This small, privately run museum, devoted to the communist period in Poland's history, has found its spiritual home situated over a KFC and overlooking socialist realist Plac Konstytucji. There's a year-by-year timeline and a focus on different aspects of the People’s Republic of Poland (PRL) from politics to fashion. It's all attractively laid out and, by Warsaw standards, not too overwhelming to digest.
Museum of Life Under Communism
Warsaw
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
5.1 MILES
Warsaw’s top palace, 10km south of the city centre, was commissioned by King Jan III Sobieski in 1677. It has changed hands several times over the…
0.73 MILES
For over 60 years this socialist realist palace has dominated central Warsaw. A ‘gift of friendship’ from the Soviet Union, it was completed in 1955 and…
1.69 MILES
This remarkable copy of the original castle blown up by the Germans in WWII is filled with authentic period furniture and original works of art…
1.62 MILES
This exceptional museum, housed in a former tram power station and its surrounding grounds, traces the history of the city's heroic but doomed uprising…
POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews
2.05 MILES
Housed in one of Warsaw's best examples of contemporary architecture, this award-winning museum documents 1000 years of Jewish history in Poland. The…
1.38 MILES
The fully interactive, push-the-buttons-and-see-what-happens Copernicus Science Centre pulls off that tricky feat of being both hugely fun and educational…
0.85 MILES
Pronounced wah-zhen-kee, this beautiful park includes manicured gardens, an ornamental lake, wooded glades and strutting peacocks. Once a hunting ground,…
0.95 MILES
This multimedia museum within the baroque Ostrogski Palace showcases the work of Poland’s most famous composer. You’re encouraged to take your time…
Nearby Warsaw attractions
0.07 MILES
Perhaps Warsaw's most iconic neon is this animation of a girl throwing a volleyball, designed by Jan Mucharski in 1960 and hanging off the corner of a…
0.08 MILES
Completed in 1952, this expansive square is the centrepiece of the Marszałkowska Residential District (MDM). Although contemporary shopfronts, commercial…
3. Church of the Holy Redeemer
0.28 MILES
Finished in 1911, this elegant church borrows from both the Renaissance and baroque periods. Demolished by the German occupiers during WWII, it was…
0.45 MILES
Destroyed during WWII, this church was rebuilt to its original early-19th-century design inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. Inside, look to the left of the…
5. Mausoleum of Struggle & Martyrdom
0.48 MILES
Once used by the Gestapo for interrogation, torture and murder, this building now stands as a memorial to the thousands of Poles who passed through its…
0.51 MILES
Photography enthusiasts will be thrilled by this late-19th-century contraption. Reputedly the last working example of its kind in Europe, it consists of a…
7. Sejm of the Republic of Poland
0.51 MILES
Apply online or by phone at least a week in advance to arrange a tour around Poland's national parliament, the Sejm. You will need to bring some form of…
0.52 MILES
A pleasant spot to hang out is this charming wooded enclave in the heart of Warsaw. The colony of some 20-odd Finnish wooden cottages have been here since…