Free, and Hardly Anyone Knows
A museum with free entry for every day of the week, a roof garden, a tour of the Sejm, a conversation club at the library and a bike for 20 minutes. All checked on the places' own websites.
This list started with a simple question: what can you see and do in Warsaw without buying a ticket? Quite a lot, it turns out. Many museums have one day a week with free entry, and on every day of the week at least one of them is free. There are also roof gardens, tours of the Sejm and English conversation evenings at a library. It just isn't always easy to find out about, because each place mentions it on its own website and the city's list doesn't always keep up.
We put it in one place, day by day, to make it easier to plan something, including with someone you've only just met. It's the list we would have liked to have on our first day in the city.
Free museums, day by day
| Monday | Stacja Muzeum (railway museum), Towarowa 3Jewish Historical Institute, Tłomackie 3/5 cloakroom compulsory, limited numbers in the exhibition; closed 12 and 26 October |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | National Museum, permanent galleriesMaria Skłodowska-Curie Museum, Freta 16 12:00-18:00, individual visitorsMuseum of Caricature, Kozia 11 |
| Wednesday | Royal Castle, special route and the Palace under the Copper Roof free passes at the ticket office on the day, limitedPoster Museum in WilanówThe Broniewski, Dąbrowska and Strug museums branches of the Museum of Literature |
| Thursday | Zachęta 12:00-20:00Museum of Warsaw, permanent exhibitionUjazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art until 20:00State Ethnographic MuseumFotoplastikon, Al. Jerozolimskie 51Asia and Pacific Museum, Solec 24POLINWarsaw Rising MuseumWilanów: palace, gardens and park free passes at the ticket office |
| Friday | Łazienki Królewskie, six buildings ground floor only in four of themPolish History Museum free passes at the ticket officeWarsaw Gasworks Museum without a guide; it sometimes closes, so check its calendar |
| Saturday | Museum of Sport and Tourism, Wybrzeże Gdyńskie 4 |
| Sunday | Museum of Literature, Rynek Starego Miasta 20 main building |
| Whenever open | History Meeting House (DSH), Karowa 20 Tuesday to Sunday; from 8 October the exhibition "Lata 80. patrzą na nas"Galeria A at MSN, ground floor, Marszałkowska 103 Tuesday to Sunday; closed 15 OctoberGeological Museum, Rakowiecka 4, entrance from Wiśniowa Monday to Friday 9:00-17:30, Sunday 10:00-15:00 |
Thursday has the most, nine places free on the same day. If you have one free day in the week, make it this one.
In a few places you have to collect the free ticket at the ticket office: at the Castle on Wednesday, in Wilanów on Thursday and at the Polish History Museum on Friday, and at the Castle and the Wilanów palace the number is limited. At the National Museum on Tuesday you just walk in.
"Free" doesn't always mean "the whole museum" either. In Łazienki on Fridays only the ground floor is open in four of the buildings, and the Polish History Museum has only one temporary exhibition for now; the permanent one opens in 2027.
If you are under 26, several places charge you 1 zł on ordinary days too. At the Castle that covers EU and EFTA citizens aged 7 to 26, with an ID showing your date of birth, and in Wilanów anyone aged 8 to 26. At the National Museum (ticket office only) and the Poster Museum the 1 zł ticket is for children, pupils and students up to 26, and at POLIN for learners aged 7 to 26 with a Polish school or university ID.
What is not in the table, though you might expect it: the Chopin Museum is closed for all of 2026 for renovation, and the Legia Museum is also being renovated.
Not only museums
The BUW roof garden
University of Warsaw Library, Dobra 56/66, Powiśle
Entry is free, every day. In October the garden is open from 8:00 to 20:00. From November only the lower part stays open, from 8:00 to 15:00, without the garden on the roof itself. In a storm or strong wind the upper garden closes.
A view of the city without a ticket
The Polish History Museum terrace, Cytadela, Gwardii 1 (entrance from Dymińska 13)
The terrace is open without a ticket, but the lifts are out of order for now, so there are 158 stairs, and anyone who has trouble walking cannot get up there, unfortunately. It all depends on the weather. For comparison, the terrace at the Palace of Culture costs 30 zł.
