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Warsaw: Off the Beaten Path (regular city tour)

28 reviews

Warsaw: Off the Beaten Path (regular city tour)

from USD $56.56

A fascinating trip for people who are in Warsaw for the first or third time and they need something more than a regular tour! This trip is for visitors who enjoy places away from the main tourist routes! We will take a look at the cities less known places, visit both banks of the Vistula river and discover many faces of the Polish capital city. We will ride a retro Polish Nysa 522 minivan.

We will surprise our guests with little-known anecdotes about the history of the city and Poland. The companion of your adventure will be a professional and a little twisted local guide.

BOOK WITH CONFIDENCE: As members of ABTA and ATAS we are 100% financially bonded. You can book your day trip with us in absolute confidence, no matter where in the world you are.

Due to the impacts of COVID-19, we are currently not taking new bookings for day tours.

In Brief

Location:

Warsaw, Poland

Country:

Poland

Duration:

4 hours

Operates:

Daily

We do not operate on:
24, 25, 26 December 2016
1 January 2017
16, 17 April 2017
24, 25, 26 December 2017

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Grzybowski Square, Warsaw Poland

We will start on Grzybowski Square, which is the epicenter of capital contrasts - from pre-war buildings, through relics of communism, to modern skyscrapers of the future.

Duration: 35 minutes

Pass By: Palace of Culture and Science, Plac Defilad 1, Warsaw 00-110 Poland

Short information about history of communim time.

Pass By: Warsaw Institute of Technology, ul. plac Politechniki 1, Warsaw 00-661 Poland

Short information about Warsaw University of Technology.

Pass By: Copernicus Science Centre, Wybrzeze Kosciuszkowskie 20, Warsaw 00-390 Poland

The River Vistula will reveal its secrets - after all it is the queen of Polish rivers.

Stop At: Praga Polnoc, ul.Zabkowska, Warsaw Poland

We will discover the secrets of Warsaw courtyards, look at the gates to feel the breeze of another city, slightly hidden from the eyes of onlookers. We will get to know the places where Varsovians meet, we will see where hipsters and nature enthusiasts go to.

Duration: 50 minutes

Stop At: Bar Ząbkowski, Ząbkowska 2, 03-735 Warszawa, Poland

We will touch the buildings that survived the war and we will stop for refreshments at the local bar.

Duration: 40 minutes

Pass By: Plac Konstytucji, plac Konstytucji, Warsaw 00-001 Poland

Short information about utopian architectural ideas of the communist authorities.

Inclusions

real local guide
incredible stories about unknown and non-touristic places in Warsaw
transportation by retro van
pick up and drop off
tasting of polish traditional cuisine in local bar
Entry/Admission - Bar Ząbkowski

Exclusions

Gratuities

Departure Time

10:00 AM

Departure Point

Traveler pickup is offered
Pick up / drop off from meeting points:
• meeting point – city center of Warsaw – Hard Rock Café (under the guitar) – Złota 59, Warszawa
• meeting point – the Old Town – under the Sigmund Column on the Castle Square – plac Zamkowy, Warszawa

Pick up / drop off from hotels:

Pick up and drop off possible only for centrally located hotels in Warsaw. If your hotel is not in the city center please chose option “meeting point”.

Hotels list:
• Bellotto Hotel - Warsaw
• Bristol Hotel, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Warsaw
• Campanile Hotel - Warsaw
• Gromada Hotel - Warsaw
• H15 Boutique Hotel - Warsaw
• Hampton by Hilton Warsaw City Centre
• Hilton Warsaw Hotel and Convention Centre
• Holiday Inn Warsaw City Centre
• Indigo Hotel Warsaw Nowy Świat
• InterContinental - Warsaw
• Leonardo Royal Hotel Warsaw
• Mamaison Residence Diana Warsaw
• Mercure Centrum - Warsaw
• Mercure Grand - Warsaw
• Metropol Hotel - Warsaw
• Novotel Centrum - Warsaw
• Platinum Towers - Warsaw
• Polonia Palace Hotel - Warsaw
• PURO Hotel Warszawa Centrum
• Radisson Blu Centrum Hotel - Warsaw
• Radisson Blu Sobieski - Warsaw
• Raffles Europejski - Warsaw
• Residence Hotel St. Andrew's Palace - Warsaw
• Rialto Hotel - Warsaw
• Sheraton Warsaw Hotel
• Sofitel Warsaw Victoria
• Westin Warsaw

Additional Information

Confirmation will be received at time of booking, unless booked within 1 day of travel. In this case confirmation will be received as soon as possible, subject to availability
Our retro minivans Nysa 522 have not got air conditioning. They have heating system for wintertime.
Our vintage vans h Nysa 522 have not got seatbelts (which is legal with classic vintage cars).
Please wear comfortable clothes because during the tour are short walks.
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Infants must sit on laps
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 13 travelers

Booking Information

You can present either a paper or an electronic voucher for this activity.

