DESTINATIONS WARSAW EASTERN EUROPE
warehouse, complete with open kitchen and tinkling piano. Before returning to Warsaw’s centre,
stop by Praga’s Kościuszko Infantry Division Memorial, a Communist-style monument known locally as “five beers, please” due to the soldier’s outstretched fingers. It’s a tribute to the 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division which supported the Warsaw uprising during the Second World War. Learn more about this period at the
ASK THE EXPERTS
Gary Gillespie, national sales manager, Super Break “Warsaw isn’t centred around an old market square like many European cities – it’s much more spread out, with Gothic architecture set against modern skyscrapers. The restaurant scene and nightlife are also regarded as the bestin Poland.”
Simon Clifford, Europe product manager, Cox & Kings “Don’t miss the fascinating Warsaw Rising Museum and the Neon Museum, which houses a fascinating array of neon signs from the Communist period. Afterwards, stop atPlac Zbawiciela (Saviour Square) for a Polish beer.”
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travelweekly.co.uk 24 May 2018
sprawling Warsaw Rising Museum (£5 per person). In a 3D cinema, I soar over post-war Warsaw to see the terrifying extent of its destruction, and in the gallery next door, I crawl through a replica of the sewers used as escape tunnels by survivors. It’s a gritty, albeit essential, experience which leaves me in need of a stiff drink, so I head to another must-see – the Warsaw Marriott’s Panorama Sky Bar, where I take in the city’s transformed skyline, and raise a toast to the jaw-dropping resilience of Poland’s capital. Stay: Rooms at the Warsaw Marriott start from £86 a night.
marriott.co.uk
The Adventure Warsaw tour features transport in a Nysa, the boxy Polish van first made in 1958
ABOVE: Platter by Karol Okrasa at the InterContinental Warsaw
LEFT: Adventure Warsaw tour
w SPLURGE Next Friday (June 1) sees the opening of the Raffles Europejski Warsaw on Krakowskie Przedmieście, Warsaw’s most prestigious street. Not that Warsaw is lacking in luxury
FIND OUT MORE
l adventure
warsaw.pl
l freewalkingtour. com/warsaw
l
koszyki.com l mateusz
gessler.com.pl l neon
muzeum.org
hotels. The nearby Sofitel has one of the city’s largest swimming pools, while the 523-room Marriott is its first five-star hotel and first skyscraper. But the best views are from the 30th-floor viewing gallery of the art deco Palace of Culture and Science. It’s a great way to take in the contrasting architecture, including the Ferrari showroom near the building’s base, which was once a headquarters for the Communist party. For a totally different perspective on the city, sign up for a four-hour tour with Adventure Warsaw (£38 per person). Your transport? Not a Ferrari, but a vintage Nysa, the boxy Polish van first produced in 1958. Don’t fancy sharing? Splash out on a private tour, which covers everything from Jewish history to Warsaw’s varied nightlife. For dinner, head to the Inter-
Continental Warsaw, home to one of the city’s finest restaurants, Platter by Karol Okrasa. The cuisine is Polish with a modern twist, but not pretentiously so, although my mid-meal palate cleanser was served in a frozen stone. I enjoy my first boletus soup (made from a type of mushroom popular in Poland), and try to forget that I’m heading home tomorrow. On the plus side, I’m already planning my return. Stay: Rooms at the Sofitel Warsaw Victoria start from £105 a night.
sofitel.com
PICTURES: MARCINWCZECHOWICZ/ WARSAWTOURIST OFFICE;
RADEKORZEL.COM
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