Sights & Attractions in Warsaw

Warsaw Sights

Although many of the buildings in central Warsaw were built in an austere, quasi-Gothic, Stalinist style, a large number of prewar buildings were carefully restored or, in many cases, completely reconstructed following clues in old prints and paintings. A case in point is the beautiful Rynek Starego Miasta (Old Town Square). The Zamek Królewski (Royal Castle), which houses a museum, is the greatest of the rebuilt monuments.

Apart from the embankment carved out by the Wisla (Vistula) River, which runs through the city south to north, Warsaw is entirely flat. Most sights, attractions, and hotels lie to the west of the river. Major thoroughfares include aleje Jerozolimskie, which runs east-west, and ulica Nowy Swiat, which runs south-north through a main shopping district, passes the university, and ends at the entrance to the Stare Miasto (Old Town). Be careful about Nowy Swiat: its name changes six times between its starting point in Wilanów (where it's called aleja Wilanowska) and its terminus (where it's named Krakowskie Przedmiescie).

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