Best of Warsaw - private tour by retro minibus with hotel pickup

The Old Town is an excellent start to discovering Warsaw. On the walk, you see Castle Square, where the story of Warsaw started more than 700 years ago. The king who believed to have both Polish and Swedish thrones, old trade paths and signs of German gothic era settlers. There is so much to find!

Sigismund's Column, originally erected in 1644, is located in Castle Square, 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.

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.

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.

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.

The Old Town Market Place is the true heart of the Old Town. Colourful and prestigious tenement houses and restaurants surround the square: it’s an excellent place to slow down, take a breath and investigate the story of the Warsaw mermaid. If you’re lucky enough, you will meet a Warsaw barrel organ player and listen to (very) old top hits.

On the way back to Żuk minibus guide shows you the remaining parts of the original city walls and tells you the story of the post-WWII reconstruction of Warsaw Old Town.

The next part is the enigmatic Praga district, located on the Eastern side of the Vistula river. When the minibus crosses the river, one can see picturesque views of the wild riverside. Praga is the only district of Warsaw that survived the apocalypse of WWII - that's why it represents the picture of the pre-WWII city filled with belle-epoque buildings with small and noisy courtyards. Once neglected, it becomes a hip and artistic part of Warsaw, still not affected by commercial tourism.

A rumour circulates in Warsaw that the Palm Tree is a gift from the city of Jerusalem for Warsaw, that in this way, Israeli wanted to show Poles what 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.

Back in the central district, your Żuk minibus parks near the ex-Polish Communist Party headquarters. This regime settled in 1945 and had a challenging task to cope with - reconstructing Poland's capital city. Moreover, since it seemed to be the only chance ever, architects decided to remodel Warsaw and make it a more comfortable place to live and work. But unfortunately, they had to cope with the Party, which opted for a Soviet-style city filled with overwhelming buildings and a happy proletariat. Did they make a compromise? Let's check it out!

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.