Travel to Warsaw will mean arriving at Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport, WAW, also known as Chopin Airport or Warsaw-Chopin Airport. It lies in the Włochy district of Warsaw, in Poland’s capital city. It’s about 6.5 miles from the city center. It’s Poland’s largest airport and also Poland’s busiest airport, handling 17.7 million passengers in 2018–about 40% of the country’s air passenger traffic. In 2001, it was named for former Warsaw resident and composer Frederic Chopin.
Indeed, at least among the newer European Union states, WAW is the busiest airport, with several hundred scheduled flights daily (along with an ever-increasing number of charter flights). WAW’s busiest international connections include Chicago, London, Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. The busiest domestic ones include Krakow, Wroclaw and Gdansk. An underground railway connects the airport to the city’s suburban rail system.
Top Things to Do in Warsaw
Palace of Culture and Science
Warsaw’s Palace of Culture & Science is the most notable high-rise structure in the city. Built in 1955, it has attracted various high-profile companies and public institutions to locate there. It also houses cinemas, museums, swimming pools, theaters and stores. Moreover It has thousands of rooms and well over a million square feet in floor area. It even has an astronomical observatory reaching 374 feet in height. Check out the rooftop terrace (30th floor). These locations in the building offer truly amazing city views. Conversely, the palace is visible against the skyline from almost any vantage on the ground in Warsaw.
Old Town
Although Warsaw’s Old Town was badly damaged during the World War II, it was carefully rebuilt after it. Here you can view a collection of 18th century paintings by the Italian painter Canaletto. You can also check out the many cafes and restaurants inhabiting the Old Town’s marketplace. Not far away, you will find St. John Cathedral and many older streets to explore in Warsaw.
Royal Castle: Travel to Warsaw
The Royal Castle, due to its iconic and symbolic status, as well as its long history, continues to be one of the most recognizable sites in Warsaw. It served through the centuries not just as a castle residency — its current status — but as the Polish monarchs’ official residence. Located in the Castle Square, at the gates of Warsaw’s Old Town, the castle comprised the personal offices of the king and the administrative offices of the Royal Court of Poland — at least from the 16th century until the Partitions of Poland began in the late 18th century.
By then, it was the seat of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and comprised the King’s residence and the home of the Parliament (consisting of a Chamber of Deputies and a Senate). The 3 May 1791 Constitution, drafted here by the Four-Year Sejm, was the first of its type in Europe and, after the U.S. Constitution, which was drafted in 1789, the world’s second-oldest codified national constitution.
The castle is open to the public not just as an historical place, but a museum site. Be sure to check out the variety of antique furniture pieces on display, along with the large group of paintings collected by Poland’s last king, King Stanislaw Antoni Poniatowski, who reigned during the late 18th century. Poniatowski was the last monarch of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He remains a controversial figure in Polish history.
National Museum
Here you will find a variety of European and Polish artworks from the Middle Ages. It offers a formidable collection of artwork from the likes of Jan Matejko and Jozef Chelmonski.
Zachęta National Gallery of Art
The Zachęta National Gallery of Art (in Polish, the Narodowa Galeria Sztuki) is a museum of contemporary art in the center of the city. The gallery attempts to present and otherwise support contemporary Polish art and artists. Hence, inclusion in its name of the word zachęta, which means “encouragement” or “motivation.” The word is a reference to the Towarzystwo Zachęty do Sztuk Pięknych (the Society for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts), which was founded in Warsaw in 1860.
It has numerous temporary exhibitions and does not shun well-known foreign artists in presenting its shows and exhibitions. Not surprisingly, the gallery has an established international reputation.
Expert Tips for Travel to Warsaw
Poland is a Central, not Eastern, European Country
Do not refer to Poland as an Eastern European country or state that it is part of Eastern Europe. It’s a mistake that the locals love to correct and correct to your face. When they do so, it can be quite embarrassing. Poland’s history over the last half-century includes economic and political factors and developments that changed its geopolitical status, to say the least.
Warsaw’s Weather: Travel to Warsaw
Despite its Central European location, it’s not always cold in Poland. Of course, from time to time, the country experiences a harsh and cold winter or a miserably hot and unforgiving summer. It’s probably a good idea, before you embark, to go over Warsaw’s geography—its placement on the Continent once more—to better understand its weather and the weather you’ll likely encounter during the period of travel that you’ve chosen.
Tap Water: Travel to Warsaw
You can drink the water from the tap in Warsaw. Then again, Warsaw’s older folks tend to add a little salt to the water. If you do not want to drink from the tap, you can also partake in bottled water at a reasonable cost.
Greetings
If you happen to be a schoolgirl or young woman, do not be surprised or put off when an older Polish gentlemen takes your hand and kisses it when greeting you. Rather, respect the gesture by smiling back at the person. Indeed, it’s not uncommon for Poles, at family gatherings, to greet and/or say farewell by placing multiple kisses on one’s cheek.
Guests
If you get an invitation from a Pole into his or her home, you will typically be fed well. Some guests, indeed, are treated quite lavishly. Please note that people in Poland typically do not take milk with tea, although they do use it with cereals or coffee. If you want to order milk with your tea, you may find that it’s necessary to explain why you are doing so. For this reason, you may prefer to order lemon with your tea, instead of milk, when actually having tea in Warsaw.
Drinking
It is not legal to drink alcohol in the streets. The whole culture of Poland very strongly discourages any drinking in the streets. If you open up beer in the park or any public space, it is likely you will be apprehended and charged by the police. You may even pay a fine. So, be sure to avoid drinking in public in Warsaw, when outside a restaurant or bar.
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