short Warsaw stay

Hi Dennis, Actually, you can see most of the top attractions in an afternoon and morning. "The Old Town"(stare miasto) and "The New Town" (nowe miasto), which is also old, are pretty, charming and very impressive considering they were both destroyed during WWII. Some people think that because they were completely rebuilt after the war they are somehow not authentic or even "Disney-esque ", but Warsaw was painstakingly restored to be as close to the original as possible and I find it very inspiring. The Old and New Towns lead to the Royal Way and then to Lazienki Park and Palace. You should also try to visit one or all of: The Warsaw Uprising Museum, Warsaw Uprising Monument, Jewish Uprising Monument, and/or the Historical Museum of Warsaw. I also found some of the Soviet-era buildings/monuments to be interesting and impressive in their way. It's hard to miss the Palace of Science and Culture, but many people miss Konstytucji Square which has massive statues and lamp posts that make you feel like a Lilliputian(sp?). As for a modestly priced hotel, I stayed at Mazowiecki twice, once in a room without bath, and once in a room with. At the time, about 6 years ago, the hotel had been newly renovated. The rooms and bathrooms were nice, especially for the money. It is close to many of the sites but the front desk clerks weren't especially helpful. All in all I thought it was a pretty good value. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g274856-d672931-Reviews-Hotel_Mazowiecki-Warsaw_Central_Poland.html

If you really want to have some offbeat fun, take the "Adventure Warsaw" tour. We did it, and it was a highlight of our trip to Poland. The young entrepeneurs who run the tours all speak perfect English, and they are enthusiastic, energetic, and very entertaining. Their website will give you some idea of what it's like: http://www.adventurewarsaw.pl/

Wow Tom! Though I'm not usually a "tour person", that looks really fun! I'm afraid I didn't see as much of Warsaw as I might have liked because I had been warned that some areas were kind of seedy, so I didn't do my usual aimless wandering. If I had known about this tour (if they were even around then) I might have put my reservations about tours aside:)

If you are there on a weekend, do a check on the chain hotels - you may be able to get good deals. For example, I am finding the Hyatt Regency for 65 euros + tax (fully refundable). The Marriott has a prepaid rate of $76.

I think Warsaw is definitely worth a visit. It has quite a few sights to see - may not be as great as Krakow but worth a couple of days.

I think the first writer gave a great overview of the sites you could cover in a short time. Personally, I found the people in Warsaw, and throughout Poland, to be extremely helpful and friendly. Multiple times strangers offered directions and help with Polish menus. My personal favorite was the manager of a coffee shop who took time during a busy morning to look up a bus route for me, printed out a map, and then painstakingly wrote in all the stops so I would know when to get off the bus. I preferred Warsaw to Krakow. Krakow had a bit of a tourist-overload feel to me.

I expected Warsaw to be a bunch of gray-communist era buildings and not much else. I was surprised to find a beautiful, lively city (despite what some trolls in LA might think). I used it as a stop-over between Vilnius and Krakow and I wish I had stayed longer and explored more. With only an afternoon, just explore the Old Town and get yourself some artery-clogging pierogies. Some of the snobs will say that the Old Town isn't "authentic" because it was rebuilt after the war, but who cares? It's still a delight. There's also a Chopin museum that was of OK interest, if you're a fan.