When you arrive in Warsaw in Chopin Airport, and you make your way through the terminal, it seems like an airport in any modern city. Glass window panes bring in warm natural light along the long, clean hallways, modern boutiques line the terminal and TSA is just as stone faced. This is no different than home. But when you're made it to the bus, start cruising through town and you glimpse the buildings as you pass by, you quickly realize;

Some shit went down here.

Poland's unfortunate history is like that of John McClane in the  Die Hard series, continuously stuck between angry Germans and Russians. Carved up by Prussia (part of modern day Germany), Russia and Austria in 1705, flattened by Germany during World War II, and a satellite of the Society Union until 1989. When i say flattened by Germany, that's pretty literal. Four fifths of Warsaw was destroyed during the fighting and systematic destruction by the Germans. The Germans were knocking down buildings with a higher average than most NBA teams make free throws.

Perhaps this is why their patriotism is so strong as so many wounds are so fresh. They're probably high on the 'hardy and unfortunate country' list with Afghanistan and Vietnam. It's hard not to be reminded of all these conflicts as you walk through Warsaw as their buildings are a testament to their trials these last hundred years.

On a city block, you can find a modern, glass and dark steel business skyscraper, a success story of their modern capitalism. Then you look to the right, an older stone and brick structure, a reconstruction of old Warsaw, beautifully crafted to remember their history. Then you look straight, an old concrete building, it's facade bland and weather worn, a a relic of communist times. It's a city that simultaneously beautiful and ugly. Few counties have been squashed repeatedly and rebuilt so splendidly.

All that long history aside, there's few places in the world we can do a walk through such a modern turbulent history. This post will show you some of the interesting monuments and museums to see over a sample two day itinerary and budget. You can skip down to the bottom if you would just like to see the budget.

Let's start our walk down not-so-great memory lane!

 

Walking History Tour of Warsaw

First, you can always just opt for a free walking tour provided by the many guides in the area (they work for tips). Personally, I prefer to do a self-guided tour/walk since you can breathe in the city's atmosphere, culture and have the freedom to stop and investigate interesting sites as you please.

The main portion of our walk will be centered around Old Town, just west of the banks of the Vistula River. Old Town was also part of the German flattening and since has been wonderfully restored.

 

The Monument to the Little Insurgent

In the north end of Old Town lies a monument to all the children that aided in the war effort. Too young to fight, children often acted as couriers, delivering messages and supplies, or guides showing resistance members through the sewers. And many of these kids, died doing so.

 

 

Warsaw Uprising Memorial

To the Northwest of Old Town and outside the Justice Office is a monument to the Warsaw Uprising. Despite Poland's early capitulation in the war, the Polish did all that they could to aid the war effort. This cumulated in a massive offensive in 1944, where the Polish resistance and army rose up to retake Warsaw. Unfortunately they were beaten back and 25,000 Polish resistance and army members died during this two month battle. This doesn't include the 150,000+ civilians that perished during this battle.

 

Monument to the Heroes of Warsaw

Located slightly west of Warsaw, this towering monument honors all those who lost their lives throughout WWII in defense of Warsaw. If the casualties in the Warsaw Uprising weren't already hideously high, I can't begin to imagine the total number lives given to defend Warsaw throughout the course of the war. This monument is located between a highway intersection so it is harder to reach.

 

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Located west of Old Town, this monument has its own rendition in almost every country, including the United States. Unidentified soldiers from previous wars are interred at the tomb. There is an eternal flame and honor guard here at Warsaw.

Tomb to the Unknown Soldier 

Monument to the Murdered and Fallen in the East

Located much further north of Old Town and will take a bit of a walk but this is one of the larger monuments. Its over 20 feet high but is particularly long. This monument remembers the victims from the Soviet invasion in 1939.

Monument to the Murdered and Fallen in the East

Ghetto Heroes Monument

Located right outside the Jewish History Museum, it another sobering monument to remember the Ghetto uprising in 1943. This was the largest Jewish uprising ever, and resulted in the Nazi's burning down the Ghetto block by block, killing and deporting over 70,000 people. For those of you who watched The Pianist,  this was the first uprising pictured in the film.

Monument to the Ghetto Heroes

Ghetto Wall Marker

A marker showering where the ghetto wall once stood. A wall that once boxed in some 400,000 Jews to starve and eventually be shipped away to concentration camps.

 

Tribute to the Fallen by Łazienki Palace

A small hidden monument commemorating 32 Poles that were shot by the Nazis in 1944. An interesting landmark but it's better to be down here to see Łazienki Palace. A large city park (imagine a smaller Central Park) with a lake and historical building. It's a lovely walk to get away from all the city bustle.

 

 

Museums

Still with me? If you need to take a break to grab some ice cream, prozac or just watch the scene where Mufasa dies in the Lion King to lighten the mood, I understand.

Ready? Now on to the museums.

Warsaw has a glut of extensive museums that are well worth the money if you're interested in any of their topics. These will take a little more planning if you're looking to save money. Most of Warsaw's museums actually have a free day once a week. Here's a list below:

Royal Castle - Sunday

Uprising Museum - Sunday

Polin Museum - Thursday

Chopin Museum - Sunday

National Museum - Tuesday

Museum of Praga - Sunday

Centre for Contemporary Art - Thursday

If you plan your trip around a Thursday or Sunday, you can get free entry for a lot of these museums. Otherwise the entry fee will run you roughly 20 zl for most of these locations, which is still very good for how much museum you get.

And like most of their monuments, the last hundred years leaves their mark here too.

 

Old Castle

The Old Castle was originally built back in the early 1600s and what do you know, destroyed by the Nazis in 1944 to erode Polish nationalism. There's actually some leftover foundation saved in the castle.

