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A self-guided walking tour of Warsaw, Palace of Culture to New Town

Warsaw: Old Town Guided Walking Tour

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€12 and upView availability

Summary

A self-guided walking tour of Warsaw can run from the Palace of Culture down Nowy Świat and Krakowskie Przedmieście to Castle Square, the Old Town and the New Town.

Before you go

  • Terrace open 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM3
  • Chopin benches play his music4
  • Museum of Warsaw free on Thursdays24

Open 36 stops

Warsaw on foot, district by district

First pick a route, then tap any pin or stop for details and Google Maps.

Map of the Royal Route from the Palace of Culture and Science along Nowy Świat and Krakowskie Przedmieście to Castle Square, with Łazienki to the south

  1. Viewing terrace on the 30th floor at 114 m, open 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM; tourist information inside.

    Google Maps

  2. The plastic palm tree by Joanna Rajkowska has stood here since 2002.

    Google Maps

  3. Meeting point of this site's walking tour, on Krakowskie Przedmieście.

    Google Maps

  4. Chopin's heart rests in a pillar here; note the Sursum Corda figure outside.

    Google Maps

  5. University campus palace that housed the Warsaw Lyceum, which Chopin attended, in 1817-1831.

    Google Maps

  6. The largest of Warsaw's palaces, guarded by 4 stone lions; Chopin played his first concert here aged 8.

    Google Maps

  7. The honour guard stands in the arcades of the destroyed Saxon Palace, by the Saxon Garden.

    Google Maps

  8. Tower view of the Old Town, the skyscrapers and the Vistula valley; closed for renovation since October 7, 2026.

    Google Maps

  9. The royal summer palace in Łazienki park; free Chopin concerts by the monument on summer Sundays.

    Google Maps

Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors

This self-guided walking tour of Warsaw links the communist skyline, the Royal Route and the rebuilt Old Town in one walk, with the map, the apps and the stops that need a ticket.

Editorial team, warsawwalkingtour.click · Updated November 9, 2026 · Allow 9 min

Essentials

  • StartPalace of Culture and Science, home of the main tourist office.1
  • FinishThe New Town, through the Barbican.2
  • The view30th-floor terrace, open 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM.3
  • Free on the wayChopin benches play a piece of his music when you press a button.4
  • Prefer a guide?A 2-hour Old Town walk from €12.

How the route works

This self-guided walking tour of Warsaw follows the Warsaw Tourism Office's own walk through the city center, run in the opposite direction: you start under the Palace of Culture and finish in the New Town. Going south to north means the Old Town comes last, as a reward after the modern city, and you finish close to a tram and metro stop. The route is almost entirely on pavements and pedestrian streets, and every stop is marked on the map below, which doubles as your Warsaw walking tour map.

Starting at the Palace of Culture and Science has practical reasons. The main Warsaw Tourist Information office is inside,1 open every day from 9am to 7pm between May and September 2026.5 From October to December 2026 it closes at 6pm.6 You can leave a bag in the luggage lockers at the palace,7 pick up a map and ask about the day's events before you set off. If you plan several museums, the office sells the Warsaw Pass for PLN 179.8

The pass covers a long list of sights, including the viewing terrace on the 30th floor of the palace, the Neon Museum and several branches of the Museum of Warsaw.9 It only pays off if you visit a lot of paid sights, so do the arithmetic first. For a walk built around streets, monuments and churches, most of what you see costs nothing. Carry water, a phone with a transport app and a few coins, and set aside a whole day if you want to enter museums along the way.

