There are records of human settlements and economic activity in the area of what is now Warsaw from the 9th century onwards, but it wasn't until the 13th century that Warsaw was founded by the Dukes of Mazovia. While developing as an administrative and economic centre, it played second fiddle to Płock within Mazovia until the 15th century, and was by no means a match for Poland's former capital, Kraków. It gained growing importance due to its economic might and strategically important central location in Poland, cemented when the Polish Sejm (parliament of nobles) relocated there permanently in the 16th century, and it became the site of royal elections.

In 1596, it became the de facto capital of the country when King Sigismund III Vasa decided to permanently relocate to what is now the Royal Castle in Warsaw. The city started to develop rapidly beyond the what is now the Old and New Town, as noblemen started moving in and building mansions and palaces around town. In the 17th century, Praga, on the right-hand side of the river Vistula, was incorporated as a separate town (and did not become a part of Warsaw until the 19th century).

While ravaged by wars and natural disasters as many other European cities in this period, Warsaw continued to grow and modernize, with baroque residences, including Wilanów being built in the 17th century, and the Saxon kings initiating first large-scale urban planning projects in the early 1700s. The last king of independent Poland, Stanisław August Poniatowski, has further modernized the city following the ideals of Enlightenment in the second half of the 18th century.

At the end of 18th century, the weakened Republic of Poland was partitioned, through a period of forced diplomacy, military actions and uprisings, and Warsaw first fell into the Prussian rule, losing most of its importance. As the French emperor Napoleon marched eastwards with his army, he reestablished a small Polish state known as the Duchy of Warsaw, after its eponymous capital, but it was short-lived and was absorbed by the Russian empire in 1815, after Napoleon's defeat.

Warsaw remained a capital city under the Russian rule, as the Kingdom of Poland was reestablished, although with Russian tsars as hereditary kings and not much political independence. Warsaw was then the westernmost of major cities of the Russian empire and enjoyed economic growth as a commercial and industrial centre. While repeated uprisings and attempts to regain independence failed, Warsaw was still enriched with the creation of many cultural and educational institutions, many surviving to this day.

Warsaw's growth was curbed by a double line of military forts, protecting the strategically important Russian outpost, which by the second half of the 19th century made Warsaw one of the most dense and overpopulated cities of its time. To aid the failing hygiene, the authorities started constructing the pioneering Warsaw waterworks (led by William Lindley), and first district heating and warm water installations were laid.

At the turn of the century, Warsaw was electrified, gaining its first electric power plant, electric tramways, and a telephone network. At the start of the First World War, Warsaw was bustling, modern city of almost 1 million inhabitants, rife with opulent, belle-epoque architecture adapted to its density.

As Poland regained independence, Warsaw became the capital city of an independent country again. It suffered heavily during the war, and was soon threatened by the advancing Soviet forces, who were only repelled at the borders in the 1920 Battle of Warsaw. While political instability and struggles ensued, Poland enjoyed economic growth, optimism and proper attention to planning and urbanism in that period, and Warsaw benefited from that greatly, especially under its last interwar President, Stefan Starzyński.

Warsaw gained a state-of-the-art airport in Okęcie, a central railway through station connecting all major railway links that used to go through or terminate in the city, and an experimental TV broadcasting station. Modern and attractive planned residential districts were created outside of the historic forts line, most notably northwards in Żoliborz and Bielany. Warsaw continued to mix the new and old and many modern buildings filled in gaps between or replaced older buildings across the city, providing for the eclectic look Warsaw for which is known today.

The developments of that time, while later destroyed to a large extent in the Second World War, were instrumental to shaping Warsaw in many ways to how it was known today. Most were either rebuilt verbatim or in a similar form and place, while some survived.

For most of the Second World War, Warsaw was occupied by Nazi Germany, but it did not surrender without major fights that affected the city – over 10% of the buildings were destroyed, with the infrastructure and many other buildings damaged. The German authorities treated Warsaw as expendable and had grand plans of totally rebuilding it as a planned city even before the war, with Germanic and Nazi symbolism replacing all of the Polish heritage. This did not come into fruition, but explained why little heed was paid to preserving the city, which was also periodically bombed by the Soviet forces after 1941.

