DESTINATIONS WARSAW EASTERN EUROPE RIGHT:


Chopin musical bench


FAR RIGHT:


Hala Koszyki BELOW:


Neon Museum


SAMPLE PRODUCT


Wizz Air operates daily flights from Luton to Warsaw, with fares from £42 one way. wizzair.com


Super Break offers a three- night stay at the Hilton Warsaw from £319 per person for a September departure, including return flights from Stansted.


superbreak.com/ agents


Cox & Kings offers a


three-night stay at the five-star


Mamaison Hotel Le Regina,


including flights from Heathrow and private


airport transfers, from £495 per person.


coxandkings. co.uk


56 travelweekly.co.uk 24 May 2018


food, there’s fragrant Thai cuisine at Tuk Tuk, and fantastic antipasti at Heritage. My advice? Enjoy a spot of people-watching with a stein of beer at the open-air Bierhalle bar. Stay: Beds at the Warsaw Witt Hostel start from £9 a night. hostelwitt.com.pl


w SPEND Warsaw’s Chopin benches are a reminder of how music helped residents through tough times, and across the river in the Praga district, once a separate town – take the Metro if you don’t fancy cycling – I find a statue depicting a troupe of musicians. After the war, these wandering bands provided a soundtrack to the city. They’re long gone, but text the number on the monument to hear the songs they played. This side of the river suffered less


We stop by one of the high-tech Chopin benches and press the button to enjoy a free piano recital


damage during the war. Wander Praga’s streets and you’ll find bunkers, bullet-riddled mansions and the onion- domed, 19th-century Metropolitan Cathedral of St Mary Magdalene. Once a no-go zone, Praga is


transforming in to Warsaw’s hippest ’hood. Don’t be afraid to explore (respectfully) beyond the apartment blocks’ crumbling frontages. Many have leafy courtyards, often with


lovingly-tended shrines, and the area’s slow gentrification has seen some of these courtyards’ old stables turned in to cafes. Another example of how creative minds are breathing new life into old spaces can be found at Praga’s Soho Factory. Part residential complex, part arts district, it’s home to the Neon Museum, which has the world’s largest collection of Cold war-era neon. I discover how, for Warsaw’s residents, neon was more than a form of signage: after the Second World War, elaborate signs were used to light up the city, shedding its reputation as a crumbling concrete jungle. Soho Garden is also where you’ll


find Warszawa Wschodni, founded by chef and restaurateur Matuesz Gessler. Head to this restaurant for delicious French/Polish cuisine served in a beautifully restored former


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