3 nights and 3 days in Warsaw for under £140

In October 2018, we travelled to Warsaw, Poland. We each spent just under £140 including flights, accommodation, transportation, spending money and everything else.

Day 1:

We took a National Express coach to Stansted airport from London Golders Green. We bought a flexible return ticket via Ryanair (£14.40 return p.p).

Our 10:30 flight was delayed by 8 hours+ and we finally took off at around 19:00. Ryanair’s compensation process was surprisingly straightforward (we were each given €250).

We arrived at Warsaw Modlin airport at around 22:00 local time. From the airport, it is just under an hour to the city centre by Modlin/OK bus. The ticket counter is just by the exit and easy to find, 35PLN to the Palace of Culture and Science. Due to our delay, Modlin/OK bus was running extra buses that evening.

We reached the Palace of Culture and Science at around 23:30. From there, we walked for about 15minutes to our airbnb on Nowy Swiat.

Our airbnb was a small, but welcoming warm room. In the kitchen, there were a selection of teas, some chocolates and noodle soups. At times like these, a good airbnb really wins out over budget hotels.

Day 2:

We left our airbnb on busy Nowy Swiat and were immediately sidetracked by a bakery. We had a cheese pastry and a chocolate and banana pastry. 10PLN each, but they were very large and most importantly really tasty.

We walked to the famous old town, walked around a bit, and had beer at Maryensztadt Craft Beer and Food. They had 16 different kinds of beer on tap, all made on the premises. Good beer and friendly service.

We then bought a 72 hours city transport ticket from a machine (36PLN). We took a tram and crossed the bridge over to Praga, had lunch at Rusałka milk bar before we proceeded on our tram journey to Soho Factory.

I felt that Soho Factory had the potential to become quite an interesting and arty area, but nothing was really going on when we went. We then continued our tram journey in Praga.

We had hot chocolate at E. Wedel Chocolate cafe.

Afters, we went to a supermarket.

We then went to a bar called Skład Butelek. This is a place I would definitely go back to when we are in Warsaw again. I actually wrote an individual blog post about this place.

We took a tram and bus and went back to Nowy Swiat, then had dinner (it was already around 11PM) at Kebab King. The falafel sandwich (11PLN) came with Polish bread which actually made sense and was tasty. It was also huge! C had a shawarma sandwich (13PLN).

Day 3:

We visited Holy Cross Church where Frederic Chopin’s heart is buried.

We had a popular Polish street food called zapiekanka. It is basically an open grilled sandwich with melted cheese and typically served with ketchup. As a topping, we chose mushroom. It was 50cm long, 10PLN, and really tasty!

The Museum of Warsaw is conveniently located in the old town market square and admission is free on Thursdays. It is an excellent place to learn about the history and culture of Warsaw and there are so many things to see, artefacts, paintings, sculptures etc…

We then took a bus to Lazienki park.

We had early dinner at a milkbar called Prasowy. We had so much food: pierogi, potato pancakes, soup etc… and the total bill came to under 43PLN.

After the big meal, we went back to our airbnb for a short tea break before heading back outside for a mini pub crawl. The location of our airbnb was just perfect, we were literally a couple of minutes walk away from all the bar action on Nowy Swiat.

We started our night with Bar Ulubiona, truly a hole in the wall place with no signs outside – only the door. A tiny, but friendly and cozy place where vodka shots start from 2 PLN.

We then moved onto Pijalnia Wodki I Piwa, a very casual place with the atmosphere of an American diner rather than a bar. Many jolly customers talking and laughing. We had beer and vodka shot for 4.5PLN each.

We went to the Pawilony zone, saw ROA’s sleeping bears and walked around a bit.

Finally we went to Pijana Wisnia and had their really tasty cherry liquor (100ml = 9PLN). The décor is very unique and definitely worth a visit.

Day 4:

We had pretty much a full day as our return flight to London was at 10PM. Our airbnb owner was so generous and allowed us to use the apartment until 6PM that day. Thanks to the kind airbnb owner, we had a nice relaxing start of our last day without being rushed.

We bought and sampled a couple of pastries whilst waiting at the bus stop, paid 4.65PLN for both. Breads and pastries are really good in Poland.

We went to Warsaw Rising Museum. Admission is 25PLN, but free on Sundays. A very well presented and informative museum, also inspirational and moving. A must visit place.

We had lunch at a milk bar called Familijny on Nowy Swiat. C had a tripe soup, a cabbage roll with meat inside and kefir (a yogurt drink). I had a beetroot soup with beans and pancakes with egg. Our total bill came to around 23PLN. C really enjoyed his soup. I was really happy with my food also.

As the milk bar was practically the opposite to our airbnb, we decided to already pack rather than leaving till the last minute. We went back to our apartment, had a cup of tea, packed and tidied the place and checked out.

We then ‘bused around’ the city of Warsaw a little bit. We just sat by the window and watched the world go by.

We had a booking for 19:00 Modlin/OK bus to Modlin airport and arrived at the Palace of Culture and Science at around 18:00. We went to Green Caffe Nero inside the Palace of Culture and Science and relaxed with some coffee and a shortbread until it was time for our bus.

We had 5PLN in cash left in our wallet, so bought some snacks from a small shop inside the Palace of Culture.

Our bus left on time and the journey took around 50 minutes. This time there was no delay with our flight and we arrived at London Stansted at around 11PM. The passport control took longer than usual, but catching the National Express coach to North London afterwards was quick and smooth as we had an open ticket.