The main tourist centre of Warsaw is the so called 'Royal Route', which runs north-south through the city centre from the Old Town, past the shops of Nowy Swiat, the few palaces that survived the war and the royal gardens of Lazienki Park, before reaching Wilanow Palace to the south of the city centre. The city also boasts many parks where you can sit at outdoor cafés, during the summer.
Other attractions that are of particular interest are St John's Cathedral next door to the Royal Palace, which claims to be the oldest church in the city - although technically it only dates from the end of the war, when it was rebuilt.
Also worth visiting is the National Museum, where you could spend days roaming through the large collection of art and sculpture that is elevated by the presence of a collection of ancient Egyptian art that is unique in Europe.
A rather ghoulish, but nonetheless fascinating museum is housed in the former Pawiak Prison, which was originally built by the Russians in the 1830s to incarcerate insurgents. The Nazis took over the complex during the Second World War and around a third of the 100,000 people held there died. Now a museum, Pawiak Prison is a testament to the spirit of the city of Warsaw.
