Estimate your group cost

How long did the Warsaw Uprising last? The 1944 Rising on foot

Warsaw Uprising and WWII Old Town Walking Tour with Museum

★ 4.4 · 18 opinions

€91 and upView availability

Summary

The Warsaw Uprising lasted 63 days, from 1 August 1944 to the capitulation on 2 October 1944.

Visit

  • Rising Museum free on Thursdays8
  • Closed on Tuesdays9
  • Allow about 2 hours39

Side-by-side: 3 options

What a WW2 tour costs for your group

Pick a tour, then enter how many of you are going.

2 people
  1. 20th-century walk2.5 hours · starts at, per person €18

    ≈

    View
  2. Old Town walk to the monument2 hours · starts at, per person €11

    ≈

    View
  3. Museum with pickup3 hours · starts at, per person €72

    ≈

    View

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

How long did the Warsaw Uprising last, what did it cost, and where can you still see it in the streets? A sober guide to the Rising, its memorials and the museum that tells its story.

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

Essentials

  • Length63 days, from 1 August to 2 October 1944.1,2,3
  • The aimTo free the capital before the Soviet army arrived.4
  • CostAbout 150,000 civilians and 18,000 insurgents killed.5,6
  • MuseumGrzybowska 79; free on Thursdays, closed on Tuesdays.7,8,9
  • RemembranceEach 1 August at 5 PM the city stops for a minute.10

How long the Rising lasted, and why it began

How long did the Warsaw Uprising last? The Warsaw Tourism Office gives the answer plainly: 63 days.1 It broke out on Tuesday, 1 August 1944, at 5pm, an hour code-named W for Wolność, freedom.2 The commanders had planned for a fight of a few days, yet it went on for more than 2 months.11 The last shot was fired on the evening of 2 October, and the city that came out of it was almost unrecognizable.3

The goal was political as much as military. The Home Army wanted to free the capital from German occupation before the Soviet army arrived, and so secure Poland's sovereignty after the war.4 About 30,000 Home Army soldiers of the Warsaw District took part, yet only 10 percent of them were armed.12,13 Against them stood about 20,000 German troops with armored units, artillery and aircraft.14 Without help from the Allies, the tourist office concludes, the insurgents had no chance of winning.15

The tourist office describes the Rising as the largest act of resistance of its kind in German-occupied Europe.16 Do not confuse it with the Ghetto Uprising, an earlier and separate revolt: in April 1943 the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto rose up, the revolt was crushed and the district was razed.17 The Warsaw Rising was the Home Army's battle for the whole city, fought the following summer, and the memorials you meet on a Warsaw walk belong to one or the other.

On the ground

Rising sites you can walk to

SiteWhereLook for
Monument to the HeroesKrasiński SquareThe sewer entry hole
Little InsurgentPodwaleBoy in a helmet
Explosion plaquePodwale and KilińskiegoPlaque on the wall
Cathedral wallŚwiętojańska StreetTank track fragment
PAST buildingZielna StreetAnchor on the roof
Children's hospitalKopernika 43Bullet-marked fence

Locations taken from the Warsaw Tourism Office's Uprising trail.33,34,35,36,37,38

The course of the fighting

On 1 August the first shots were fired in Żoliborz, near Wilson Square, in the early afternoon, before the official start at 5pm.23 The next day insurgents held key points in Powiśle, Czerniaków, the city center and the Old Town.24 On 5 August came Black Saturday, the mass murder of civilians in the western district of Wola.18 The early days decided much of what followed: the districts held at the start became islands, cut off from each other.

On 20 August the insurgents took the PAST telephone exchange on Zielna Street, capturing around 115 German prisoners.19 The fighting for Gdańsk railway station on the nights of 20 to 22 August cost nearly 500 Home Army soldiers.25 From 21 to 27 August the cathedral was fought over.26 On 1 September the Germans stormed the Old Town and the defenders withdrew through the sewers.27 On 2 September tank shells smashed Sigismund's Column and the Old Town fell.20

On 10 September the Red Army began an offensive from the Praga bank of the river.28 On 18 September American B-17s made the largest supply drop of the Rising. The tourist office counts 107 bombers over the city, while the Warsaw Rising Museum says 110 were sent from Britain; either way, the insurgents managed to collect only 20 percent of what fell.29,30,21 On 2 October the capitulation was signed in Ożarów, granting the insurgents prisoner-of-war status.22,31

