Poland - Warsaw

Baltics & Scandanavia 2026 - Poland (Warsaw)

After breakfast, we flew from Vilnius to Warsaw, Poland — country #62 on our travels.

Upon arrival, we headed straight to our downtown hotel and were pleasantly surprised to be able to check in immediately. With a few hours to spare before our afternoon tour, we set off on foot toward Old Town. Along the way, we grabbed a quick lunch at McDonald's. Not exactly traditional Polish cuisine, but sometimes convenience wins.

After lunch, we met up with our cycling tour and began exploring Warsaw.

One of our first stops was the statue of Nicolaus Copernicus, standing proudly in front of the academy that promotes science and learning. From there, we learned one of Warsaw's more unusual historical facts: although the famous composer Frédéric Chopin died in Paris, his heart was returned to Poland and is preserved inside Holy Cross Church. It is perhaps one of the world's most famous long-distance organ donations.

As we cycled through the city, our guide explained how much of Warsaw had to be rebuilt following World War II. After the Warsaw Uprising and the subsequent destruction ordered by Nazi Germany, approximately 85% of the city was destroyed. Using historical paintings, photographs, and architectural plans, the people of Warsaw painstakingly reconstructed the Old Town so accurately that it is now recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Walking through Old Town today, it is hard to imagine the devastation that once occurred there. The colourful facades lining the streets and squares make the area feel vibrant and welcoming rather than tragic.

In the centre of the Old Town Market Square, we stopped to admire the famous Warsaw Mermaid statue. The mermaid, or Syrenka, is the symbol of Warsaw and appears throughout the city. According to local legend, she vowed to protect the people of Warsaw and remains their guardian to this day.

From Old Town, we continued toward the New Town area, where we viewed portions of the old city walls and a statue of Marie Curie, the Polish-born scientist who won Nobel Prizes in both physics and chemistry.

At that point, we made a strategic transportation upgrade. We returned our bicycles and switched to electric scooters. After several weeks of cycling hundreds of kilometres across the Baltics, this felt less like laziness and more like innovation.

On scooters, we covered much more ground and visited the imposing Palace of Culture and Science, a Soviet-era skyscraper often compared to Riga's "Stalin's Birthday Cake." The building was presented as a "gift" from the Soviet Union to Poland in the 1950s. Like many gifts from Stalin, it came with significant political implications.

We also visited the Presidential Palace and the moving Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where guards maintain a constant vigil in honour of Poland's fallen soldiers.

After the tour, we set out in search of authentic Polish cuisine. Success.

For supper, we ordered a platter featuring nine varieties of traditional pierogi. These delicious dumplings came filled with a variety of savoury and sweet ingredients, and every single one was excellent. If there is a limit to how many pierogi a person should eat in one sitting, I chose not to discover it.

For dessert, we enjoyed apple cake served with warm vanilla sauce — the perfect ending to the meal.

Back at the hotel, we headed up to the 43rd floor, where the gym and pool offered spectacular panoramic views over Warsaw's skyline. Watching the city lights come on from above was absolutely sublime.

The next morning, we started the day with made-to-order omelettes at the hotel before meeting up with my cousin Nick, who lives in Warsaw.  We spent a lovely morning catching up over tea. It felt slightly absurd that we had to travel halfway around the world to finally meet in person, but travel has a funny way of creating opportunities that everyday life never seems to provide.

After saying goodbye, we crossed the street to visit the Palace of Culture and Science and took the elevator to the 30th-floor observation deck for views across the city.

The views were impressive, but we concluded that our hotel's pool and gym had actually offered better views on two sides of the city. Sometimes the best observation deck is the one that comes with a hot tub.

Naturally, this discovery required one final visit to the pool and hot tub before checkout.

Afterward, we grabbed a quick lunch nearby and then headed to Warsaw Central Station to catch our train to Gdańsk.