We’ve arrived in Poland to start our journey of fulltime travel and Warsaw was our first stop. A lot of the times when arriving in these larger cities, the list of ‘Things to Do on Your Visit’ are very adult-centred. However, this list includes 10 FUN activities you can do with young children in Warsaw.
1. Explore the Old Town
The Old Town of Warsaw is unique in that it is actually all reconstructed! During World War II 80-85% of the city of Warsaw was destroyed, including the historic Old Town. After the War, the government decided to rebuild the Old Town to its original layouts and specs. However, when walking through, it still feels like you’re traveling back in time. The kids really enjoyed the main square as there was a fountain they could splash in, as well as tons of pigeons to chase!
We even let the kids stay up late on our final night in Warsaw, as on the weekend there are street performers and lots of activities on the street of the Old Town in the evening. We found a couple different groups of fire street performers and the kids were just mesmerized with it! Our 4-year-old son, Connor, thought the fire breathing was the most amazing and exclaimed, “He’s like a dragon!” Later while we were watching the second performance, he stated matter-of-factly, “I want to be like them.” So maybe don’t take them children if you fear it may cause them to become pyromaniacs. Lol.
2. Multimedia Fountain Park
This park at the base of the Old Town has a large fountain display with several fountains that are choreographed. To the side of the larger fountain, there is a smaller fountain area that kids can play at with water coming up from the ground there. They had an absolute blast playing in there. The Park also has an evening show that includes lights and music, but unfortunately, we weren’t able to fit it in during our time in Warsaw.
3. Ice Cream – ‘Lody’
I don’t think I have seen so many ice cream places in one place before, but the Warsaw Old Town had so many! You could barely walk a block in the core of the Old Town without seeing one, and in some sections there were several. The prices ranged from about 3-6 Zloty ($3 Zloty = $1 USD). They were also big! The soft serve ice cream would almost be as tall as the kids’ heads!
There was even a little café just down the street from our Airbnb that had seating outside in little train-type cars. There were some small birds and pigeons who were smart and lived near it. They actually had gotten so tame that you could hold out a piece of your ice cream cone in your palm that they would fly right up to you and grab it. The kids thought this was pretty amazing, and by the end of the week, Clara worked up enough courage to keep a hold of it in her hand until the bird flew up to grab it.
4. Playgrounds
We took time every day to get in some playtime at the Warsaw playgrounds. It’s always interesting to see how certain countries have certain playground elements that we might not have back in North American. In Warsaw, there were a few playgrounds that we came across that had a bucket and pulley system as part of them, as well as sand pits with communal shovels, scoops, etc. left there for everyone to use. These new playground aspects were a hit for our kids! They spent hours playing.
One of their favorite playgrounds was just down the street from our Airbnb, so we spent lots of time there. Mom & Dad even liked that one as they had a bicycle coffee chart with really good coffee!
5. Copernicus Science Centre
Normally, we don’t go to places like science centres or zoos while traveling, as we had some amazing ones back home. However, with this slower paced travel and wanting to find activities that sometimes are completely for the kids, this seemed like a good fit. All four of us, enjoyed the visit to the Science Centre. Masks were also still required during the duration of the visit. They still had timed entry due to Covid (June 2021), but we were able to get a spot by just walking up. There was a kids area that was focused on kids 5 and younger, a special bike exhibit and then an entire floor of displays that allowed kids (and adults) to do a variety of mini experiments. They even had an interactive topographical map, fun mirrors to experiment with and a bicycle that when you started pedaling a skeleton appeared next to you – a favorite of the kids! Plus all the displays pretty much had instructions and other information in 3 different languages! (Polish, English & Russian)
6. St. Anne’s Bell Tower
Also located in the Old Town district, this was a fun and quick little activity the kids enjoyed. We climbed up the series of stairs to the top of the bell tower with a view of the Royal Castle Square below. They took in the views, but were definitely done before we were, so they started to play a game of basic hide and seek while they waited.
7. Riverwalk
We went for a walk along the riverfront pathway on our last morning in Warsaw. There were little parks, seating areas and more along the way. One was a section with sea monsters popping out of the ground that the kids could climb on and explore, and there was a sandy section as well.
When we reached the Warsaw Mermaid on the pathway, there was also a little splash park where there were misters that kids could run through and play in on a warmer day.
8. Royal Castle & Gardens
If you asked the kids, this castle (and the museum listed next) probably weren’t at the top of their list, but with the history of Warsaw it seemed like a lost opportunity to not explore these spots. The castle was destroyed in 1939 by the invasion of the Germans and they were only able to preserve a few paintings from the castle. However, in the 1970’s they decided to reconstruct it according to its original specs and it was opened to the public in the early 1980s. What I found interesting was that they recreated all the rooms and even art pieces to what the castle looked like during its use; sometimes even just replicating paints based off of notes or archived historic recollections.
Entrance into the castle also has to be pre-purchased (due to Covid) and masks were required indoors. However, the adult admission tickets included audio guides. The kids thought it would be cool to try them out, so Alex and I gave them ours. However, they ended up using and listening to them for the duration of the visit! They would walk from room to room looking for the number to punch in and then would intently listen to the narrative. I don’t know how much they actually learned from it, but it definitely helped keep them entertained and the visit much smoother. Check out our other post for How to Enjoy Museums with Young Kids.
There were also gardens at the back of the castle which is free to the public, even if you didn’t want to go inside. There was a big open, lush, green field that the kids found fun to run in, as well as lots of little fountains to throw coins in to make wishes.
9. Warsaw Uprising Museum
Whenever learning about World War II, it is always a humbling occasion; and this museum was no different. The museum focuses on the Jews who were part of the resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto who fought back against the German Nazis in 1944. The Warsaw ghetto was a small section of the city that 400,000 Jews were moved to after the Nazis took over the city and surrounding small towns. The ghetto was the largest in Europe and was surrounded by a 10 ft. high wall and barbed wire. The living conditions were poor, there were food rations and diseases ran rampant. We took the opportunity before our visit to the museum, to explain in very simple terms to Clara and Connor about the devastation of the Holocaust for the Jewish people in Europe. The museum had a lot of displays with reading, so it was a little over the kids heads. However, we did try to simplify some things for them, especially for our 7-year-old, as she could start to understand some of it.
HOWEVER, they did have some interactive elements that the kids enjoyed. There were some bunkers both inside and outside that the kids could climb in and explore, as well as a tank outside. A telegraph display that you could practice sending telegraphs – Clara thought that was pretty fun; and a replica sewer system. We could all walk through that and peek up through the street sewer cover hole at the street, to get a firsthand idea of what resistance soldiers might have experienced (without the horrible smell).
10. Warsaw Zoo
We personally didn’t get the chance to go, but we read several positive things about the Warsaw Zoo and zoos are always a hit for kids. We just decided to save our visit to zoos for other destinations in Poland.
Our time there was definitely slower paced than our traditional visits to cities, but we enjoyed our time there with these Top 10 Fun Activities to do with Young Kids in Warsaw, Poland.
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