The scale

The Rising in numbers of people

  • Home Army soldiers30,000
  • German forces20,000
  • Insurgents killed18,000
  • Civilians killed150,000
  • People expelled500,000

Approximate figures as the Warsaw Tourism Office gives them; every figure is an estimate.12,14,6,5,32

What the Rising cost the city

The human cost is hard to take in. Around 18,000 insurgents died and 25,000 were wounded.6 About 150,000 civilians were killed.5 Heinrich Himmler ordered that Warsaw be razed to the ground as a warning to the rest of Europe.44 Many of the dead were never identified. Reading these figures before you walk explains why so many plaques on Warsaw's walls mark places where people were shot, and why the city treats them with such care.

Nearly 85% of the capital was destroyed, and its people were driven out to transit and prisoner-of-war camps.45 Once the fighting ended, some 500,000 residents were forced out of the city.32 Civilians passed through camps at Ożarów, Ursus, Włochy and Pruszków, and over 100,000 of them were sent to forced labor in the Reich.46 The empty, burned city you see in archive photographs is the result. Everything you admire in the Old Town today was rebuilt on that ruin.

Remembrance has its own places. The Warsaw Insurgents Cemetery is the largest war cemetery in Poland, holding the remains and ashes of over 100,000 victims of the Rising, most of them unnamed.47 Its Wall of Memory carries the names of the 62,000 victims identified so far.48 Next to the museum, the Memorial Wall in Freedom Park lists nearly 11,000 soldiers killed in the fighting.49 Visit quietly, keep voices low, and leave the flowers and candles where they are.

Plan your day

How should you see the Rising?

Choose by time, budget and who is with you.

  • If I have half a day

    Walk the Old Town sites, then the museum

    The museum estimates about 2 hours for its exhibition.39

  • If I want to save money

    Go on a Thursday

    Entry is free that day, with tickets issued on the spot.40

  • If I travel with young children

    Pick the parts for all ages

    The printing shop, radio room, bomber and sewer replica suit every age.41

  • If I prefer to walk alone

    Use the Remembrance of the City app

    It guides you to each site with archive photos and audio.42

  • If I am in Warsaw on 1 August

    Stop at 5 PM with the city

    Every year at 5 PM the city halts for a minute while sirens sound.10,43

Guided options

Rising and WW2 tours compared

Includes the museum

Rising walk and museum

Old Town traces, then the museum

  • Length2 - 3 hours
  • MeetsSigismund's Column
  • GroupPrivate
View the tour

City history walk

20th-century Warsaw

War, communism and the Ghetto

  • Length2.5 hours
  • MeetsNapoleon Monument
  • GuideEnglish
View the tour

With transfer

Museum visit with pickup

Transport to Grzybowska Street

  • Length3 hours
  • Audio guide6 languages
  • PickupIncluded
View the tour

Walking the Rising in the Old Town

Begin a Warsaw Uprising walking tour on Krasiński Square. The memorial to the heroes of the Rising there is split into 2 parts, one with fighters rushing beneath a bridge pier, the other with fighters lowering themselves into a sewer.54 A few steps away, an actual manhole marks the way soldiers and civilians went underground out of the besieged Old Town.33 Nearby, the Monument to the Women of the Warsaw Uprising shows 3 women of different ages holding hands, the central figure wearing an insurgent armband.55

Walk down Długa Street. The Arsenal at Długa 52 guarded the western approach to the Old Town and now houses the State Archaeological Museum.56 At Długa 22, the headquarters of the Association of Warsaw Insurgents holds a small exhibition of veterans' accounts, free of charge.57 To the north, the fence of the Polish Security Printing Works still bears the marks of the battle; for almost a month it was the northernmost point of the Old Town held by the insurgents.58

On Podwale, just within the old walls, a small figure of a boy in a helmet far too big for him stands for the children who served in the Rising.34 It was unveiled by Dr Świderski, who during the Rising was a 14-year-old liaison runner known as Lubicz.59 At the corner of Podwale and Kilińskiego Streets a plaque marks where a German explosive carrier, taken for a captured tank, blew up on 13 August, killing about 500 people.60,35 A piece of track set in the cathedral wall probably comes from it.36