Now it's a showcase for Polish art and history starting in the middle ages. Though they all relate back to the modern era, as many of these artworks had to be removed and stored at the onset of the war. There was also a Rembrandt exhibit when I visited and this may be a temporary rotation. The Polish government also take this museum seriously. There are museum attendants in every room and watch you like a hawk when you enter.

One big tip when visiting the Old Castle is that its crowded, and even more so on the free days. So how do you avoid the crowds?

Even if you get there at opening hours, everyone will be lined up and ready to enter the museum in a large wave. The castle is a giant square and the museum is ordered in a loop. Its a castle with artwork and interesting rooms, so there's no chronological order to explore the museum. This means if you get to the museum at the opening and go on the tour backwards, you get to explore 75% of the museum by yourself!

 

 

Warsaw Uprising Museum

Yes, there's also an in-depth museum to the Warsaw Uprising. This museum is located closer to the Central (Centrum) district in Warsaw and goes over every detail of the Uprising. A great visit for any war junkies. Even if you're not its an interesting museum to visit as they make the museum engaging or realistic (like in the coffins pictured below). The one odd thing about the museum is that the layout is confusing, so its easy to get lost. Make sure you look at the map so you don't miss anything.

 

Jewish History Museum

Poland used to have one of the highest population of Jews for any country until the Holocaust. The demographic of Poland was forever changed after those years. Poland has commemorated the Polish jews with this museum, located where the Ghetto once stood.

The museum is fairly new, opening in 2013. The museum goes to an in-depth history of Jewish History starting all the way back in the Middle Ages and continues to the modern era, which does include the Holocaust.

 

Food

Even if you split most of these locations over a couple of days, that's a lot of walking. And many of us are American, so we like to drive. After many miles, we're likely to get hungry so I've thrown in couple local food options as a bonus. After all this Polish history, what's better than fitting in and enjoying some Pierogi.

Pod Barbakanem. Bar mcleczny.

Located right in the middle of Old Town, is an old era Milk Bar or bar mleczny. Milk bars were originally established as a restaurant that sold mostly dairy products, but this restaurant is now a remnant of the communist era. They were then used as cheap cafeterias to feed workers and exist as cheap eats to this day.

This milk bar is still styled like a cafeteria, you order off the sign, hand tour receipt to the lady at the window and get your food on a tray.

In practice this is a little bit harder than that. It's truly a Polish restaurant as all their patrons are Polish tourists and their menu doesn't have a lick of English. If you're smart, you'll have a phrasebook or Google Translate on your phone to figure out the menu. If you're me, you'll play a game of Craps as you point randomly at the menu and gesture wildly.

It's authentic and cheap! A bowl of soup, entree and side should run you no more than 18 zl or $4.90. If you go out of Warsaw and into the smaller towns, these milk bars run as low as 12 zl or $3.25!

 

Sometimes the locals join you!

Stara Kamienica

For those of you who feel like spending a tiny bit more for the afternoon, have a nice walk down south to Star Kamiencia. It's a nice walking route as you'll be on Nowy Swiat, a popular shopping street.

This restaurant is a considerably higher tier. You'll walk in and find business men, a rustic bar and fancy tables with doilies but don't let that scare you off. Their lunch special from 12-4 is a three course meal for 22 zl. This usually starts with a soup, a main course and sides and a dessert that all rotates day to day.

Of course you can always order off their main menu which looks delicious as well. This is more expensive but has dishes like the Wild Boar at 54 zl ($14.60) or the duck confeite at 41 zl ($11.10). That's some very good bang for your buck.

 

Sample Budget

If you do everything listed above, that's a couple of jam packed days that's very affordable. Here's a sample budget for an extremely Polish day to show how much it can run you.

Sunday

Breakfast - 18 zl

Most hotels and hostels will offer an affordable breakfast or if you want to try a traditional meal, you can head over to To Lubie. Its a simple but fresh meal.

Museum of your choosing - Old Castle

Lunch - Pod Barbakanem - 18 zl ($4.9)

Walk around Old Town - Free

Good time to visit the monuments on the northside - Monument to the Little Insurgent, Monument to the Murdered and Fallen in the East, Warsaw Uprising Memorial, Ghetto Boundary Marker

Soft serve ice cream- 5 zl ($1.35)

They're extremely popular in Warsaw, even when its raining. They're extremely soft and creamy, worth trying once.

Dinner - 12 zl for sandwich ($3.24)

These sandwiches are fairly common and cheap. They're honestly just a giant toaster pizza. Some of you will want something more filling or fancy, so just budget accordingly.

TOTAL - 36 zl ($9.71)

 

Monday

Breakfast - Baguette and Coffee at most shops - 15 zl ($4.05)

Museum of your choosing - 20 zl ($5.40)

Walk along Nowy Swiat - Free

Lunch - Star Kami - 22 zl ($5.94)

Walk around south and west of old town - free

Places to visit mentioned earlier - Lasinki Park, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Dinner - 19 zl for panini ($5.13)

x2 Grocery store beers - 6 zl ($1.62)

Total - 82 zl ($22.12)

 

This sample itinerary amounts to 118 zl ($31.84) over two days, averaging 59 zl ($15.92) a day. That's a comfortable and busy couple days with a low budget even if you include a 60 zl or $16 a night hostel bringing up to the total. Where else can you do an all-inclusive walking tour for $32 a day!

All of this can be cut down or splurged depending on your preferences. For example, neighborhood grocery stores will sell you half a pound of fruit and some bread and butter for 6 zl. That's a good breakfast for me. Others will prefer something more filling. Just adjust as needed.

Any other cost saving tips I don't know about? Let me know!

Until next time.