The Miniature Park, Bracka St. 25

It is a well known fact that Warsaw was unimaginably destroyed during Second World War. Roughly speaking 65% of the whole city was demolished, 84% taking into consideration left-bank districts only. According to estimations, in 1945 Warsaw was covered by about 20 million cubic meters of rubble.  

Sadly, destruction did not miss Polish monuments - approximately 90% of historical treasure located in Warsaw was partly or fully demolished (674 objects).

Since 2010, Warsaw Uprising Museum provides the opportunity of seeing short animation movie The city of ruins (Miasto ruin) that presents destroyed and depopulated Warsaw during spring in 1945. The trailer of the film may be watched on the film's official site.

Although capital's population undertook an immense effort to rebuild the city, it was not possible to reinstate the whole city. The Miniature Park gives an opportunity to see some of historical monuments that were destroyed in the past, mostly during Second World War. All exhibits are made with great accuracy in scale of 1:25. The museum kicked off just in 2014 and is still developing, but the excellent quality of exhibited objects makes it a place worth visiting. Due to its relatively short history, The Miniature Park hasn't gained large popularity yet and it may be difficult to find it in Warsaw guide books.

Source: UD Wola

Duration: approximately 1 hour
Location: Bracka St. 25, DT Braci Jabłkowskich, level -1
(the above location is actual until 01/05/2015. During summer park changes its location. For actual adress please always check the official site of the musuem before visit). 

Tickets prices:
Regular PLN 12
Discount PLN 8

For further information please visit the museum's official site.

Perfect holiday deal

Looking for a good holiday deal? 

Two days ago The Huffington Post published an article according to which Warsaw is number 1 among tourist must-sees in Europe in terms of attractive rental rates. The study has been carried out by Airbnb, popular vacation rental portal (I wrote about it here), and concentrated on comparison of average rental rates in various European locations. With $47/night Warsaw was ranked by The Huffington Post as a city offering the best prices amidst popular tourist destinations. 

Other cities in the ranking include among others Budapest, Hungary ($54/night), Krakow, Poland ($61/night), Tenerife, Spain ($63/night), Athens, Greece ($66/night).

For those living outside Europe there is another good news: with euro's value going down airfares are decreasing as well, enabling to reach Europe at unprecedently low cost. As for Poland, keep in mind that polish zloty will be replaced with euro currency sooner or later leading to incontrovertible rise in prices.

So, will there be a better time to visit Warsaw than now? I don't think so!

Full article may be found here.

Warsaw Pass

Today few words about an idea that is highly popular in most foreign cities that are typical tourist destinations, especially among European ones, being still in its infancy in Poland though - tourist city card. 

Merely few years ago Warsaw offer was rather not appealing as basic calculations were proving that regardless of sightseeing configuration it was more cost-effective to visit Warsaw without city card rather than with it. Fortunately, city clerks came to their senses and just recently changed the offer radically.

At the moment the card is named Warsaw Pass and is available in three variants, depending on duration:

• 24 hours (119 PLN /99 PLN)
• 48 hours (159 PLN /139 PLN)
• 72 hours (189 PLN /169 PLN)

(reduced price available for youth up to 26 years old and seniors over 65 years old)

The question is, is it worth buying?

Although the price is not the lowest (typical 2 adults + 2 children family spending three days in Warsaw will spend 716 PLN for Warsaw Pass) it is worth considering, especially for museums amateurs. Unfortunately the range of hotels and restaurants available is limited, but it is clear that originators put strong accent on  popular historical attractions and museums.

Having Warsaw Pass, you are able to visit for free (and skip the line):

Royal Lazienki Museum, Chopin Museum, Museum of the History of Polish Jews (POLIN), Viewing terrace at 30th floor of Palace of Culture and Science, Copernicus science center, Copernicus' sky Planetarium, Wilanow Palace, The National Museum in Warsaw, Zacheta - National Gallery of Art, The Royal Castle.

The entrance fee to most of above mentioned places is higher than 20 PLN.

Additionally, buying Warsaw Pass you are entitled to receive a discount at: Museum of Technology (25% discount), Botanic Garden (50% discount) or Railway Museum (25% discount). 

Another argument in favour is that holders of Warsaw Pass can use sightseeing bus line for free (regular price is 80 PLN for 48 hours, 60 PLN for 24 hours) any time as long as the card is valid, as well as receive a discount/use for free some guided tours or renting bikes and segway.

As I said, the range of restaurants and hotels available is not vast, but if you decide to book your room at some place that is a participant of the programme, you will benefit from the card even more. Let's hope the programme will develop and more institutions will engage in it in the near future.

All practical information, including places where to buy Warsaw Pass, may be found at the official site of the programme. You may believe me or not, but the site is available in English only - it seems that authors of the portal did not predict that also Polish tourists - from other cities than Warsaw (there is 38 m inhabitants in Poland) may visit the capital city :)