It was an especially tragic period for the Jewish population of Warsaw, which had been a significant part of the general population over pretty much all of Warsaw's history. The Nazi forces confined Jews to the Warsaw Ghetto, sprawling over much of the Western Śródmieście and the district of Wola, and proceeded with their plans to annihilate them. In 1942 the Germans carried out the Grossaktion Warschau, when more than 250,000 Jewish people were taken to Treblinka death camp. The minority of Jews that stayed in the Ghetto eventually carried out the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943. The uprising failed with around 50 thousand Jews killed or sent to concentration camps.

In the final period of the war, the dramatic and tragic Warsaw Uprising took place in 1944. (The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943 and the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 are entirely separate historic events.) A furious Fuhrer ordered the obliteration of Warsaw and the indiscriminate massacre of all Poles in the city. Despite combat gallantry under limited weapon supply, Polish partisans did not liberate Warsaw from the German forces before the Soviets marched in. The Red Army then captured the crippled and all but razed city, cementing Poland's fate as a communist satellite state of the Soviet Union.

By 1945, Warsaw was almost completely destroyed. It is estimated that over 80% of the city was destroyed, including almost the entire city centre and most historic and significant buildings. Of almost 1.4 million inhabitants, half died during the war (including the vast majority of the Jewish population), others were forcibly removed or escaped voluntarily, and only about 10% of the initial population was found inhabiting the ruins of the city.

To rebuild the city was thus an enormous task, but there was no hesitation in the resolve to achieve it. A special committee of architects and urban planners conducted the efforts. Their paradigms shaped the city as it is known today. On the one hand, there was meticulous effort to restore the oldest and most important historic buildings using extant documentation, but also old photos and even paintings. On the other, the communist ideology ran very much against the character of pre-war Warsaw, and practical reasons and urban planning opportunities dictated planning on a larger scale, envisaging an expansive, much lower-density city.

Most architects and historians held much the late 19th century architecture in low regard and thus many of the historic buildings and areas were rebuilt to resemble their shape in the 18th century or earlier, while ideological and practical reasons limited the restoration of ornamentation to less important buildings, and centralized urban planning provided for a much more harmonious look of the rebuilt historic sections of the city than could be witnessed from before the war. The restoration was mostly completed in the 1940s and early 1950s, but it took until the 1974 to rebuild the Royal Castle. After the Royal Castle, not many other buildings were restored – among notable exceptions are the buildings of the northern side of Plac Teatralny, only recreated in late 1990s.

Apart from historic restoration, in the 1950s Warsaw has also gained a fair share of socialist-realistic architecture, which was all about monumentalism and ideologically-themed decoration. Its most prominent example is the controversial Palace of Culture and Science, which grew to become one of Warsaw's symbols. The emphasis, however, was on housing the returning and rapidly growing population, and thus Warsaw also gained many nondescript, gray residential buildings. As population continued to grow and means were scarce in the centrally-planned socialist economy, the authorities turned to prefabricated concerte, creating sprawling Plattenbau estates around Warsaw.

Since the fall of communism in 1989, Warsaw has been developing much more rapidly than Poland as a whole. It's hard to recognize the city if you saw it ten years ago, and more changes are constantly taking place. Warsaw has long been the easiest place in Poland to find employment, and for this reason many of the Polish inhabitants of the city are first or second generation, originating from all over the country.

Even though much of Warsaw seems to imitate western cities, there are many peculiarities to be found here that you will not find in western capitals. Examples include the communist-era bar mleczny (lit. 'milk bar') that remain in operation (essentially cheap cafeterias for no-frills, working-class traditional Polish dining, which have remained incredibly popular in the face of westernization). Europe's largest outdoor marketplace, once around the old stadium, has disappeared as the new National Stadium was built for the Euro 2012 football championships.

As is the case with most major cities, Warsaw is situated on a river. The Vistula river (Polish: Wisła) crosses the city on a north–south axis, dividing it into two parts. The western part is usually referred to as the left bank (Polish: lewy brzeg adj. lewobrzeżna Warszawa) and the eastern part as the right bank (Polish: prawy brzeg adj. prawobrzeżna Warszawa). Warsaw was founded on the left bank, while the right bank was a separate municipality, called Praga, which was incorporated into Warsaw in the 19th century. Therefore, many would refer to the right bank as "Praga", even if Praga proper is only two districts of the right bank.

