Free walking tour

When I was walking down the Warsaw Old Town few days ago, I incidentally bumped into a group of a dozen or so people standing in front of Royal Castle and listening to a guide. As I had some spare time I decided to hang with them for a while. And just thanks to that decision made that day you have the possibility of reading that post.

The group turned out to be a bunch of  random tourists sightseeing Warsaw with Free walking tour which is a kind of foundation that aims at promoting Poland and its culture among foreign tourists.

The good news is that walking tours organized by them are for free for everyone interested! You don't need to make any reservation, you don't need to pay anything, you don't need to make any special plans or arrangements in advance. You can just show at the meeting point at certain time and enjoy the tour for as long as you wish.

There are few different tours offered, visitors may choose from:

1) Old Town Warsaw

2) Jewish Warsaw

3) Communist Warsaw

4) Alternative Warsaw

5) Free walking special (only from 1st November to 31st March 2015)

All the above mentioned tours are held in English, and number 1) and 2) also in Spanish which is rather rare occasion for Spanish-speaking tourists to take part in guided tour in Warsaw in their native language.

The meeting point is Sigismund's Column, located in front of Royal Castle, with the exception of Communist Warsaw tour for which Charles de Gaulle statue is the starting point. Old Town Warsaw is held on a daily basis while the other ones every few days so if you're spending in Warsaw more than one day you may be lucky to attending few different routes. According to the organiser, they operate everyday, whitout regard for the weather, public or religious holidays.

If you prefer more intimate atmosphere you may also ask for private or tailor-made trip, they are not for free though: the cost of private is 300 PLN while tailor-made fee is generally 100 PLN per hour. Additionaly, if you plan to visit not only Warsaw it is good to know that guided tours are also organized in Cracow and Wroclaw.

All the necessary data, including actual calendar of tours, may be found at the foundation official site.

I honestly encourage everyone to have a try as this is a great opportunity to see the city from a different perspective, find out about things that are not described in an ordinary guidebook or just ask questions. Remember you don't need to pay for it so there is nothing to lose.

P.S. This is not an advertisement, I was not compensated in any way for this text. I'm writing about it because I see it as a great opportunity for a potential tourist and basing on few minutes spent on the tour I believe they are worth attending. And, number of excellent ratings at Tripadvisor says it all!