Day by day

Key dates of the Rising

  1. 1 August

    The outbreak

    Official start at 5pm, code-named W.2

  2. 5 August

    Black Saturday

    Mass murder of civilians in Wola.18

  3. 20 August

    The PAST building

    Insurgents take it, with around 115 prisoners.19

  4. 2 September

    The Old Town falls

    Tank shells smash Sigismund's Column.20

  5. 18 September

    The airdrop

    Only 20 percent of the supplies reach the insurgents.21

  6. 2 October

    Capitulation

    Signed in Ożarów, ending the fighting.22

Rising sites in the city center

South of the Old Town the traces continue. The Holy Cross church was hit on 6 September, when 2 'goliath' charges were driven inside; the blast brought down the vault and toppled the Christ figure from the steps.61 On Warecka Street, just off Nowy Świat, is the sewer entrance through which the defenders of the Old Town came out in early September.62 During the Rising many residents sheltered in the basement of the Wedel chocolate building at Szpitalna 8, and a radio station worked from it.63

On 1 August the insurgents captured the Prudential building, then the tallest in Poland, and hung from its roof a flag stitched together from a bedsheet and a red pillowcase.64 The capture of the PAST telephone building was one of the Rising's greatest military successes, and a Fighting Poland anchor now stands on its roof.37 At Kopernika 43, the fence of the children's hospital where a Home Army field hospital worked is riddled with bullet holes and kept as a memorial.38

If you prefer a WW2 walking tour in Warsaw with a guide, the options differ in focus. A dedicated Rising walk through the Old Town with a museum visit takes 2 - 3 hours. A broader 20th-century walk covering communism, the war and the Ghetto lasts 2.5 hours. For walking on your own, the tourist office's Remembrance of the City app uses archive photographs from the Warsaw Rising Museum and audio stories, and its geolocation leads you to each site.42

Video

The Warsaw Uprising: the story of the Rising

World at War on YouTube · Your tap on play is what loads the video.

The insurgents wanted to liberate the capital from German occupation before the arrival of the Soviet army, and thus ensure Poland’s sovereignty after the end of the war
Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw)4

Museum visit

Warsaw Rising Museum checklist

Before you go4

  • Avoid Tuesday, when the museum is closed9
  • Go on Thursday for free entry8
  • Arrive at least 30 minutes before closing50
  • Take tram 1, 11, 22 or 24 to the museum stop51

At the museum4

  • Bring a PLN 5 coin for the locker52
  • Check the age advice: full exhibition from 1353
  • Allow about 2 hours39
  • Find the Memorial Wall in Freedom Park49

Visiting the Warsaw Rising Museum

The Warsaw Rising Museum stands at Grzybowska 79, in a former power station of the tram network, and opened on the 60th anniversary of the outbreak.7,65 At its heart is a steel monument rising through every floor, covered with the dates of each day of the Rising and bullet marks, with the sound of a beating heart inside.66 A replica sewer lets you feel the insurgents' escape routes, and the film City of Ruins shows the flattened city from the air.67 There is also a replica Liberator bomber.68

Hours are 8 am to 6 pm on Monday and from Wednesday to Friday, and 10 am to 6 pm at weekends; the museum is closed on Tuesdays.69,9,70 A normal ticket costs PLN 35 and a discounted one PLN 30.71,72 Entry is free on Thursdays, with tickets handed out at the box office on the day.8,40 Ticket sales stop 30 minutes before closing.50 An audio guide costs PLN 13, or PLN 10 on your own phone,73 and the museum estimates a visit at 2 hours.39

The museum recommends the full exhibition for visitors over 13, and children under 13 must be accompanied, with 1 adult for up to 3 children.53,74 Some parts, such as the printing shop, the radio room, the bomber and the sewer, work for all ages.41 Photography is allowed.75 Leave large bags in the courtyard lockers, which take a PLN 5 coin as a deposit.52 Trams 1, 11, 22 and 24 stop outside, and metro line II stops at Rondo Daszyńskiego.51,76

Remembrance on the anniversary

Every year on 1 August, at exactly 5 PM, Warsaw stops.10 For a minute public transport halts, cars and pedestrians stand still and sirens sound across the city.43 If you are in Warsaw that day, stop where you are and stand quietly with everyone else. The commemorations begin in late July and end on the evening of 2 October, the day the fighting ended.77 Marches, open-air Masses and meetings with veterans fill the weeks in between.

