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Royal Castle: built on the impressive Castle Square (Plac Zamkowy), former entrance of the city, the Royal Castle was restored as it was in the 18th century, when it was home to Polish kings. The Throne room and the Great Assembly Hall reflect the grandeur of times past. Among the numerous works of art you will also admire two masterpieces by Rembrandt.  
Address: Plac Zamkowy 4

Wilanów Palace: the Polish version of Versailles, on the south end of the city. Originally the summer residence of king John Sobieski III, this baroque palace with the majestic areas and the works of art, dates back to the 17th century, but had many interventions by its subsequent owners, mainly women of nobility. The palace remained intact by WWII destruction, while in 1945 its management was assigned to the managers of the National Museum. Take a walk in the amazing French-style gardens with the pagoda-kiosk, the pond with the small island and the flower beds in geometrical shapes.   
Address: ulica Stanisława Kostki Potockiego 10/16

Warsaw Uprising Museum: during the German occupation, Polish insurgents fight the Nazis to liberate the city. The historic museum, housed in an old tram power station, with the use of multimedia represents the dramatic events that followed the uprising of 1944, the battles of Warsaw residents against Nazism and their devastating defeat that resulted in the death of hundred thousand Poles and the destruction of the city. The breathtaking heartbeat sounding in the hall with the uprising log symbolises the beat of Warsaw life in 1944.  
Address: ul. Grzybowska 79, 0048 22 539 79 05, www.1944.pl/ 
 
Ghetto Heroes Monument: the tragic history of the Jewish ghetto of Warsaw is a memory that the people of this city do not want to be erased. In 1942-43 more than 300,000 people from this neighbourhood were piled in trucks by the Nazis and led to death in the Treblinka concentration camp, 100 km north-east of Warsaw. On the Ghetto Heroes Monument, in the Square bounded by Anielewicza, Karmelicka, Lewartowskiego and Zamenhofa Streets, 400 first names are engraved on granite, in alphabetical order, one for every thousand victims of the massacre. At the desolate Ulica Próżna (Empty Street), time has stopped in 1943, when the Ghetto was evacuated. 

Copernicus Science Centre: Warsaw celebrates the leading astronomer and monk Nicolaus Copernicus who passionately claimed that the Earth rotates around the sun and not the opposite in 1543 Warsaw. In a modern 22,000 sq.m. area “we don't just observe, we experiment”. Live Armstrong's experience when he set his foot on the Moon, travel to the edge of the Universe, to the depths of the ocean or in a volcano crater, through multimedia applications, scientific experiments that you will execute yourselves, and projections on the impressive dome-screen of the planetarium.  
Address: ul. Wybrzeże Kościuszkowskie 20, 0048 22 596 41 00, www.kopernik.org.pl/ 
 
Fryderyk Chopin Museum: music enthusiasts should not miss a visit to this interactive museum that is dedicated to the great Polish composer. His life and work are presented in eleven theme halls, with state of the art technology, such as touch screens. Simply touch the sheet music and the piano is activated, sounding sonatas by the famous pianist and composer of the Romantic period, inspired by Warsaw. 
Address: Ul. Okólnik 1, 0048 224416274, www.nifc.pl/

Palace of Culture and Science: the 42 storey building of controversial aesthetics, Stalin's gift to the city in the 50s, can be seen from every corner of the city. It is the building that Warsaw residents love to hate, calling it “monster-cake”. Get on the observatory and enjoy the view of the city standing 115 metres above it. 
Address: Plac Defilad 1

At the shops of the Royal Street in the Old City and at Nowy Świat in the New City, you will find out that Warsaw market is a pleasant surprise. The young crowd of the city frequents western-type shopping centres, like Promenada at Ostrobramska Street and Galeria Mokotow at Wilanowska and Wołoska street, for shopping, film screenings and American-style dining.  

Keep an eye for funky findings by Polish designers and second hand bargains in the hip Praga district. To live a more ...Polish experience, seek handmade creations by blown glass and hand painted china, wooden cuckoo clocks and dolls with traditional costumes in the folk art shops in the narrow streets of the Old City. The most typical souvenirs are amber jewellery and objects.
  
Do not miss the vast bazaar at the National Stadium, where you will find cult knick knacks on the stalls. Open air markets at Obozowa street and near the Palace of Culture and Science are ideal for endless shopping.

The hub square of the Old City, Rynek Starego Miasta, attracts locals and visitors alike in its cafés and restaurants. Enjoy your breakfast in one of the milk bars or bar mleczny. These Polish self-service shops are called milk bars as they open very early in the morning and serve milk, coffee, breakfast and lunch in cheap, family servings. You will find many open all day, along Royal Street and Nowy Świat.  

Try bigos, cabbage with sausage and bacon cooked several times, taste pierogi, dumplings with finely sliced mushrooms, onions and cabbage, accompanied by beetroot soup and mashed potato. For desert, try local pastries such as pączki with rose jam and chocolates by the local chocolate factory in retro metallic packaging. 

Stay till late in one of the night hangouts of the city in the bohemian Praga district, on the Vistula River, listening to some good, Polish jazz. Try the local lager or the Polish Żubrówka vodka. With bison grass or berry flavour, this vodka is drunk in shots and the Polish never stop in the first shot!

Memories and music are protagonists in the city events.

• Easter in Warsaw Poles celebrate Easter with particular devoutness. On Holy Saturday they go to church carrying a woven basket. In it, they have placed dyed eggs decorated with Easter motifs, a miniature lamb made of candy, bread, sausages. The priest will bless the baskets of the faithful and on Easter Sunday the entire family, around the table, will share the contents of the basket, in a festive spirit. Beware of the Śmigus Dyngus water-fight custom - with pagan origins - on Easter Monday. People are throwing water to each other for good luck, using buckets that are emptied even from balconies!  
• Noc Świętojańska Warsaw residents celebrate the summer solstice and the shortest night of the year, partying all night long on the banks of the Vistula. Open air concerts, dance, wreath throwing in the waters of the river in commemoration of the ancient pagan custom and firework show.  
• Chopin Summer Concerts In the summer the Łazienki Park, a verdant oasis with ponds and palaces, is filled with Chopin melodies, waltzes, sonatas and ballads, next to the monument of the Polish composer.  
• Anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising Every year, on the 1st of August the city celebrates the sacrifice of the insurgents of 1944 against the Nazi occupation, with events taking place at historical museums and remembrance sites.

Getting to and from the airport in Warsaw

Aegean Airlines lands on the largest airport of Warsaw, the Frederic Chopin International Airport (10 km south of the city). Large and modern, the airport has shops, many restaurants and cafés, banks, foreign exchange offices, children's play areas, car rental agencies. Wi-Fi is free in airport areas, as long as you scan your boarding pass code.

To get to the city from the airport, you can take one of city bus lines 148, 175, 188, N32 (night service). Also the two S2 and S3 lines of suburban railway connect the airport to the city centre. If you choose to get a taxi, note that the drivers are very helpful, and the price list is displayed on the vehicles' windows.