woodford02A

I will have one whole morning & afternoon in Warsaw between trains in a few weeks and would like to hire a private guide to show me around. I have heard mixed reviews of Warsaw as a tourist destination. Given that much of the city was destroyed, what should my itinerary be?

Would like some mix of old & new, as well as parks or places people who live there would visit. No need to some lots of time in museums but if there is someplace which is a "must", I will do it.

Finally, any recommendations for a private tour guide?

Thanks

yurtripper

The city was destroyed 70 years ago but there has been a bit of rebuilding in the meantime!

WAW is not quite the ogre it was, and the views of it as a wasteland are well outdated, but it's fair to say that it's not an obvious draw for tourists in the way that cities like Prague or Vienna are (or even Krakow to the south).

If you only have a few hours the best thing is probably to head to the old town. You'll be leaving from Central Station so that will give you a chance to take a quick look at the CBD and the Palace of Culture. Get to Nowy Swiat metro station then walk down Krakowskie Przedmiescie until you reach Stare Miasto. Walk through that until you get to Nowe Miasto (also worth seeing). Stop for a drink and a bite to eat in a couple of places and avoid the temptation to rush around.

If you still have time to kill after that you could head to Lazienki park for a stroll (simplest way to get there is to catch any bus from near Hotel Bristol that goes down Ujazdowskie).

Could you tell us what date you're coming? If it's a weekend or one of my (rare) days off I might even be able to show you round the place myself.

woodford02A

thanks, yurtripper! This is on 6 June.

Does it make sense to hire a private guide for a half day tour (seems to be around $130-150) or better to just do this ourselves?

Any feedback on the Uprising Museum?

yurtripper

Please don't pay anything like that for a private guide.. unless the ticket price includes a meal for two at Atelier Amaro! That's really an outrageous price for a half day tour, when any enterprising student could show you round for a few hours for 50PLN plus a beer + snack for lunch and think themselves very lucky. Heck, I could almost take a day off work and show you myself for $150 (sadly it's a Tuesday, always my busiest day, so I can't make it).

You haven't given the train times so I still don't know exactly how many hours you have. If it's 4-6 then I wouldn't bother with any museums. If you have longer or the weather is bad then any of the Uprising Museum, the Jewish History Museum (POLIN) or the Chopin Museum could be a worth a visit, depending on your interests.

woodford02A

We will actually arrive in the evening on Monday night from Germany, stay at the Hilton, sight-see on Tuesday morning/afternoon and then are on a 6pm evening Tuesday train to Krakow.

So, I think we have probably have about 6 hours of sightseeing in total when considering some meals, rest/breaks and travel time, etc. We like to be leisurely :-)

Does this timeline change your original recommendation? I guess with Uber and Taxis we can cover a lot of ground. There is also this free 2 hour walking tour I found: https://freewalkingtour.com/warsaw/t...d-town-warsaw/

Also would love any dinner suggestions for Monday night. We like good food and wine, nice atmosphere. Really open to anything but would like to have a nice meal that is a bargain compared to the US.

yurtripper

In that case you could check out one of the museums - the Uprising museum would be the obvious choice considering your location. I would see it first because it can be a little intense so you want some time to relax afterwards.

Uber is a good choice for getting around but so is the metro. From the Uprising museum you can easily walk to Metro Daszynskiego and then go three stops to Nowy Swiat to begin exploring the old town.

I hesitate to give restaurant recommendations given that what you're looking for is quite generic. There's too many options so you might want to think in terms of a particular type of cuisine before deciding. You might be looking to try Polish food, but as someone who lives and works here I very rarely eat out in the kind of Polish restaurants that tourists would consider. So either wait for the opinions of others or use a combination of trip advisor and google reviews to help guide you.

woodford02A

OK, very good, thanks for your feedback.

On restaurants, we are not interested in polish food. It also seems like many of the nicer restaurants are located inside large luxury hotels which is something I'd like to avoid. We re looking for good steaks, fish or Italian food, upscale, and maybe in an interesting restored building or very cool area of town. I am not familiar with Warsaw so even looking on Tripadvisor is a bit overwhleming given the number of choices.

HLS2002

I may be asking for precisely what you hesitate to offer, but I'll be in WAW for one night this summer (probably staying at the Bristol) and would love suggestions for a nice dinner. I'm looking for something quintessentially Polish. My kid may eat everything or nothing. We're vegetarians but fully expect to eat lots of pork on this trip so we don't miss out on local delicacies.