In the evening, after 8 PM, tens of thousands of people gather on Piłsudski Square to sing the songs of the insurgents together.78 Later, a flame carried from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier lights a bonfire on the Warsaw Uprising Mound, and it burns for 63 days, as long as the Rising lasted.79 The mound itself was built in 1946-1950 from the rubble of the city, and its top stands at about 120 m above sea level.80 In 1994 veterans placed a 15-meter Fighting Poland anchor on its summit.81

The Fighting Poland anchor is everywhere in Warsaw: on walls, monuments and the roof of the PAST building. Treat these places as memorials rather than photo backdrops. Speak softly at the monuments, keep children close at the cemetery and do not climb on the sculptures. A walk through the sites of the Rising is a heavy one, so plan a lighter afternoon after it, perhaps in a park, and give yourself time to take in what you have seen.

FAQ

Fast answers to common questions.

How many days did the fighting go on?
63 days.

The Rising began on 1 August 1944 at 5pm and the last shot was fired on the evening of 2 October 1944.1,2,3

Why did the Home Army start the Rising?
To free Warsaw before the Soviets came.

It aimed to liberate the capital from German occupation and secure Poland's sovereignty after the war.4

How many people died in the Rising?
Over 150,000 civilians alone.

Around 18,000 insurgents and about 150,000 civilians were killed, according to the Warsaw Tourism Office.6,5

Is the Warsaw Rising Museum free?
On Thursdays.

Free tickets are handed out at the box office on the day; otherwise a normal ticket is PLN 35.40,71

Is the museum suitable for children?
The full exhibition suits ages 13 and up.

Children under 13 must be supervised, 1 adult for up to 3 children.53,74

How is the 1944 Rising different from the Ghetto Uprising?
They are separate events.

The Ghetto Uprising broke out in April 1943 inside the ghetto; the Home Army's Rising began on 1 August 1944.17,2

What happens in Warsaw on 1 August?
The city stops at 5 PM.

At 5 PM traffic halts for a minute and sirens sound; in the evening crowds sing insurgent songs on Piłsudski Square.10,43,78

Sources

  1. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  2. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  3. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  4. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  5. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  6. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  7. Warsaw Rising Museum · Visit us ↩
  8. Warsaw Rising Museum · Visit us ↩
  9. Warsaw Rising Museum · Visit us ↩
  10. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw remembers ↩
  11. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  12. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  13. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  14. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  15. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  16. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  17. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Walk around Srodmiescie district, part one ↩
  18. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  19. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  20. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  21. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  22. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  23. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  24. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  25. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  26. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  27. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  28. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  29. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  30. Warsaw Rising Museum · History ↩
  31. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  32. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  33. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  34. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  35. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  36. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  37. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  38. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  39. Warsaw Rising Museum · FAQ ↩
  40. Warsaw Rising Museum · FAQ ↩
  41. Warsaw Rising Museum · FAQ ↩
  42. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Mobile Apps ↩
  43. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw remembers ↩
  44. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  45. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  46. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  47. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw remembers ↩
  48. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  49. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Rising Museum ↩
  50. Warsaw Rising Museum · Visit us ↩
  51. Warsaw Rising Museum · FAQ ↩
  52. Warsaw Rising Museum · FAQ ↩
  53. Warsaw Rising Museum · FAQ ↩
  54. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  55. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  56. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  57. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  58. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  59. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  60. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  61. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  62. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Walk around Srodmiescie district, part one ↩
  63. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  64. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  65. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  66. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Rising Museum ↩
  67. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Rising Museum ↩
  68. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  69. Warsaw Rising Museum · Visit us ↩
  70. Warsaw Rising Museum · Visit us ↩
  71. Warsaw Rising Museum · Visit us ↩
  72. Warsaw Rising Museum · Visit us ↩
  73. Warsaw Rising Museum · Visit us ↩
  74. Warsaw Rising Museum · FAQ ↩
  75. Warsaw Rising Museum · FAQ ↩
  76. Warsaw Rising Museum · FAQ ↩
  77. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw remembers ↩
  78. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw remembers ↩
  79. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw remembers ↩
  80. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩
  81. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Uprising ↩

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

Before you go

Hold your walk, pay later.

Hold a place on the walk today with no payment yet; plans can still change without cost until 24 hours before.

Check dates