Tickets

Stops on the route that charge for entry

StopTicketFree option
Palace of Culture terracePaid ticketWith the Warsaw Pass
Royal CastleFrom PLN 60Wednesday
Museum of WarsawPaid ticketThursday
Curie MuseumPaid ticketTuesday
Neon MuseumPaid ticketWith the Warsaw Pass
Streets, churches, benchesFreeAlways

Ticket and free-day details from the Royal Castle and the Warsaw Tourism Office; check current hours before you go.22,23,24,25,9,26

The start: the Palace of Culture and Science

The tower that dominates central Warsaw opened in 1955 on Joseph Stalin's initiative, presented as a gift of the Soviet people to the Poles.13 Love it or not, it is the easiest landmark in the city to navigate by. Inside are 4 theaters, a cinema, a pool, several museums and the Youth Palace.14 The nearby Varso Tower has now overtaken it as the tallest building in the city and in the European Union.15 Walk around the base to see the socialist realist statues in the niches.

Go up first. The viewing terrace on the 30th floor, 114 meters up, is open daily from 10:00 AM until 8:00 PM, while the lift gets you there in 19 seconds.3,16 The ticket office works only during opening hours and takes no reservations, so simply turn up.17 From the top you can trace the whole route: Jerozolimskie Avenue heading east, the line of Nowy Świat and Krakowskie Przedmieście running north, and the Old Town roofs on the escarpment above the Vistula.

Museums sit right here too. The Neon Museum, which shows over 100 restored neon signs, is now at the Palace of Culture.18,19 On Central Square beside the palace, the Museum of Modern Art has opened its main building.20 When you walk on, look up at night: most of the old neon signs still on Warsaw's streets were designed in the 1950s and 1960s, such as Globus on Jerozolimskie Avenue.21 Then cross toward the Charles de Gaulle Roundabout and its famous palm.

The route

Stop by stop from south to north

  1. Palace of Culture

    Terrace and tourist office

    The 30th-floor terrace opens at 10:00 AM.3

  2. De Gaulle Roundabout

    The palm tree

    Joanna Rajkowska's palm, there since 2002.10

  3. Nowy Świat

    Cafés and Chopin benches

    Press the button for a piece of his music.4

  4. Krakowskie Przedmieście

    Churches and palaces

    Chopin's heart rests in the Holy Cross Basilica.11

  5. Castle Square

    The column

    The oldest secular monument in the city.12

  6. New Town

    The finish

    Through the Barbican to the New Town Square.2

From the palm tree up Nowy Świat

Joanna Rajkowska's palm has decorated the roundabout since 2002, and it marks the turn north into Nowy Świat.10 This is the busiest café street on the route, so take your time. On the east side, gateways lead into the pavilions, a maze of former shops turned into bars.29 Near the pavilions, the mural of the singer Kora covers the wall of number 18/20, with a living tree in front of it that changes the picture through the year.30

Keep an eye out for the Chopin benches. Each has a map of the places where he lived or performed, and a button that plays a short piece of his music.31 They are a free audio guide in themselves, so slow down on this stretch and try a few as you walk north. Across from Ordynacka Street, Warecka Street hides the sewer opening through which the Old Town's defenders came out in early September 1944.32

At the end of Nowy Świat stands the Copernicus Monument. If you are not walking alone, this is where the guided tour sold on this site meets. In the tourist season a mobile information point sets up on Krakowskie Przedmieście between the monument and Castle Square, from May to September.33 It is a handy place to check opening hours for the castle and the museums before you reach them, since times change through the year.

Alone or guided?

Should you walk Warsaw on your own?

Weigh freedom against stories.

  • If I like setting my own pace

    Walk alone with the map

    Every stop on this route is free to see from outside.

  • If I want the stories

    Join a guided Old Town walk

    It runs 2 hours from Sigismund's Column.

