Before traveling to Warsaw pretty much the only thing I knew about it was that it is where the Zookeepers Wife, a true story about smuggling people from the Jewish Ghetto out of the city, is based. Highly recommend the movie by the way! Warsaw is a massive city with almost 2 million residents. It has only been the capital of Poland since 1945 and has been largely rebuilt since it was destroyed during the World War. Many travellers overlook Warsaw for Krakow, Poland’s other city. I absolutely loved Krakow and think it is a beautiful city, but Warsaw has its own charm and shouldn’t be missed. There are so many things to do in Warsaw, but here are the 6 of the most unique things to do in Warsaw. 

Escape Rooms 

Escape rooms are almost always on my must do list of things to do, particularly in Eastern Europe. They are super fun and provide a little bit of a break if you have a tendency to get ‘churched’ or ‘historied’ out. 

There are a number of escape rooms to choose from in Warsaw. Make sure you check what language they are in as some of them are in Polish. We did the 3 Musketeers room at Room Escape and I can safely say it is one of the best, if not the best, escape room I have ever done. The room was rated as 6/6 in terms of difficulty and it was pretty hard, but we did manage to get out with just a few minutes to spare. It was very interactive and had tons of different types of puzzles and secret doors / compartments. 

Vodka Tasting 

No trip to Poland would be complete without a little vodka. The Polish are extremely proud of their vodka. It has even won awards and been recognized as an important part of their heritage. Similar to how you can only get true champagne from the Champagne region is France, you can only get true wheat based Polish Vodka from Poland. So it makes sense to try a bit of it!

There are several ways that you can get your hands on some Polish vodka, The cheapest method would be to go to a vodka bar and order a tasting menu. You can also hire specific tour guides to take you around to various bars.

We decided that we were going to experience Polish vodka at the Vodka Museum. You can take tours for just under $20CAD where they will show you how they distil it, why it is so special, the history of the bottles and the drinking traditions in Poland (my favourite part). The tour ends with a tasting where you will get to try 3 of the vodkas that they distil. I’m not the biggest vodka fan, but even I liked these vodkas. For additional cost there are workshops like cocktail making classes available. Make sure you check the time of the tours, they run an English tour approximately every hour. 

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Neon Museum 

Who would think that there would be Neon Museum in Warsaw, particularly one that’s focused on Cold War era signs? It is such a quirky idea that we just had to check it out. If you have been to the Neon Museum in Vegas the one in Warsaw is a similar idea. It is a collection of old neon signs with descriptions about where they are from and why they are interesting. 

The Warsaw Neon Museum is alot smaller than the Vegas ones and tends to focus on smaller signs instead of ones that would be on hotels. However, unlike the Vegas one, all of the signs in Warsaw still work. It is pretty cool to walk around the warehouse and see them. The Neon Museum is pretty small so it does not take very long to see, but it is also not that expensive. It costs about $5CAD to get into the museum. It is also kind of near by the Vodka Museum if you want to combine the two. 

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Uprising Museum 

This is probably one of the most surprising and fantastic museums I have ever been to. First of all it is huge. We had been expecting a small museum about the Warsaw uprising, but instead there were 3 floors of attraction. It is also incredibly interactive. There are tons of movies to watch, code to translate or tunnels to crawl through. 

It is also a part of history that I never really studied and history was my minor at university. Of course you study WWII and the German occupation of Poland, but not so much the uprising that resisted it. The most jarring part of the museum was photos and videos of how much of Warsaw was absolutely destroyed during the war. Approximately 90% was Warsaw was flatted during the war and the uprising and has since been rebuilt. 

Walking Tour 

Walking tours are a great way to get introduced to any city, but they are particularly fun when they are free! You can either join a tour run by Free Walking Tours where they explore areas such as old town, the east banks or the Jewish districts. Or you can do a ‘do it your self tour’ by downloading a self guided walking tour.

Warsaw is a beautiful town and they did a wonderful job of restoring the Old Town to its original glory after the war. There are so many quirky parts of Warsaw that you can only see well walking. Plus its a great way to get to know the history of the country and city.

Old Town Market Place & city walls 

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Pierogi Tasting 

I never knew there were so many different types of perogies until I went to poland. In Canada perogies are pretty much all the same – potato and cheese, maybe some bacon. In Poland there are dozens of different types of perogies, even dessert perogies! Pretty much every traditional Polish restaurant will serve pierogies, but it is best to find one with a variety of options of one that will let you mix or match. 

If you are going to taste pierogies, you might as well learn to make them. There are several cooking classes in Warsaw that will teach you how to make perogies, but make sure you book ahead as they can book out. 

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