Vistula in Warsaw is a broad, sprawling and partly unregulated river, which flooded the surrounding areas often in the past and continues to be somewhat of a threat today. Therefore, Warsaw is not really on the river in the sense many cities like London or Paris are, but rather near to the river, as Vienna is. The historic parts of left-bank Warsaw are a certain distance apart from the river, on an elevation called Warsaw escarpment. The part of left-bank Warsaw closer to the river (and less elevated with regard to it) called Powiśle used to be of secondary importance and stature. The right bank is less elevated and most of the development there is separated from the river by a wide belt of shrubbery and natural beaches, allowing for flooding in periods of high tide. It is therefore visually and physically removed from the left bank.

Ten bridges cross the Vistula within the boundaries of Warsaw. They are, starting from south:

• Anny Jagielonki
• Siekierkowski
• Łazienkowski
• Poniatowskiego
• Średnicowy (railway bridge only)
• Świętokrzyski
• Śląsko-Dąbrowski
• Gdański
• Grota-Roweckiego
• Skłodowskiej-Curie

Warsaw's left bank, or western part of the city is the dominant part, and the part deemed the city centre lies therein.

The right bank was the first one to become populated, during the 9th or 10th century. However, Warsaw's left bank or the western part of the city is the dominant one, and the present city's central district, called Śródmieście lies on the left bank. The Old Town is fully contained within the borders of the city center.

The central point of the city is at the intersection of Al. Jerozolimskie and ul. Marszałkowska, near the entrance to the Metro Centrum subway station. The main railway station, Warszawa Centralna, is also close by. It is good to know that the Palace of Culture is a landmark visible from almost any location in Warsaw. Should you ever get lost in the city, just walk toward the Palace of Culture and Science.

Traditionally, streets parallel with Vistula are numbered along the river current, i.e. the buildings with the lowest numbers are the southernmost. Streets roughly perpendicular to the Vistula are numbered from the river outwards, i.e. the lowest numbers are the closest to the river. One side of the street always has even numbers, while the other has odd ones (so if you are looking for number 8 and you see number 7, look at the opposite side of the street). There are several exceptions to those rules, e.g. the Puławska street in southern Warsaw has building numbers starting from the north, while some housing estates have sprawling areas with buildings sharing the same street name, with building numbers assigned in various ways.

The City Information System (MSI – Miejski System Informacji) can be of further aid to visitors to Warsaw. The MSI divides every district into several neighbourhoods (with informative purposes, no administrative or other role), with the neighbourhoods indicated in red on signage throughout the city. You can find the name of the MSI neighbourhood you are in on the red stripes of the building number and street signs. They are also indicated in red on directional signage, showing the way to get to a given neighbourhood. A rundown of the MSI neighbourhoods and helpful schematic maps can be found here (the website is in Polish, but the schematics are of universal informative value, just click on the district for the rundown of the areas therein)

The districts as such are indicated on signposts with white background, while streets and other POIs with blue background, except for the Old Town and Royal Road areas, where the background is brown and a different font is used to indicate their historic character. The building number signs also often feature a small arrow pointing to the direction the building numbers in a street ascend. Street signs at intersection indicate the building numbers to be found within the block it is in (i.e. until the next intersection). On some signposts you can also find small signs showing the relation of the street they're on to the Vistula.

Other elements that can be of interest to visitors are pylons with neighbourhood maps and transparent boards on historic and significant buildings, which explain briefly their history and significance. Similar boards under street signs explain the origin of the name of the street - in case of streets named after people, they contain a short bio and usually a small portrait. An increasing number of those boards contain descriptions in both Polish and English, while others are in Polish only.

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  Street signs at an intersection indicating building numbers to be found in the nearest block
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  Direction table at a road in Ochota
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  A pylon with the map of the Royal Road
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  A transparent info board on a historic building
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  A fingerpost in the historic area (Old Town / Royal Road)
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  A small sign indicating the street you are in is perpendicular to the Vistula and you are heading away from the river

52.16583320.9672221 Chopin Airport (Lotnisko Chopina w Warszawie, WAW  ^IATA). This was upgraded in 2015 and now has a single Terminal A; it's easy to navigate and has the usual facilities including car hire. It's 8 km south of city centre in Okęcie, Włochy district. It has both budget and full-service flights to most major European cities. Intercontinental destinations are New York JFK and Newark, Chicago O'Hare, Toronto, Seoul, Beijing, Tel Aviv and the Gulf states. Domestic flights are reducing as the trains speed up, but include Poznań, Kraków, Katowice, Rzeszów, Gdańsk and Wrocław. (updated Nov 2021)

To and from Chopin Airport

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By train: Lotnisko Chopina station is next to Arrivals. Szybka Kolej Miejska (SKM) train Line S2 runs downtown every 30 min, taking 25 min via Służewiec, Zachodnia (West) station, Śródmieście station (for Centralna bus and railway stations), Stadion, Wschodnia (East) station and Sulejówek. It runs to the city 06:00-23:30 and outward 05:00-23:30. Line S3 runs downtown hourly through Warszawa Zachodnia (West), Warszawa Centralna and Warszawa Wschodnia (East) to Legionowo Piaski / Radzymin.

