Private Tour: Warsaw in Nutshell Sightseeing by retro minibus

Experience the complete spectrum of Warsaw, visit classic places like the Old Town as well as spots off the beaten tourist path on this 3 hours private tour. All done with a retro communist minibus and professional guide. This tour is perfect for Warsaw rookies as well as for expats who already might know quite a lot about the city. Consider this: taking this tour on the first day here acquaints you with most of the fabulous, historical and important sites of Warsaw plus you can find plenty of hidden parts of the city that are rather off the standard route. It’s an excellent option for the first day in Warsaw or for those limited by time.

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Old Town, Warsaw Poland

Get to know the history of Warsaw from its cradle to modern days.

The Old Town was established in the 13th century. Initially surrounded by an earthwork rampart, prior to 1339 it was fortified with brick city walls. The town originally grew up around the castle of the Dukes of Mazovia that later became the Royal Castle.

Surrounding streets feature medieval architecture such as the city walls, the Barbican and St. John's Cathedral.

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes

Stop At: King Sigismund's Column (Kolumna Zygmunta), Castle Square Old Town, Warsaw Poland

Sigismund's Column, originally erected in 1644, is located in Castle Square and is one of Warsaw's most famous landmarks. The column and statue commemorate King Sigismund III Vasa, who in 1596 had moved Poland's capital from Kraków to Warsaw.

Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Zamek Krolewski w Warszawie - Muzeum, Plac Zamkowy 4, Warsaw 00-277 Poland

The Royal Castle in Warsaw is a castle residency that formerly served throughout the centuries as the official residence of the Polish monarchs. We do not visit interiors on the tour.

Burned and looted by the Nazi Germans following the Invasion of Poland in 1939 and almost completely destroyed in 1944 after the failed Warsaw Uprising, the Castle was completely rebuilt and reconstructed.

Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Castle Square (Plac Zamkowy), Junction ul. Miodowa and Krakowskie Przedmiescie, Warsaw Poland

Castle Square is a historic square in front of the Royal Castle – the former official residence of Polish monarchs – located in Warsaw, Poland. It is a popular meeting place for tourists and locals. The Square, of somewhat triangular shape, features the landmark Sigismund's Column to the south-west, and is surrounded by historic townhouses. It marks the beginning of the bustling Royal Route extending to the south.

Duration: 10 minutes

Stop At: Archcathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist, Swietojanska 8, Warsaw 00-278 Poland

St. John's Archcathedral is one of Poland's national pantheons and stands immediately adjacent to Warsaw's Jesuit church. Along with the Old Town, the church has been listed by UNESCO as of cultural significance.

Duration: 15 minutes

Stop At: Rynek Starego Miasta, Warsaw Poland

The Old Town Market Place is the true heart of the Old Town, and until the end of the 18th century it was the heart of all of Warsaw. It originated in the late 13th century, at the same time that the city was founded. Here the representatives of guilds and merchants met in the town hall and fairs and the occasional execution were held. The houses around it represented the Gothic style until the great fire of 1607, after which they were rebuilt in late-Renaissance style and eventually in late-Baroque style.

Duration: 15 minutes

Stop At: Praga Polnoc, ul.Zabkowska, Warsaw Poland

Praga is one of the oldest districts in Warsaw. Through the centuries, Warsaw's right-bank was an independent town. In 1648 it was granted municipal rights by the king Władysław IV Vasa. It was joined to Warsaw at the end of 18th century. In 1945 it was divided into Praga-North and Praga-South

Duration: 25 minutes

Pass By: Bazylika katedralna Sw. Michala Archaniola i Sw. Floriana Meczennika, ul. Florianska 3, Warsaw 00-001 Poland

The Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel and St. Florian the Martyr is a Catholic church and historic landmark in eastern Warsaw. During and after the Siege of Warsaw, church was used as a hiding place for Jews, the Warsaw Army and as a general refuge for civilians.

Pass By: PGE National Stadium, ul. aleja Ksiecia Jozefa Poniatowskiego 1, Warsaw 03-901 Poland

Before 2008 on the PGE National Stadium place was the 10th-Anniversary Stadium, opened in 1955. The Stadium until dusk PRL served as the most representative sports facility in the country.

The Stadium was constructed mostly with rubble from buildings destroyed during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.

In 1983, due to technical problems, the stadium was abandoned. In 1989 the stadium was turned into an outdoor market known as Jarmark Europa, which became Europe's largest open-air market.

Stop At: Palm Tree, Plac de Gaulle, Warsaw 00-001 Poland

A rumour circulates around Warsaw that the Palm Tree is a gift from the city of Jerusalem for Aleje Jerozolimskie in Warsaw, that in this way Israeli Jews wanted to show Christians Polish how a real Christmas tree looks like.

As the Polish expression ‘hit by a palm tree’ refers to something unthinkable, a behaviour that verges on being silly, even idiotic, the project thus embodies substantial humour and irony, which saves it from linear reading and suggests something that escapes palpable understanding.

Duration: 10 minutes

Pass By: Plac Konstytucji, plac Konstytucji, Warsaw 00-001 Poland

The Constitution Square was constructed in the initial post-war years as a main element of social realist urban project. Together with the Palace of Culture and Science it was the main architectural social realist investment of Warsaw in 1949-1956. Its name comes from the Stalinist constitution adopted in communist Poland.

Stop At: Palace of Culture and Science, Plac Defilad 1, Warsaw 00-110 Poland

The Palace of Culture and Science is the undisputed symbol of Warsaw. The Palace was built in 1952-1955 as a gift from the Soviet Union to the people of Poland.

Varsovians still commonly use nicknames to refer to the Palace, notably "Beijing", "clown", "nightmarish dream of a drunk confectioner", "Stalin's syringe", "small but stylish". Other less common names include "the Elephant in Lacy Underwear", "Russian wedding cake", or even "Stalin's dick".

The permanent residents of the Palace are cats that live in the basement. Animals have their guardian who cares about them. In the highest part of the Palace, peregrine falcons live, which just below the spire, have their nest erected. They have been there since 1998. A pair of falcons have young children there. In the Internet users' competition, the young falcons were given the names: Bazyl, Orion and Wawa. A little lower in towers at the height of the 15th floor, the kestrels found their asylum. And on the level of the 6th floor, on the roof of the Studio Theater, among the melliferous bushes, there is an apiary of urban bees.

Duration: 15 minutes