Sunday between mid-May and mid-September for more than 60 years, free Chopin recitals have taken place at the Chopin Monument in Łazienki Park (at 12pm and 4pm).
Insider tip: These recitals are unbelievably popular with locals, who turn out in their thousands when the weather is good. It’s a good idea to grab a bench or blanket space early as by the time the concert starts, it’s standing room only.
Website: lazienki-krolewskie.pl
Nearest bus stop: Łazienki Królewskie
Price: Free
Old Town
Wander the rebuilt historical core
Centred around two cobbled squares, Warsaw’s historical Old Town (Stare Miasto) is a wonderfully atmospheric place to wander, window shop and people watch. Pretty as it may be, the truly remarkable thing about the Stare Miasto is that it is almost entirely a post-Second World War rebuild. The neighbourhood was razed to the ground by the Nazis at the end of the Second World War, but the Poles rebuilt it, albeit with the odd Socialist Realist touch.
Insider tip: The centre of the Old Town is Rynek Starego Miasta (the Old Town Square), where you’ll find a very important monument, the Mermaid of Warsaw, the omnipresent symbol of the city.
Website: go2warsaw.pl
Nearest tram stop: Stare Miasto
Price: Free
Best for families
Copernicus Science Centre
Get hands-on in Warsaw
By far the best place to take curious minds in Warsaw is the Copernicus Science Centre, a highly interactive science museum. There are six themed galleries containing more than 400 hands-on exhibits, a planetarium, various laboratories, robotics sections, a rooftop garden and the Discovery Park. Self-performed experiments, workshops and events keep the entire family entertained for hours and is a great place to head on rainy days.
Insider tip: The Copernicus Science Centre is incredibly popular and one of the few places in the Polish capital where you need to think ahead about tickets. These are available online and are especially useful throughout the summer when things get very busy.
Website: kopernik.org.pl
Nearest metro stop: Centrum Nauki Kopernik
Price: ££
Warsaw Zoo
Spot animals in Praga
Located in a leafy part of the Praga neighbourhood on the opposite side of the Vistula from the Old Town, this well-tended zoo is another attraction for young kids. Although it’s not one of Eastern Europe’s well-known zoos, it’s surprisingly large with around 12,000 animals and one of Poland’s largest aquariums. The shady grounds are good for a pleasant stroll in the heat of summer.
Insider tip: Anyone who has seen the 2017 film The Zookeeper’s Wife (directed by Niki Caro) will be familiar with Warsaw Zoo. There are tours of the Żabińskis’ villa, home to zoo director Jan Żabiński and his wife Antonina before and during the Second World War.
Website: zoo.waw.pl
Nearest metro stop: Dworzec Wileński
Price: £
Palace of Culture and Science
Get a bird’s eye view of Warsaw
The Stalinist Palace of Culture & Science, was built in the early 1950s as a “gift to the Polish nation from Stalin”. Architecture fans will love the typically Soviet neoclassical interiors (the building has over 3,000 rooms), but most come for the view from the 30th floor, high above the city.
Insider tip: It takes just 19 seconds for the super-fast lift to go from ground level to the viewing platform at 115m, but this is rather cancelled out by the time you stand in the queue to get to the elevator door. Buy tickets online and get there early (or late).
Website: pkin.pl
Nearest metro: Centrum
Price: ££
Varso Tower
Head for the heights of the city
The most talked about building in Warsaw in recent years is the Varso Tower, part of the Varso Place complex. At 310m and boasting 53 storeys, it is the tallest building in the EU. It was designed by Foster and Partners and completed in September 2022, the latest sky-scraping addition to Warsaw’s rapidly modernising skyline.
Insider tip: At 230m above ground, the observation deck outguns the viewing points at the Palace of Culture and Science by over 100m.
Website: varso.com
Nearest metro stop: Rondo ONZ
Price: ££
Best royal attractions
Wilanów Palace
Marvel at the dreamy royal palace and gardens
For a complete change of scenery from the Stalinist architecture and retro museums of the city centre, head seven miles (11km) south to the suburb of Wilanów, where the Polish royal family had their residence from 1677. The palace itself is packed with various exhibitions including the Potocki art gallery and an area where restoration takes place, plus Greek and Roman artefacts and porcelain. Several parts are still under renovation, though miraculously, Wilanów came through the Second World War unscathed.