Regular Warsaw transport tickets issued by ZTM (the local transport operator which runs city buses, trams and the metro) are valid on SKM train services between the airport and Warsaw. The airport is in fare zone 1 so a single adult ride is 3.40 zł. If you need a bus at the other end, get a one-transfer ticket (valid 75 min) for 4.40 zł. Buy tickets from the machines near the platforms - you shouldn't need to validate them as they're stamped on issue.

Koleje Mazowieckie (Mazovian Railways or KML, the provincial local train operator) also operates direct connections (RL) between Modlin, Warszawa Centralna and Chopin Airport hourly. Single transfer tickets and timed tickets of ZTM are also accepted on RL airport trains operated by KM on the section Warszawa Płudy – Warszawa Lotnisko Chopina.

By bus: Four daytime bus lines and one night bus ply to and from the airport. Single-fare tickets for the bus cost 4.40 zł (as of May 2023) from any kiosk. There is a ticket machine (which accepts coins, notes and credit cards) near the bus stop. You need to validate the ticket when you board the bus. There are also ticket machines in most of the buses, please note that they only accept cards. Drivers do not sell tickets anymore.

- Bus 175 runs from Plac Piłsudskiego near Old Town via Centralna station and Metro Centrum, Nowy Świat and the University. It runs 04:30-23:00 every 20 min and takes 30-45 min.

- Bus 188 runs from Gocławek Wschodni in Praga Południe, via Śródmieście and Politechnika metro station. It runs 05:00-23:00.

- Bus 148 runs from Rondo Wiatraczna in Praga Południe, east side of the city, via Ursynów, Mokotów and Imielin metro station.

- Bus 331 only runs in peak hours from Wilanowska metro station in Mokotów, where many inter-city buses stop.

- Night Bus N32 runs from Centralna bus station, 23:00-05:00.

By taxi: The airport recommends Ele Taxi +48 22 811 11 11; a reasonable fare from city centre might be 40 zł. There's a taxi kiosk within Arrivals. Other operators can only pick you up from outside Departures. Have nothing to do with the touts and sharks lurking outside Arrivals: see Warsaw#Taxis for more info.

52.45111120.6516672 Modlin Airport (WMI  ^IATA). Opened in June 2012, this is in Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, 40 km north of Warsaw. As of 2021, Ryanair is the only operator, with flights from London Stansted, Leeds, Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Dublin, Prague, Paris Beauvais, Barcelona, Bergamo, Bologna, Bari, Cologne, Vienna, Stockholm and Amman. The airport is modern and simple but has the basics. (updated Nov 2021)

In Poland – Białystok 190 km (120 mi); Gdańsk 390 km (240 mi); Kielce 180 km (110 mi); Kraków 290 km (180 mi); Olsztyn 210 km (130 mi); Poznań 310 km (190 mi); Siedlce 100 km (62 mi); Toruń 210 km (130 mi)

In other countries – Berlin (D) 570 km (350 mi); Budapest (H) 700 km (430 mi); Kaliningrad (RU) 350 km (220 mi)

Most international car rental companies (including Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Europcar, Hertz, National, Sixt and Thrifty) are present in Warsaw, there are also many local companies. The usual pick-up and return places are the airport, the Warszawa Centralna railway station or major hotels in the city centre, most companies offer to arrange for pick-up and return at other locations at a fee. The regular caveats and requirements as in other European Union countries apply.

It is a legal requirement for you to carry your driving license, insurance documents and the vehicle registration documents at all times when driving the car. If the police stop you without any of them, they are likely to impose a fine.

Warsaw's metro system opened in 1995 and is one of the newest underground railway systems in Europe. Operated by Metro Warszawskie sp. z o.o. it runs daily from early morning until midnight at 3-10 minute intervals. On Friday and Saturday, the Metro runs until 03:00. Trains and stations are clean and neat. The system consists of two lines; the M1 going from Młociny to Kabaty, and the M2 going from Bemowo to Bródno. The subway does not go to many tourist destinations; however, several stations will take you in a general vicinity of some attractions. The M2 is being extended westwards, new stations are to be opened in 2024.