Cancellation Terms

This trip is fully refundable up to 96 hours prior to the commencement of your trip.

Booking Terms and Conditions

When you book this trip, you need to read and accept the terms and conditions for booking our day trips in excursions.

Hotel Pickup

When you book, we will ask you to select a hotel to be picked up from. Once your booking is confirmed, we'll send you a confirmation voucher with full contact information (phone number, email address) for our local operator in case you need to update or change your hotel pick-up details.

Here are answers to some commonly asked questions about hotel pickup:

What if my hotel is not listed?
That's okay. When you book you can select an hotel from our list and make your way there on the day of departure; or you can contact our local operator directly to make alternate pick-up arrangements.

What if I have not yet booked a hotel?
Once your hotel arrangements are finalised, you can contact our local operator directly with your hotel details.

What if I live locally, am staying with friends or relatives, and/or don't require pick-up?
Once your booking is confirmed, we'll send you complete details and directions to the tour/activity departure point.

Scoring an average traveller rating of 4.79 out of 5 based on the last 24 recent reviews

“

We’ve been to Warsaw before and enjoyed this excursion, because it took us to new places. Theses were destinations That we would have otherwise not have known about or gone to. Our tour guide, Arturs was awesome!”

Edward K • Submitted 23 Dec 2019

“

Excellent Adventure by Retro 1950's soviet minibus. The Driver/guide knew the history of the City as he had grown up in the change from Peoples Poland to the Capalist system. There were about a dozen of us in two of these Retro Classics. We stoped for lunch (included in the price) at a real Polish Cafe where we had a Mezze of Tradional Polish dishes to try. This day was very wet and the Van had enough umberellas for all of us.”

Robert P • Submitted 10 Jul 2018

“

This was one of the best tours Ive ever done anywhere. Our guide, Magda, was exceptional. We came away with a superb feel for Warsaw and its history”

Erwin V • Submitted 09 May 2018

“

Excelente tour, the guide was very explicit and profesional, he love his job, he take his time in every exposition”

jose • Submitted 01 Jan 2018

“

Highly recommend. The van wasn't ideal comfort-wise, but our guide Artur more than made up for it.”

julie5220 • Submitted 10 Oct 2017

“

Very interesting tour where you get a good impression of how Warsaw was during the second world war, and the communist era, as well as what is happening to Warsaw at present. Our guide Mariuz was excellent. We also saw the parts of Warsaw, i.e. Praga, which is away from the beaten path. This trip did not overlap with the normal guided tour of Warsaw that covers the normal tourist areas such as the old town and parks. It is, therefore, a tour that one should do in addition to the other. The bus was rather uncomfortable. A more modern bus would have been nice on such a hot day. However, the tour would certainly have lost some of its charm without the old communist era buss.”

Vernon B • Submitted 07 Aug 2017

“

This was one our most favorite parts of our trip to Poland! Our teenage boys saw it as the highlight. The tour was entertaining and informative and gave an excellent overview of 20th century history of Warsaw.”

LARRY K • Submitted 26 Jun 2017

“

Well worth and time! Thanks Martin you showed us so much we never would have found....only someone with a love for history could do this job so well!”

Harold C • Submitted 15 May 2017

“

The tour by Nysa van was an amazing experience! It would have taken many history lessons in school to learn as much about Polish culture and recent history as we did on this tour. The Nysa van provided a nice historic setting while the places we visited still breathed the atmosphere of the pre-war, wartime and communist Warsaw. The typical Polish meal in the milk bar was very satisfying as well. But most important was the great way of story telling bij Łukasz, our guide. He explained every episode very vivid, with a mix of facts and personal stories. It all came to life! And however the history of Warsaw has some very dark passages, Łukasz is able to tell them form the perspective of a pride Polish citizen. And beside the sometimes tragic stories, polish self-reflective humor keeps this country going. That's what we will remember from this tour!”

