5 Big Reasons to Visit Warsaw, Poland, Warsaw, Poland

I’ve heard of multiple cases where people have advised travellers to not bother visiting Warsaw when in Poland. Generally it’s said in comparison to Krakow which gets rave reviews most of the time. I find this disappointing as I enjoyed my time in Warsaw and think that comparing the two cities is a flawed notion. The two are distinctly different and isn’t that part of the point of travel anyway?

Warsaw may have been one of my first stops in Poland, but it set the benchmark pretty high and got me in the mood to see more of the country. Here’s my 5 reasons why you shouldn’t ignore Warsaw when visiting Poland.

I don’t blame people for raving about how wonderful the city of Krakow is, because I tend to agree with them. It’s rightfully one of Poland’s most interesting destinations. But I do disagree with the idea that you should ditch Warsaw because it’s supposedly less appealing than Krakow. Each is remarkable in its own right and I think it’s important to see the contrast between them, rather than trying to rank one over the other. Direct comparisons to work out “who is better” are rarely helpful.

You appreciate what makes each city special only by visiting both and seeing how vastly different they are. Warsaw allows you to appreciate the charm of Krakow’s Old Town, while Krakow lets you see how much was lost during WWII and the effort that has gone into rebuilding parts of the city, like its old town. Each has its own distinct history, in part because they are situated so far apart; Poland is a big country folks. For example, when Poland was divided in 1796, Krakow was given to the Austrian Empire while Warsaw fell to the Prussians and later Russians. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).