  • If I want audio in my ear

    Use the tourist office video walk

    It starts at Plac Zamkowy and lets you choose each next street.27

  • If I want the big view first

    Start on the terrace

    The 30th floor sits 114 m above the city.28

  • If I am on a tight budget

    Walk on a free museum day

    The Museum of Warsaw is free on Thursdays.24

Three ways to do it

Alone, with a video guide or with a person

Free

On your own

This route and the map

  • CostFree
  • PaceYour own
  • StoriesFrom this guide
See this tour

Free

Online video walk

Tourist office clips

  • StartsPlac Zamkowy
  • FormatShort videos
  • ChoicePick each next street
See this tour

With a guide

Guided Old Town walk

Castle Square to Krasiński Square

  • Length2 hours
  • MeetsSigismund's Column
  • GuideEnglish or German
See this tour

Krakowskie Przedmieście to Castle Square

North of the monument the street becomes Krakowskie Przedmieście, the grandest stretch of the Royal Route. Step into the Holy Cross Basilica, where Chopin's heart rests inside a pillar.11 Opposite, the University of Warsaw campus opens behind its gates; Kazimierzowski Palace there once housed the school Chopin attended.55 Further on, the Presidential Palace, guarded by 4 stone lions, is the residence of Poland's president.57 Read the plaques as you pass: they tell you who lived, studied or died in each building.

Make a short detour left, past the Hotel Europejski, to Piłsudski Square for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and its honor guard.60 Then walk on into the Saxon Garden behind it, the first public city garden in Poland.88 Back on the main street, another view waits for anyone with energy left: the tower of St Anne's Church frames the Old Town, the skyscrapers and the river valley in one view.61 Check first, though: the tower viewpoint shut for repairs on October 7, 2026, and the tourist office names no date for it to reopen.62

If you would rather sit down, the University of Warsaw Library lies below the escarpment. Its roof garden on 2 levels has a panorama of the Old Town and is one of the free sights the tourist office recommends.89 Climb back up to Krakowskie Przedmieście and the last stretch is short. The road opens onto Castle Square, with the Royal Castle on the right and Sigismund's Column in the middle, the oldest secular monument in the city.12

Prefer a guide?

What a guided walk would cost your group

Compare the guided versions of this route.

Side-by-side: 3 options

What a guided walk would cost your group

Compare the guided versions of this route.

2 people
  1. Old Town guided walk2 hours · starts at, per person €11

    ≈

    View
  2. Highlights walk2.5 hours · starts at, per person €21

    ≈

    View
  3. Old Town express1 hour · starts at, per person €11

    ≈

    View

Converted at the ECB reference rate, from-prices as listed by GetYourGuide. The precise amount is shown when you book.

Through the Old Town to the New Town

From Castle Square, take Świętojańska Street past the cathedral to the Old Town Market Square. The Mermaid in the middle is a copy; the original 19th-century statue by Konstanty Hegel is in the Museum of Warsaw, which fills the houses on the square.90 The museum is free on Thursdays,24 and its 5th-floor viewpoint gives you a last look over the roofs.43 Have a slow coffee here, because the next stretch takes you out of the busiest part of town.

Leave the square to the north and the walls bring you to the Barbican, one of the few surviving pieces of the city's old fortifications.47 Walk through it and you are in the New Town, whose origins go back to the late 14th and early 15th centuries, rebuilt after the war like its neighbor.2 Freta Street leads down to the New Town Square. On the way, the Maria Skłodowska-Curie Museum is at number 16, and it is free on Tuesdays.50,25

The route ends on the quiet New Town Square. If you still have energy, walk west to Krasiński Square for the Uprising memorial and the sewer opening beside it.52 From there, the tram and metro at Ratusz Arsenał take you anywhere in the city.86 For a full day, combine this walk with one museum in the middle, the castle or the Museum of Warsaw, and leave the evening for dinner in the Old Town.

Video

A long walk through Warsaw's Old Town and modern center

Walk The Tour on YouTube · Your tap on play is what loads the video.