When: Monday and Wednesday-Friday 10:00-18:00, Saturday and Sunday 10:00-19:00. Mondays only until 6 December, while the temporary exhibition is on.
Inside the Sejm
The pass office, Wiejska 4/6/8
You can tour the Sejm, the Polish parliament, on your own too, and its pages mention no fee at all. You book online in the Sejm's system, for a working day when parliament is not sitting. You arrive at 11:45, and at 12:00 a short talk and the tour begin, about 40 minutes in all. In October parliament sits on 6-9 and 21-23 October, so there are no tours on those days. A change in the Sejm's schedule can cancel the visit, so have a plan B.
English Conversation Club at the Library
"Przystanek Książka" library, Grójecka 42, Ochota
"Get Talking" is a weekly conversation in English run by volunteers. Entry is free. It is also one of the simpler ways to see the same people every week, and that, as we wrote in our essay about new people in the city, is how friendships start.
When: Tuesdays 18:00-18:55, from 6 October.
A bike for 20 minutes
Veturilo, stations across the city
The first 20 minutes of every ride are free, e-bikes and tandems included. When you register you pay 10 zł, which stays on your account for rides and can be refunded. After that a normal bike costs 1 zł until the end of the first hour. Since 1 July you can no longer chain free rides on the same bike: if you rent it again within 15 minutes, the clock keeps running. The bikes are seasonal; last year the season ended on 30 November.
The royal parks
Łazienki Królewskie and Wilanów
Łazienki park is free every day, from 6:00 to 21:00. Wilanów park is free on Thursdays (a free pass at the ticket office); on other days it costs 15 zł, reduced 5 zł. Until 16 October it is open from 9:00 to 18:00, from 17 October until 16:00, and it closes in strong wind. The Wilanów palace courtyard is free every day.
Sculpture in the open air
Park Rzeźby na Bródnie, the palm tree on Rondo de Gaulle'a, Plac Centralny
The Museum of Modern Art also has works outside its building, open at any hour. The sculpture park in Park Bródnowski is a good excuse to cross to the other side of the Vistula.
In October
- "Lata 80. patrzą na nas" (The 80s are watching us), a new exhibition at the History Meeting House, from 8 October to 21 February 2027. Free, and you can bring your dog.
- "Lalka też Człowiek" (A puppet is a person too), a puppet theatre festival for adults, 9-17 October, in several cultural centres. Every show is free, but you book passes by email, at most two per person per show. So in a group of four, two people book.
- What is left of summer, free things included, like the roof gardens at BUW and Kopernik, is in saying goodbye to summer.
What only looks free
- Free walking tours are "pay what you wish". The organiser says most people give between 10 and 50 euros. You need to book, and groups of eight or more cannot join.
- The University of Warsaw Botanic Garden has no free day: 24 zł, or 12 zł on Mondays until the end of October.
And if this week there is no time even for Thursday, there is still the BUW roof garden, open every day from 8:00, before work too.
Checked on these pages
Everything checked on 28 September 2026 on the places' own pages (first on 25 September).
- Monday: Stacja Muzeum, Jewish Historical Institute.
- Tuesday: National Museum, Maria Skłodowska-Curie Museum, Museum of Caricature.
- Wednesday: Royal Castle, Poster Museum, Museum of Literature branches.
- Thursday: Zachęta, Museum of Warsaw, Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, State Ethnographic Museum, Fotoplastikon, Asia and Pacific Museum, POLIN, Warsaw Rising Museum, Wilanów.
- Friday: Łazienki Królewskie, Polish History Museum (also the terrace), Warsaw Gasworks Museum.
- Saturday and Sunday: Museum of Sport and Tourism, Museum of Literature.
- Whenever open: History Meeting House, MSN (also the sculptures in the city), Geological Museum.
- BUW garden: garden rules.
- Sejm: individual visits, sitting days.
- "Get Talking": Ochota Public Library.
- Veturilo: prices, news.
- Parks: Łazienki, Wilanów.
- In October: "Lata 80. patrzą na nas", "Lalka też Człowiek", free passes.
- Not free: free walking tour, UW Botanic Garden. Closed in 2026: Chopin Museum, Legia Museum.
Some dates in this guide may have passed. Check the organiser’s page before you go.
