Warsaw and vicinity

I was there in May.

There are interesting things to do, I think it is worthwhile, and the politics have no effect on the average tourist.

Warsaw was great. I liked Gdansk and Krakow better overall but I prefer slightly smaller cities in general. My only exposure to politics in Warsaw was regarding support for the people of Ukraine and all they are going through. Visiting Poland was an incredible experience.

I was in Poland a month ago.

Warsaw was between 85% and 95% destroyed from WW2. They rebuilt many buildings by recreating the original style using old style materials. The Soviet era new buildings were plain and ugly.

With that said, I enjoyed seeing the amazing church exteriors and interiors. Also, the memorials and monuments. The Castle and the Tin Roof Palace interiors and collections were fabulous.

The bus and trams were easy to navigate. Lots of nice parks. I didn't get to visit the Copernicus museum.

Nowy Swiat street and restaurants were entertaining. A trip to the top of the Palace of Culture and Science was worthwhile.

I experienced no politics.

I think Warsaw is great. But I really, really like history... including Polish history.

Józef Piłsudski. Quite a life. And perhaps the single person most responsible for communism not spreading further west after WWI. There is a museum to him in Warsaw... built at the site of his manor house.

Also... Warsaw is fairly progressive. Politics in now way impacted my visit in 2023. I can't imagine that much has changed since then.

I was in Warsaw recently for the fourth occasion. It's a city I really like, there's a vibrancy and dynamism that I don't experience in many other cities. It's very interesting and certainly worthwhile. As for the politics, can you elaborate on what you're enquiring about? I've never felt the need to discuss politics whilst in Warsaw and as Poland is a progressive, democratic country I don't think you need to worry about the politics.

A lot of places in Poland have enacted very LGBTQIA-unfriendly laws in recent years. I believe Warsaw and Krakow are not among those places, and I don't know that the existence of discrimimatory local laws would be obvious to a visitor, especially a non-Polish-reading visitor. It should be remembered that Poland remains a very religious (mainly Catholic) country.

Some Googling will turn up online articles including quotes from Polish residents who are uncomfortable with the situation in their area.