The Warsaw that you see today is a city that carries more than its share of historical baggage. After enduring the monstrosities of the Nazi occupation and rising from the ashes of World War II, the city committed itself to meticulous rehabilitation over the next 50 years.

Divided squarely by the waters of the Wisla, current-day Warsaw is a combination of modern, post-war buildings set against an architectural reproduction of the city’s glory before tragedy struck. With the fall of Communism in 1989, and an ensuing economic boom, the city’s skyline has been transformed by rising hotel and office buildings and skyscrapers. Home to such thoroughfares as the Royal Way – arguably one of central Europe’s most handsome boulevards – as well as Gothic churches, nightclubs, war memorials and opera houses, Warsaw is a city that must live in many eras at the same time. Although present-day Warsaw is only a faint reminder of its bygone splendor and glory, you will not go away without feeling overwhelmed by a sense of the city’s history and resilience.