Peter G • Submitted 04 May 2017

“

I am not normally one for leaving reviews unless I have had an issue which I think the next traveller should be aware of, or my expectations have been exceeded and this is certainly one of them. As a party of 5 UK tourist, I originally booked the Historic Warsaw van tour as a fill gap on our 2-day city break. Not knowing much about Warsaw apart from the mainstream information you read before setting off, this was a great insight into the whole history of Poland and Warsaw back to pre-Christianity onwards. Our tour guide was Lucaz who drove us around in Miss Piggy the Pink Nysa van which was great fun and added to the whole experience of the day for entertainment. Lucaz was the politest and most enthusiastic tour guide I have yet met and is a credit to the company he works for. His English was fantastic, knowledge of history, locations and random facts both interesting and entertaining keeping us engaged throughout. We had numerous stops jumping out the van where Lucaz would give detailed facts about our surroundings engaging all participants with questions and quizzes which again was amusing. Three quarters of the way through, we stopped off at a milk bar for authentic Polish cuisine included in the price which was actually very nice food while we sat in a busy place full of locals always my first rule, eat where the locals eat. The last stop was the small but definitely a worthwhile visit to the Museum of Life under Communism showing interesting pieces from this period in time, followed by a little treat. This was one of the highlights of our trip and I would recommend this tour to anyone who has a spare 4 hours and if you are lucky you may get Lucaz to guide you around this amazing city.”

jasonpchughes • Submitted 11 Dec 2016

“

This was an excellent tour which I would highly recommend. What made it so enjoyable was our guide Lukasz he was very friendly, funny and extremely knowledgeable about the history of Warsaw. The meal that we had in the Milk Bar was also outstanding and a good introduction to the local cuisine.”

Jane H • Submitted 03 Nov 2016

“

This was a fun tour with a very colourful and informative guide Lucas.”

Chris W • Submitted 04 Oct 2016

“

Superb tour with a very competent guide.”

Leif Z • Submitted 12 Jul 2016

“

What fun!! Great guide and sense of humour. Perfect tour to get a feel of the place and its history.”

Delwyn N • Submitted 04 Jul 2016

“

Fantastic informativ tour. To be highly recommended.”

FCP • Submitted 03 Jul 2016

“

It was a great way to get started in Warsaw!!! The meal was good and I loved the communist van!!!”

Donald Don B • Submitted 20 Jun 2016

“

We were very happy! We had the best guide Lukasz. If not, the tour was limited, we believe he would babbled yet ..... hahahahah! BEST EVER !!!! We were two Swedish couple and a very nice French couple who experienced communist Warsaw tour together. We warmely recomended this!!!! And ask for LUKASZ. Thanx from family Svensson and Jansson”

Jeanette S • Submitted 08 May 2016

“

I Loved it, what more can i say? I learnt so much from our wonderful tour guide Maja, who spoke perfect English. We visited lots of places we never would have thought to have gone to alone. I enjoyed trying the Polish food at the milk bar - but i wasn't so keen on the cherry vodka, it tasted like medicine! Luckily the communist lemonade was far more palatable! So much better than a standard coach trip! It was lovely to actually be able to ask a Polish person questions rather than just being told the standard old coach trip rubbish! I love an old vehicle, so this was the perfect trip for me....maybe not so good if you get car sick or are particularly sensitive to fumes!”

Gaynor L • Submitted 05 May 2016

“

Highly Recommended!”

Rohan K • Submitted 08 Mar 2016

“

Lukas was very knowledgeable and entertained us throughout the journey. Had a good time.”

Noorhimli A • Submitted 04 Sep 2017

“

Interesting tour, a lot of information and our guide Łukasz weren't, at any time, boring.”

Hans L • Submitted 23 Jun 2017

“

Really spiritual guide, nice chauffeur, charming bus! There is just so much you have time for in a few hours, but didn't feel I got a total grip of the city. What we did see, however, was really interesting and guiding taught us a lot about Poland, Polish people and their history - tough history. Interesting stories behind different buildings and lunch at a really genuine Polish small restaurant, which allowed you to taste several really typical dishes. In all, we considered our decision to make the tour, a really good one!”

Ellen K • Submitted 08 Jun 2017

“

Mariusz was our fantastic guide on this tour sharing his knowledge in a really entertaining way. The little pink bus was cute, noisy, and fun. It takes 7 passengers but there was 8 so he arranged for a backup bus to take some of us. He took us to places we wouldn't ever have got to including a milk bar where the locals eat. We don't normally like tours which are touristy. This one certainly wasn't. Hearing how Poland coped during Communist rule is an eye opener. I'd really recommend this tour even if it's the only thing you have time for in Warsaw. Katy, Queensland, Australia”

Katy • Submitted 06 Jun 2017

“

Very informative and fun tour. Our guide, Art, was very knowledgeable and cognizant of our needs. A great tour to start your stay in Warsaw.”

Joseph H • Submitted 23 Jan 2016