Insider tip: After a tour of the palace, the gardens are a feast for the eye, especially for those with green fingers. There are roses galore, as well as subtropical plants, finely snipped topiary and fountains splashing in the sun.
Website: wilanow-palac.pl
Nearest bus stop: Wilanów
Price: ££
Łazienki Park
Kick back with the Varsovians
Located a short distance to the south of the city centre, the Royal Łazienki Park is Warsaw’s most elegant park, a sloping woodland dotted with follies. The architectural highlight is the Palace on the Isle, originally a royal bathhouse that was transformed by King Stanisław August into a palace. The surrounding park is a wonderful place to escape Warsaw’s thundering boulevards and the ideal spot for a picnic as the odd peacock struts the paths.
Insider tip: Without doubt the best time to come to Łazienki Park is on a Sunday for the free Chopin recitals at 12pm and 4pm at the Chopin monument on the western side of the park.
Website: lazienki-krolewskie.pl
Nearest bus stop: Łazienki Królewskie
Price: Free
The Royal Castle in Warsaw
Visit a palace risen from the ashes
A royal palace was established on this spot in the Old Town in the 14th century. This was the main base for the Polish kings when the capital was moved to Warsaw, and from 1918 it served as the president’s residence. However, what you see today is a 1970s rebuild; the original obliterated at the end of the Second World War. Inside, original fragments do survive in the magnificent royal halls, chambers and chapels.
Insider tip: At very busy times, such as summer weekends, it is a good idea to buy tickets online in advance, especially if you have children along for the ride.
Website: zamek-krolewski.pl
Nearest tram stop: Stare Miasto
Price: ££
Best for history
Warsaw Uprising Museum
Learn about a little-known story of wartime resistance
The Warsaw Uprising against the occupying Nazis took place in August and September of 1944 and, had the Red Army cooperated, would have been successful in dislodging Hitler’s forces from a major European capital. This huge museum tells the story of one of occupied Europe’s most heroic acts of resistance, an episode Polish communist propaganda played down. The exhibition is extremely detailed and atmospheric with lots of mock-ups and real artefacts from the daily battles.
Insider tip: Pick up an audio guide for the museum within the exhibition, not at the ticket office, to save a lot of reading, milling around and exhaustion.
Website: 1944.pl
Nearest tram stop: Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego
Price: ££
Ghetto Heroes Monument
Pay homage to the Jewish ghetto
The Ghetto Heroes Monument pays tribute to those who died in another uprising against the Nazis, this time in the huge Jewish ghetto in April and May of 1943. The memorial was erected in 1946, and West German Chancellor Willy Brandt famously knelt before it in 1970 in an act of humility and reconciliation. The Warsaw ghetto, the largest created by the Nazis, is still marked out with metal strips in the pavement throughout the centre, though very few of the buildings around at that time survived.
Insider tip: Behind the Ghetto Heroes Monument rises the POLIN Museum and most people visit the two places at the same time.
Website: go2warsaw.pl
Nearest tram stop: Muranów
Price: Free
Warsaw Uprising Monument
View a memorial on an epic scale
Almost the whole of Plac Krasińskich, on the edge of the Old Town, is taken up with the giant monument to the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. Bronze soldiers emerge from the broken brickwork of the city in ruins as two massive wedges of white concrete threaten to crush the scene. Other fighters emerge from the sewers backed by stern columns bearing the P and anchor symbol of the uprising that almost drove the Nazis from the city.
Insider tip: The Field Cathedral of the Polish Army is also located in Plac Krasińskich. Here, you’ll find a monument to the Katyń massacre bearing all 20,000 names of those murdered by the Soviets.
Website: go2warsaw.pl
Nearest metro stop: Ratusz Arsenał
Price: Free
How we choose
Every attraction and activity in this curated list has been tried and tested by our destination expert to provide you with their insider perspective. We cover a range of budgets and styles – from world-class museums to family-friendly theme parks – to best suit every type of traveller. We update this list regularly to keep up with the latest openings and provide up-to-date recommendations.
About our expert
Marc Di Duca
Marc has been in and out of Warsaw for the last two decades, both as a travel guide author and visitor. He returns to the Polish capital for the history, and its enjoyably retro elements, from its socialist-era milk bars to the Stalinist Palace of Culture and Science that still rises above a rapidly modernising capital.