Warsaw City Guide

Adjust font size:

Check out The Scene' suggestions for the Polish capital and send us your own ideas and suggestions below.

SEE: The Russian Market in Praga -- the biggest outdoor market in Europe -- harks back to the black market economy and unregulated entrepreneurship of the early 1990s, before the arrival of shopping malls and supermarkets. Poland's transformation into a modern capitalist democracy has made Warsaw a showcase for leading architects -- see Norman Foster's RIBA award-winning Metropolitan Building. Still, the city remains haunted by history; the latest and best of the many monuments and memorials to wartime suffering is the Warsaw Uprising Museum. A visit to the Pawiak Prison -- where many thousands were executed by the Gestapo and many more were transported to the death camps -- provides a horrific glimpse of the Nazi apparatus of terror, while the Katyn Museum at the Sadyba Fort, commemorating the Soviet massacre of Polish army officers, offers a reminder that Poles also suffered at Stalin's hands. Once home to the biggest Jewish population outside of New York, Jewish Warsaw is now commemorated by the Path of Remembrance which traces a route through the former Ghetto to the Umschlagplatz Monument, which marks the site of a railway siding from where many of the city's Jews were transported to the death camps. For many Varsovians, the Palace of Culture and Science -- a "gift" from Stalin -- is an unwelcome reminder of an unhappy era. Compared to the light and airy skyscrapers that have shot up over the new Financial District, it's also an inhuman, hulking behemoth, but it does afford the best panorama of the city.

BE SEEN: The Ibiza-influenced NoBo (Ul. Wilcza) is the epicenter of the Warsaw social scene, although these days you're as likely to find the "in-crowd" at Klubo Kawiarnia (ul. Czackiego) and Foksal 17 (ul. Foksal). With arty types lounging on beds in the middle of the dance floor and a studied air of insouciant decadence, Le Madame (Nowe Miasto) has been the scene of some of Warsaw's most legendary and debauched lost weekends. For a chillout vibe, post-clubbers squeeze into Bar Lemon (ul. Sienkiewicza). The Panorama Club, on the 40th floor of the Marriott Hotel, is the perfect place for corporate schmoozing. Celebrate clinching the deal with cocktails at the exclusive Column Bar at the Art Nouveau-themed Hotel Bristol. Warsaw has a thriving jazz scene and the Klub Tygmont (ul. Mazowiecka) is one of the most atmospheric venues -- dark, smoky and a little bit seedy -- in the city.

EAT: With restaurants serving up hearty central European fare complemented by an increasingly diverse range of international cuisine, the quality and variety of Varsovian cuisine is underrated. The best place to sample that Polish staple, the pierogi (dumplings stuffed with a range of savoury or sweet fillings), is arguably Pierogarnia (ul. Bednarska). Dom Polski (ul. Francuska), is consistently rated one of the Poland's finest restaurants, serving up modern interpretations of classic dishes such as wild boar, trout and venison. Delicja Polska (ul. Koszykowa) is similarly upmarket, with old world charm and an enticing menu, while Artibus at the Zacheta Gallery of Modern Art (pl. Malachowskiego) is as pretentious as its setting -- which perhaps explains its popularity with Warsaw's intelligentsia. The chintzy peasant-themed Folk Gospoda (ul. Walicow) serves up vast portions of meat and potatoes that are as epic as 19th century Polish poetry.

Senate sets final health care vote for Thursday morning The Senate will hold its final vote on a sweeping health care bill Thursday morning under an agreement that Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Tuesday.

---

• 'Sesame Street,' '227' star Reed-Amini dies
• Pakistan court orders ears, noses hacked off
• Celebrity deaths seem abundant in 2009
• Brittany Murphy's husband mourns his loss
• Kercher killer's sentence reduced on appeal

• 3 killed in Arizona dust storm wrecks
• Big leap for home sales
• Kercher killer's sentence reduced
• Court orders men's ears, noses cut off
• Ticker: Obama postpones vacation

• Talkin' 'Icky Thump' blues (1:40)
• 'Why you treat yourself bad?' (3:15)
• Soviet culture returns (3:47)
• Unseemly rap lyrics targeted (3:29)
• Now In The News