Today Warsaw is a city with many faces where tradition intermingles with modernity. From the terrace on Zamkowy Square, where the Royal Castle and St. Anne's Church are located, is a view of the new Świętokrzyski Bridge. The dominating silhouette of the city centre belongs to the Palace of Culture and Science, which today shares the city skyline with numerous office towers. You can feel the breath of history in the Old Town, on Nowy Świat Street and everywhere where the city's roots have been preserved.

Zamkowy Square, containing Sigismund's Column, is the most prominent feature of the Old Town. The 15th-century Gothic St. John's Cathedral stands on narrow Świętojańska Street. Its crypt houses the sarcophaguses of the princes of Mazovia and the tombs of many famous Poles. The cathedral is the summertime venue of the International Festival of Organ Music. Świętojańska Street leads into the Old Town Square, with its colorful, narrow-fronted tenement houses. The Old Town's history dates back to the early 14th century. Due to the amazing reconstruction that followed the destruction of World War II, the Old Town was included on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1980.

The Old Town's charming little streets and alleys are home to numerous galleries, cafés and restaurants. In the Old Town Square, which becomes a busy open-air gallery in the summer, painters sell landscapes, panoramas of Warsaw and portraits of passersby. Also on the square is the Warsaw History Museum, which presents the history of the city. Jazz concerts are held here in summer on Saturday nights and horse-drawn carriages are available for visitors.

Beyond the Barbican, the gate that sealed the old defensive walls of the Old Town, Freta Street leads to the New Town, founded in the early 15th century. The New Town Square is dominated by the Church of the Nuns of the Order of the Holy Sacrament. It is not far from here to the Baroque Church of the Franciscan Order and Warsaw's oldest church, the Church of the Virgin Mary.

The majestic Royal Castle was expanded during the reign of Poland's last king, Stanisław August Poniatowski. Great academics, prominent architects and painters worked here, including the painters Marcello Bacciarelli and Canaletto. The Canaletto Room houses 18th-century panoramas of Warsaw painted by the famous Italian artist.

Walking along the Royal Route:

Zamkowy Square is the starting point of the former Royal Route, which runs south to Wilanów Palace. On the embankment above the Vistula River stands St. Anne's Church, founded in the 15th century by Princess Anna of Mazovia, with Rococo and Classicist wall paintings and a large faćade. The view from the church tower includes Mariensztat, an autonomous part of the city in the 18th century with its own law and town hall. Nearby is the Polonia House, which was once the Museum of Industry and Trade, where Maria Skłodowska-Curie worked before she left for France. Curie went on to discover radium and polonium, for which she was awarded with the Nobel Prize.

On the same side of Krakowskie Przedmieście Street stands Radziwiłł Palace, which today is the residence of the president of Poland. A little further down the street, on the Warsaw University campus, is Kazimierzowski Palace, which was originally the summer residence of King Ladislaus IV and later home to the Knights' School, where Tadeusz Kościuszko was a student. Opposite the university, in the annex of Czapski Palace, is the parlor of Frédéric Chopin's parents. Today the palace houses the Academy of Fine Arts.

A number of elegant stores and restaurants are located on Nowy Świat Street, an extension of Krakowskie Przedmieście Street. Charles de Gaulle feasted on delicious pączki (doughnuts) from the Blikle bakery when he was in Poland with a French military mission after World War I. Beyond Trzech Krzyży Square are Ujazdowskie Avenue and adjacent park areas. The Botanical Gardens and Royal Łazienki Park, a magnificent palace-and-park complex founded by King Stanisław August Poniatowski, create a true oasis of green in the city centre. The Old Orangery preserves Europe's only 18th-century court theatre with original fittings and beautiful wall paintings. There is also a sculpture gallery.

The Royal Route ends in Wilanów, where King Jan III Sobieski established his residence. The Baroque palace, surrounded by a historical park, has retained part of its collections and original organisation. The Poster Museum, located on the palace grounds, features the work of great contemporary Polish artists.

Warsaw has plenty to offer music lovers. Events held here include the Mozart Festival, the Jazz Jamboree International Festival and the Warsaw Autumn International Festival of Contemporary Music. Every five years, fans of Chopin's music gather here for the International Chopin Competition. In the summer, Chopin's music can be heard every Sunday at the Chopin monument in Royal Łazienki Park.

The National Museum houses a rich collection of Polish and foreign art. One of the collection's prize items are valuable frescos from Farras in Sudan, discovered by Polish archeologists.

A stay in Warsaw need not be limited to visits to its historical sites. It is not far from Wilanów to Konstancin, famous for its exquisite residences and spa, where therapeutic brine-saturated air helps cure patients suffering from pulmonary tract diseases. There are several forests and nature reserves within Warsaw's boundaries and on the edge of the city stands Kampinoski National Park.

It's worth visiting Chopin's birthplace, now a museum, in Żelazowa Wola, where concerts are held in the summer. Nearby Nieborów is home to the impressive residence of the Radziwiłł magnate family, surrounded by a picturesque park. Today the palace houses a museum. Just 5 km away is the beautiful scenic park of Arkadia.

Those seeking traces of the Vienna Secession style should go to nearby Łódź, where the architectural arrangement of the 19th-century city as well as historic industrial architecture have been preserved.