Warsaw's History, Live
Guided walks, a detective game in a museum, old photos in 3D and a run on 11 November. Autumn ways to get to know the city through its past.
You can learn Warsaw's history from books, but it sticks better on the spot: in an old flat on Stalowa street that a guide can take you into for one Saturday, or at the wooden Fotoplastikon, where you look at the city of a hundred years ago in 3D. We've collected things like that for October and November 2026, to do with two, three or four people.
Most of the walks and talks are in Polish. For each one we say whether you can do it in English, and at the end there's a list of everything that works without Polish.
Dates, hours and prices come from the organisers' own websites, as of 2 October 2026.
Walks
Lalka Walks Through 19th-Century Warsaw
Museum of Warsaw, meeting on the Old Town Market Square or at the corner of Freta and Mostowa
The new film of "Lalka" (The Doll) is in cinemas, and the Museum of Warsaw runs walks through the city of Prus's novel. On Saturday 24 October at 11:00 the theme is the women of "Lalka"; you meet at the museum's ticket desks on the Old Town Market Square. On Saturday 21 November at 18:00 there's an evening walk, "Szemrana Warszawa końca XIX w." (shady Warsaw at the end of the 19th century), which the museum promises will give you a shiver. That one meets at the corner of Freta and Mostowa.
Cost and booking: 20 zł, reduced 10 zł, adults only. In Polish. No online booking.
Praga History Walks with the Praga Museum
Praga Museum of Warsaw, Targowa 50/52, Praga-Północ
The Praga Museum takes people on walks around the east bank for 5 zł. On Saturday 10 October at 12:00 the writer Bella Szwarcman-Czarnota talks about growing up in Praga and about schools that no longer exist; meet at the corner of Jagiellońska and Kłopotowskiego. On Saturday 24 October Piotr Stryczyński leads a walk through historic flats on Stalowa street, in two rounds, at 11:00 and 13:00.
If you'd rather stay indoors, the museum tour "Historia Pragi w trzech budynkach" (Praga's history in three buildings) runs on Sunday 25 October and Sunday 15 November at 12:30, for 15 zł, reduced 10 zł.
Cost and booking: in Polish, no online booking. The permanent exhibition is free on Thursdays from 11:00 to 20:00; the museum is closed on 1 and 11 November.
Marie Curie Walk Through the Old and New Town
History Meeting House, meeting at the Copernicus monument in front of Staszic Palace, Nowy Świat 72
On Saturday 10 October at 16:00 the History Meeting House (Dom Spotkań z Historią) leads a walk through the Old and New Town in the steps of Marie Curie. It lasts up to an hour and a half, it's free, and you don't need to sign up. The Praga walk is at noon the same day, so you can do both and have lunch in between.
Cost and booking: in Polish, free, no sign-up.
Walks in Simple Polish for Learners
Museum of Warsaw, at Stare Powązki and in Praga
The series "Kulturalny polski dla początkujących" (cultured Polish for beginners) is for people learning Polish: the guide speaks in simple language. On Sunday 25 October at 14:00 there are two walks. One goes through Stare Powązki cemetery, looking at the angels and symbols on the graves; meet at the Brama św. Honoraty gate on Powązkowska street. The other is about Praga's food, its old eateries and Bazar Różyckiego, and meets at the Praga Museum.
Cost and booking: 5 zł. Tickets for Powązki are sold online; for Praga there's no online booking.
English Walking Tours with Walkative
Meeting point depends on the route, often the Copernicus monument
Walkative runs walks in English (some routes also in Spanish or German): the historic centre, Jewish Warsaw, Warsaw at war, Praga and communist Warsaw. There's also "Sins of Warsaw" for adults, about pre-war crime and scandal, including the assassination of President Narutowicz. You pay what you want; the organiser says most people give between 10 and 50 euros.
Cost and booking: booking is obligatory, on Walkative's website. A walk goes ahead if at least 5 people sign up, and groups of 8 or more can't join. Dates are in the calendar on the site.
