THE OLD TOWN

You don't have to know anything about the city's history to enjoy a visit to Warsaw's Old Town. A picturesque cobbled street leads from Castle Square – dominated by the Royal Castle and the towering Zygmunt monument – into the 13th century Market Square where the colourful facades of medieval houses form the backdrop to busy restaurants, cafes, pubs and shops. A statue of a mermaid, the iconic protector of Warsaw, stands in the centre of Market Square; she figures on the city's Coat of Arms and in most tourist photographs, too, as the area is Warsaw's number one tourist attraction. It's easy to let an evening slip by here, having a drink and enjoying the atmosphere. But take the time to follow on to the Barbican, a massive brick rampart with a park-like walk on top. Duck through a covered archway – a shelter for musicians and souvenir sellers – and you pass from the 13th century Old Town to the 15th century “New Town†on the other side. This quarter is quieter and less touristic. Local residents exercise their dogs or enjoy a coffee in one of the lace-curtained cafes on the streets near New Town Square. There are a few gift shops featuring amber from the Baltic Sea. The road leading straight ahead from the Barbican is lined with restaurants, but the best reason for going right to the top of the New Town is to have dinner at Le Regina Hotel. The hotel’s Rotisserie Restaurant serves contemporary and French cuisine with a strong Polish influence at lunch and dinner. Lovely ambience as well. To book a table, telephone: +48 22 531 60 00.

And what if you do know something of Warsaw's history? Then this walk has considerable added resonance. Everything you see – from the cobbled street, to the squares, to the historic houses, to the brick rampart and the 'New Town' beyond – has been rebuilt from paintings and sketches predating World War II. In 1980, UNESCO designated the Old Town as a World Heritage site. In 1944, Warsaw had been reduced to rubble by Hitler's express order. The methodical and terrible revenge was carried out block by block by a German “Destruction Detachment.†The order not to leave a stone upon a stone was Hitler’s personal reprisal for the Warsaw Uprising.

To understand why the city was targeted visit the Museum of the Warsaw Rising. It opened in a disused power station in 2004, the 60th anniversary of the event. A heartstopping interactive exposition, it lets you explore the cause, effect and aftermath of the two months in 1944 when the people of Warsaw tried to wrest their city back from the Nazis. Sound effects put you in the thick of it. There are eyewitness accounts and mock-ups of a resistance printing press and sewer escape routes. The visit ends with a five-minute 3-D film, “The City of Ruin,†a computer-generated “flight†over what was left of Warsaw in 1945. The film is based on the evidence of over 2,000 photos of the devastation.

Outside the building is a wall of photographs and names of the resistants, including those of many children. A monument to the “Little Insurgent†stands by the Barbican wall of the Old Town. It represents a boy in a captured Nazi helmet and represents a 13-year old hero called Antek whose specialty was immobilising robot tanks, and who died fighting in August 1944. Famously, the Russians camped on the other side of the Vistula River, while both the uprising and the reprisal took place. When the Nazis were routed, the Soviets came in on their heels and stayed for the next 44 years. Not until they left could the Rising be commemorated. The Warsaw Rising Museum is open Monday and Wednesday from 08:00-18:00, Thursday from 08:00-20:00, and Saturday and Sunday from 10:00-18:00. Closed on Tuesday. The museum is located in the Wola district at 79 ul. Grzybowska.

Try a meal Comrade-style

Warsaw’s Milk Bars were a Soviet attempt to provide a cheap and nourishing meal to the city’s workers. Heavily subsidised, the prices were low enough that everyone could have one warm meal a day. Originally, they served only dairy-based food (hence “milk barâ€) and the cutlery was chained to the table. Many of these utterly basic canteens have closed down, but the few that have survived offer an authentic glimpse of life under Communism. Expect the atmosphere to be glum and the welcome non-existent, but the portions to be large, surprisingly tasty and cheap. The menu is posted up on a sign near the cashier. If you can’t make sense of it, try pointing to what someone else is having. You pay first, then collect your meal at one hatch and, after you finish, return your used plate through another. There’s a Milk Bar on the New Town side of the Barbican archway. Look for the words, “Bar Mleczny.â€Â