Fountain Park, Podzamcze

How to spend a summer Friday or Saturday evening in Warsaw? At Fountain Park! Since 2011 a great show combined of computer-controlled fountains, lasers, lights, music and animations on the water takes place each Friday and Saturday, from the beginning of May till the end of September. The breathtaking event is unique for each summer season, this year spectators wil see the "Water Lights" that will have its opening night on May, 1st.

www.estrada.com.pl

The Fountain Park is the biggest attraction of that kind in Poland, alluring both locals and tourists. Last year around 800 thousand visitors attended the show. That is not surprising given that screenings are prepared with great quality and the complex itself consists of, among others, the main fountain of 2200 sq.m. and two line fountains of 600 sq.m. altogether, as well as 367 water jets. Simultaneously they can jet even 30,000 liters of water per minute!

Each show is 25 minutes long and starts:

• At 9 p.m. in May and September
• At 9.30 p.m. in June, July and August

Please note there will be no show on June, 20th due to big summer event - Garlands over Vistula.

Author: Leszek Leszczyński, www.flickr.com, CC BY

The Park is located at the bank of Vistula river, between Wybrzeze Gdanskie, Sanguszki and Bolesc street. It may be easily reached with public transportation (buses no 118 or 185 stop almost in front of the fountains) or by foot from the Old Town.

Free entry! 

The actual show calendar, as well as photo gallery of  previous screenings may be found here .

Racetrack Służewiec, Puławska Street, 266

Tired of standard sightseeing? Looking for some adrenaline? Wanting to spend weekend like Warsaw locals? If you answered yes to any of above questions, don't hesitate and book few hours during your stay at Warsaw for a visit at horse racetrack Służewiec.

Source: my archive

It doesn't matter whether you have tried it before or not. Even if you know nothing about horse races, and even if you are not a gambling lover I guarantee that time spent there will be a great fun for the whole family. And maybe at the end of the day you will be not only happy, but also rich.

Races are organized starting from April until November, almost every Saturday and Sunday - with few exceptions that are included in the whole season programme listed at the official site of the racetrack. On each racing day there is usually 8-9 races, one every 30 minutes. The track itself is well organized, offers food and drink zone as well as additional facilities for children. 

Visitors area is divided into few zones, entrance fee amounts to:

5 PLN - zone B

15 PLN - zone A and B

20 PLN - grandstand, second floor

25 PLN - family ticket (2 adults + min. 1 child)

Source: my archive

Before every racing weekend there is programme available online that may be easily printed. It can be bought at entrance gates too. Brochure includes also short description of available bets, so you don't need to have any special knowledge of the subject. The basic bet costs only 3 PLN.

Służewiec racetrack is located in the southern part of the city, at Puławska Street. It can be reached by public transportation: subway line up to Wilanowska station, then bus number 300 (runs every 30 minutes and only on racing days) or tram number 4, 10 or 35 from the city center (you will need to take a 20-minut walk from tram stop to racetrack area though). You can easily plan your trip with jakdojade.pl , that I wrote about here .

Additional attraction resulting from visiting Służewiec are wonderful graffiti pictures painted at long concrete wall surrounding racetrack territory from Puławska Street.

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.

Invisible Exhibition, Jerozolimskie Avenue 123a

Operating in Budapest since 2007 and in Prague since 2011 has been also made available for Warsaw audience few years ago becoming one of the most memorable experiences that Warsaw offers. In a complete dark surroundings, during an interactive one-hour journey,  you can find out how to function without sight. Small groups and guides, who are blind or visually impaired, make it an eyeopening and genuine experience. 

If you are looking for alternative attractions, something different from standard must-sees in Warsaw, this is definitely for you.

Duration: 1 hour

Location: Jerozolimskie Avenue 123a, Millenium Plaza

Tours in English available, booking required.

Prices: 

- weekdays: PLN 21 (Regular); PLN 16 (Discount); PLN 13 (Groups)

- weekends: PLN 25 (Regular); PLN 22 (Discount); PLN 19 (Groups)

Please note that above prices are valid for online payments only. For in-house purchases prices are 3 PLN higher.

For more information please visit the official site.