Museums where you do something
Detective Game at the Museum of Warsaw
Rynek Starego Miasta 28-42, entrance at number 42
"Szyfr zegarmistrzów" (the watchmakers' cipher) is a game played in the permanent exhibition, a bit like an escape room. Each team gets one book of clues, and the museum says it works best in small groups. It takes an hour and a half to two hours, it's for ages 16 and up, and you borrow it at the ticket desk with your ticket. The museum only describes it on its Polish page, so we don't know whether there's an English version.
Cost and hours: permanent exhibition 25 zł, reduced 18 zł, free on Thursdays. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 9:00-17:00, Thursday 9:00-19:00, Saturday and Sunday 11:00-18:00; closed on 1 and 11 November. The audio guide in Polish and English is included in the ticket, and every Sunday at 12:00 there's a tour in Polish for 25 zł.
Old Warsaw in 3D at the Fotoplastikon
Al. Jerozolimskie 51, Śródmieście
The Fotoplastikon is an early 20th-century machine for looking at photos in 3D: you sit at a little window and watch. The shows change at least once a month, and on Sundays and Mondays it always shows old photos of Warsaw. Tickets are 10 zł, reduced 6 zł, and it's free on Thursdays.
You don't need any Polish here, you just look, which makes it a good first stop for someone who has just arrived.
Hours: Monday and Wednesday-Sunday 10:00-18:00, closed on Tuesdays.
Neon Museum at the Palace of Culture
Palace of Culture and Science, 4th floor, side lifts from level -1, entrance from Marszałkowska
The Neon Museum has moved from Praga into the Palace of Culture. It collects old Warsaw neon signs, and this year it marks a hundred years since the first neon went up in Warsaw, in 1926. Tickets are 28 zł standard and 18 zł concession. Buy them at the museum on the day.
Hours: daily 11:00-18:00, Fridays and Saturdays until 19:00. Guided tours in English are only for groups of 10 or more; a smaller group looks around on its own.
Locomotive Simulator at Stacja Muzeum
Towarowa 3, Wola
At the railway museum, 25 zł on top of your ticket buys you fifteen minutes driving an EU07 locomotive simulator. On Sunday 25 October you can go inside the salon car and the artillery car, and on 29 November the snow plough. Sunday 8 November is a model railway fair, tickets 16 zł.
Cost and hours: 25 zł, reduced 16 zł, free on Mondays. Daily except Tuesday, 10:00-18:00. An English-speaking guide costs 350 zł per group and has to be booked 10 working days ahead.
Warsaw Rising Museum
Grzybowska 79, Wola
The museum hasn't announced any events for adults in October or November, so this is about the exhibition itself. It's free on Thursdays; other days it costs 35 zł, reduced 30 zł. There's an audio guide in English, Ukrainian, German, French and several other languages, for 13 zł, or 10 zł on your own phone.
Hours: Monday and Wednesday-Friday 8:00-18:00, Saturday and Sunday 10:00-18:00, closed on Tuesdays. A private guide in English costs 250 zł plus tickets.
Jewish Warsaw Tours at POLIN Museum
Mordechaja Anielewicza 6, Muranów
On Sundays at 12:00 POLIN runs themed tours in Polish: on 25 October "Między synagogą a domem rodzinnym" (between the synagogue and the family home), and on 22 November "Tu się działo! Żydowska ulica między wojnami" (the Jewish street between the wars). The 45 zł ticket, reduced 35 zł, also covers the core exhibition. The core exhibition is free on Thursdays, and audio guides in several languages are free.
Hours: closed on Tuesdays, open until 20:00 on Saturdays. Tickets online.
The Ringelblum Archive at the Jewish Historical Institute
Tłomackie 3/5, Śródmieście
The institute (ŻIH) shows "Czego nie mogliśmy wykrzyczeć światu" (what we could not scream out to the world), an exhibition on the Ringelblum Archive, the hidden archive of the Warsaw Ghetto. It's free on Mondays; other days 15 zł, reduced 10 zł. From Tuesday to Friday you can see it with a guide in English for 40 zł per person, or in Polish for 30 zł.