At the end of each video, you will be able to choose your next path.
Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw)27

Ready to walk

Self-guided walk checklist

Pack and plan4

  • Install Jakdojade for trams and buses87
  • Pick a day that matches a free museum day24
  • Decide on the Warsaw Pass before the first ticket8
  • Check the tourist office hours for maps5

On the route4

  • Press a Chopin bench button on Nowy Świat4
  • Check that St Anne's tower has reopened before you climb62
  • Watch the honor guard on Piłsudski Square60
  • Head home from Ratusz Arsenał86

What costs money, and what is free

Most of this walk is free. The streets, the churches, the monuments, the benches and the views from the squares cost nothing, and so does the Library roof garden. The paid stops are optional: the palace terrace, the Royal Castle, where the shortest route costs PLN 60 with an audioguide,22 and the museums. Each has a free day: Tuesday for the Curie museum, Wednesday for the castle and Thursday for the Museum of Warsaw.23,24,25

The city adds more free things to do in Warsaw for anyone on foot. In summer a free ferry crosses the Vistula from the floating marinas.91 In the Multimedia Fountain Park, laser shows on a water screen run at weekends and on holidays from May to September and again in December and January.92 Jazz concerts take over the Old Town Square every Saturday in July and August.93 Free ice rinks open in winter at the Palace of Culture and on the Old Town Square.94

Once a year, in mid-May, Museum Night opens over 200 museums, galleries and other places for free.95 In November the castle and Wilanów are free all month.96 The tourist office warns that free-entry hours change, so check the museum websites before you build a day around them.26 If you plan on several paid sights, compare the cost of single tickets with the Warsaw Pass at the start of the walk, while you are still at the tourist office.

Apps, audio and when a guide is worth it

Your phone is your best companion. Jakdojade finds the fastest public transport connection and shows live timetables.87 The city's 19115 app answers questions about transport and events and can call the security services.97 Archimapa offers walks on 7 architecture themes with an interactive map that works offline.98 Remembrance of the City guides you to the sites of the Warsaw Rising with archive photos and audio, using your location.99

For the Old Town section, the tourist office has also filmed a free online walk with a guide, cut into short video sections. It begins at Plac Zamkowy, and at the end of each clip you choose which street to take next.27 Watch it on your phone as you go, or the night before. Free walking tours are another option: free themed walks with local guides run under the Orange Umbrella Free Tour and Free Walkative names, the tourist office says.100

A guide is worth it when you want the stories behind the stones, the jokes, and someone to answer questions. A guided Old Town walk of 2 hours starts at Sigismund's Column, from €12. The walk sold on this site takes 2.5 hours, starting from the Copernicus Monument, from €23. A sensible plan is to walk the modern half alone in the morning, then join a guided walk for the Old Town in the afternoon.

FAQ

Fast answers to common questions.

Can you walk around Warsaw without a guide?
Yes, easily.

The center is compact, and the tourist office even publishes a free online Old Town walk you can follow on your phone.27

Where should a self-guided walk in Warsaw start?
At the Palace of Culture.

The main tourist information office is inside, with maps and lockers nearby.1,7

What are the opening hours of the Palace of Culture terrace?
10:00 AM to 8:00 PM daily.

The terrace is on the 30th floor at 114 m, and the ticket office takes no reservations.3,28,17

What are the best free things to see on the walk?
Streets, churches and views.

The Library roof garden and the Chopin benches cost nothing, and museums have free days.89,4,24

Is there an app for walking in Warsaw?
Several official ones.

The tourist office lists Jakdojade for transport, Archimapa for architecture and Remembrance of the City for the Rising.87,98,99

Is the Warsaw Pass worth it for a walk?
Only with several paid sights.

It costs PLN 179 and covers entry to the terrace, the Neon Museum and other sights.8,9

How do I get back from the New Town?
Tram or metro at Ratusz Arsenał.

The station on metro line I is a short walk from Krasiński Square.86,65

Sources

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  2. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Walk around Srodmiescie district, part one ↩
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  4. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Fryderyk Chopin's Warsaw ↩
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Read next

More to read before you walk

GuideFree or paid walking tour in WarsawGuideWalking tour prices and what to tipGuideThe Warsaw walking tours comparedGuidePrivate walking tours in Warsaw

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