3 hour walking tour in Warsaw
#Guide in Warsaw #Local tour guide in Warszawa #Private tour guide in Warsaw #local guide in Warszawa #tourist guide in Warsaw
Individual private tours
All tours are personalised. This means that you get a plan when you book the tour, based on where we start, how many of us there are, if there’s anything special you’d like to include, and if anyone in the group has a walking frame or similar. However, I can’t promise that everything in such a plan will be included; it depends on your pace and whether you ask probing questions, as you may want to delve deeper into some of the things we see on the tour.
A typical tour starts at your hotel, but we can also arrange a point in the city centre – especially if you don’t live in the city centre. You have the option to tell where you want to finish if you have booked a table at a restaurant, for example.
Here is an example of a tour that starts at Hotel NYX. But remember that you will always get an individual route plan depending on where you live, how many of you there are and what kind of trip it is (student, leisure trip, work trip).
1. The wall around the Jewish ghetto
Fragments of the wall surrounding the Jewish ghetto. Here we talk about the Nazi occupation of Warsaw in 1939 and the consequences for the Jewish population. We also touch on the nearby extermination camp and the uprising in the Jewish ghetto in 1943.
2. Main railway station in Warsaw – modernist wonder from 1975
We walk by and hear about the history behind the construction. That story is quite interesting.
3. Palace of Culture – a present to the Polish people
Palace of Culture in Warsaw. Socialist architecture and Stalin’s grip on Poland after WW2. I’ll also show you how you can get up on the observation deck and look out over the city as you walk around and explore the city later.
We look at the area around the Palace of Culture and I talk about the importance of communism in Poland.
From the same spot, we look at the many magnificent skyscrapers that have become Warsaw’s pride as well as buildings that survived World War II – and there are far more than you might think, considering the city was destroyed in 1944.
4. Museum of Modern Art – a brand new museum and a lot of feelings – (is this really a lego brick)?
We pass the new Museum of Modern Art, which with 7,000 square metres of exhibition space is also a place for art lovers to spend a long time.
5. Próźna Street – feel the atmosphere in the surviving street of the Jewish ghetto
Próźna Street is a street in the Jewish Ghetto that was not destroyed in 1943 after the Jewish Ghetto uprising.
6. The Saxon Garden – find out, how the Polish kings saw themselves
We walk through the Saxon Garden, which was built by the kings while Poland was in personal union with Saxony (1697-1763). We’re talking about the period when Russia cemented its influence in Poland before the country was divided between Prussia, Austria and Russia in 1795.
7. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier – the surviving part of an old palace
If we’re lucky, we’ll see the change of the guard.
8. Piłsudski Square – emotions can go high on this huge square
Here we look at Poland’s freedom hero from the time around the first World War, Pilsudski, and we also talk about how Poland regained its independence. We also look at the monument from the 2010 plane crash and the statue of President Kaczynski, who was killed in the same crash. This is an opportunity to talk about political developments in Poland since 2010.
9. The street to the Castle Square – just enjoy it!
We pass Chopin music benches and paintings by Canaletto, who made detailed pictures of Warsaw in the 1770s. Much of Warsaw has been rebuilt based on his images.
10. Presidential Palace – once the palace of the Russian viceroy
Here we see one of Thorvaldsen’s two sculptures in Warsaw and the Presidential Palace from 1643, which since its construction has always been a key political building in Poland. The building was not damaged during WWII.
Here we also talk about Solidarity, Walesa, the strikes in Poland in 1970 and 1980, and the 1989 round table talks that led to the collapse of communism throughout Central Europe. Older participants will remember the images of the Gdansk shipyard on TV, while I’ll go over these events more lightly if the tour consists of younger participants.
11. Castle Square in Warsaw – Everybody knows, there is a castle on castle square, so here is the football stadium, which you can see from the square
The old city wall, the royal castle (rebuilt), the column with the Wasa king and a view across the river and the football stadium.
12. Cathedral and Jesuit Church (next to each other).
We talk about religiosity, the role of the church in Poland and the Polish Pope.
13. Market Square – in Polish it’s called Rynek
Here we see pictures of the destruction in 1944 and look at the rebuilt Renaissance houses. It is also the time to talk about the very concept of the reconstruction of Warsaw, which consisted partly of traditional Polish elements and partly of socialist buildings.
14. New town in Warsaw is also quite old
We see where Marie Curie grew up. Her maiden and middle name was Skłodowska, and she came from Warsaw, which she left and went to Paris, where she received a Nobel Prize – first in physics in 1903, then in chemistry in 1911.
15. Monument to the Warsaw Uprising in 1944
Here we talk about the 1944 uprising, the political background and attitudes towards the uprising. And then, of course, we’re talking generally about Second world war in Warsaw.
16. The Supreme Court – a battlefield for judicial reform
judicial reforms in the last 10 years, counter-reforms and the state of the judiciary in Poland. It’s quite confusing, but I try to present it in a simple and understandable way, respecting the different views that exist in Poland.
We won’t get any further than this, nor do I guarantee that we’ll get to the last three points, but if we don’t, I’ll show you the direction and give an abbreviated story about it.
But keep in mind that the trip is planned individually. If you want to stop somewhere specific, I’ll organize the tour so that we end wherever you want.
Write to me at m@hardenfelt.pl to arrange a guided tour in Warsaw