Hours: Monday-Thursday and Sunday 10:00-18:00, Friday 10:00-16:00, closed on Saturdays and on 1 November. Questions and bookings: [email protected], 22 827 92 21.
Talks
Pre-War Cinema Audiences Talk
History Meeting House, Karowa 20, Śródmieście
On Thursday 22 October at 18:00 the History Meeting House holds "Gwiazdy i gwizdy" (stars and whistles), a talk about the film stars pre-war Warsaw loved and how people behaved at the cinema. The page doesn't give a price. The exhibitions there have English labels, but the talk is in Polish.
Talks on Cycling in Old Warsaw
Wola Museum, Srebrna 12
Historian Piotr Kubkowski talks about Warsaw's cycling and street life around 1900. The talks are on Thursdays 15 and 29 October from 18:00 to 20:00, cost 5 zł and have 40 places. There's no online booking, so come early.
Polish Rock of the 1980s Talk
Polish History Museum, the Citadel, Gwardii 1, Żoliborz
Until 6 December the Polish History Museum shows "Za czym kolejka ta stoi? PRL w muzycznym zwierciadle", an exhibition on communist Poland through its music, labelled in Polish and English. On Thursday 22 October at 18:00 there's a talk on Polish rock of the 1980s, with free tickets at sklep.muzhp.pl. It's the same evening as the cinema talk, so you'll have to pick one.
Cost and hours: 20 zł, reduced 10 zł, free on Fridays; the viewing terrace never needs a ticket. Monday and Wednesday-Friday 10:00-18:00, Saturday and Sunday 10:00-19:00, closed on Tuesdays and on 1 November. Tours in Polish on 17, 18, 24 and 25 October at 12:00, 25 zł, reduced 15 zł.
11 November
Independence Day falls on a Wednesday this year. The city hasn't published its program yet, but a few things are already known.
- The Polish History Museum is open from 10:00 to 21:00, with free entry.
- The Independence Run (Bieg Niepodległości), 10 km, starts at 11:11 in waves. Entry is 109 zł, or 89 zł for the nordic walking race. You sign up online and must be 15 or older; the start location will be announced soon.
- The Royal Castle and the Szucha mausoleum are open that day; the Museum of Warsaw and the Praga Museum are closed.
Without Polish
If someone in your group doesn't speak Polish yet, the easiest choices are Walkative's walks, the Fotoplastikon and the Neon Museum. The Museum of Warsaw, the Rising Museum and POLIN have audio guides in English, ŻIH gives tours in English from Tuesday to Friday, and the exhibition at the Polish History Museum is labelled in both languages. For people who are already learning, there are the walks in simple Polish on 25 October.
The vintage trams and the "ogórek" bus on the tourist lines have finished their 2026 season, so they'll have to wait until spring.
Where we checked
Everything checked on 2 October 2026 on the organisers' own pages, most of them in Polish.
- Museum of Warsaw: women of "Lalka" walk, "Szemrana Warszawa", visit, Sunday tour.
- Praga Museum: walk with Bella Szwarcman-Czarnota, flats on Stalowa, three buildings tour, visit.
- History Meeting House: Marie Curie walk, "Gwiazdy i gwizdy", visit.
- Walks in simple Polish: Stare Powązki, Praga.
- Walkative: walks in Warsaw, "Sins of Warsaw".
- Szucha mausoleum: October 2026, Museum of Independence program.
- Fotoplastikon, Neon Museum, 100 years of neon in Warsaw.
- Stacja Muzeum: English page, tickets, simulator, open cars.
- Warsaw Rising Museum: visit us, events.
- POLIN: "Między synagogą a domem rodzinnym", "Tu się działo!", admission.
- Jewish Historical Institute: plan your visit.
- Wola Museum: cycling talks.
- Polish History Museum: visit, October at the museum.
- 11 November: Independence Run, Royal Castle. Tourist lines: WTP.
Some dates in this guide may have passed. Check the organiser’s page before you go.
.jpg){kind=link}