Szybka Kolej Miejska (SKM) runs on the railway tracks shared with other regional and long-distance trains. SKM trains can be distinguished by their white and ecru livery. SKM reaches many suburban locations outside of the boundaries of Warsaw, as well as the Chopin Airport. SKM stations are quite far from each other, so the trains are best used to traverse longer distances or travel to remote locations within the Warsaw metropolis.

As of 2023 there are four SKM lines and variants of them, most (S1 and S2) stopping at the Warszawa Śródmieście station in the city centre or the Warszawa Centralna (S3), which is connected to the former by an underground passageway. Except for S4, all of the lines share the same stretch route through central Warsaw between Warszawa Zachodnia and Warszawa Wschodnia, connecting the Śródmieście district to Wola, Ochota and Praga, as well as stopping at Warszawa Stadion station, which serves Stadion Narodowy.

• Line S1 runs between Pruszków and Otwock, through Piastów, Ursus, Włochy, Wawer
• Line S2 runs between the Chopin Airport and Sulejówek Miłosna, through Rembertów and Wesoła.
• Line S3 runs between the Chopin Airport and Wieliszew along the same central rail stretch as long-distance trains, stopping at Warszawa Centralna instead of Warszawa Śródmieście and Warszawa Stadion and in Białołęka
• Line S4 runs between Wieliszew and Legionowo Piaski through Białołęka, Praga, Żoliborz and Wola to Warszawa Zachodnia. Then it runs through Ochota, Mokotów, and Ursynów to Piaseczno. It will take you to the Warsaw Zoo. This line does not stop at any station within the core city centre.
• Line S40 is a variant of S4 which starts in Warszawa Glowna. It runs through Warszawa Zachodnia,Ochota, Mokotów, and Ursynów to Piaseczno

Warszawa Śródmieście is beneath Warsaw Centralna station: the only buildings at street level are lobbies for the escalators and lifts. It has trains:

- west to Zachodnia (West) station, Błonie, Sochaczew, Łowicz and Kutno

- southwest to Zachodnia, Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Żyrardów and Skierniewice

- south to Zachodnia, Służewiec and Chopin Airport, with other trains branching at Służewiec for Piaseczno, Warka and Radom

- east to Centralna and Wschodnia (East) stations, Sulejówek, Mińsk Mazowiecki, Mrozy and Siedlce

- on lines S1 and S2 of the city metro. Walk through the subway to Centrum metro station for the other lines.

Warszawa Śródmieście WKD is a separate platform for WKD (Warszawska Kolej Dojazdowa) trains to Grodzisk Mazowiecki via Pruszków, Milanówek and Podkowa Leśna.

Warszawa Gdańska (Metro Dworzec Gdański) is the station for Ciechanów, Działdowo, Mława and Nasielsk.

Warszawa Wileńska on ul. Targowa is the station for Wołomin, Małkinia, Tłuszcz and Zielonka.

Bus route numbers consist of three digits. Only the first digit has any meaning, the latter being merely ordinal. Here's the key to understanding Warsaw bus route numbers:

	Normal	Expedited	Suburban
All-Day Service	1xx and 2xx	5xx	7xx
Certain Hours Only (Usually Peak)	3xx	4xx	8xx

Other than that:

•  Nxx  are night routes.
•  9xx  are special routes.
•  E-x  are express routes, which link the farthest districts to the city centre, call at very few stops and operate during peak hours only.
•  Z-x  are replacement routes for trams or metro disabled by maintenance, accident or some other special conditions
• C-xx are routes which operate only on All Saints' Day (1st November) and All Souls' Day (2nd November) to accommodate people visiting the cemeteries

Most bus lines operate from around 05:00 to 23:00 (but check the schedule for your particular connection), outside of those hours you need to resort to night buses (see below). The running intervals can be as few as 5 minutes (major routes during peak hours) to nearly 2 hours (certain suburban routes). Usually, you will wait 20 minutes at most.

There are a few routes that are of certain interest to tourists:

• 148, 175  and  188  operate to and from the airport.
• 180, this line drives from Chomiczówka, through Powązki Cemetery, POLIN Museum, the Old Town and Castle Square, by the Royal Route to Łazienki Complex and Wilanów. In many parts 180 is covered by 116.

Requesting a stop – certain bus stops are request-only (Polish: na żądanie):

• If you want to get off, press the stop (red) button. In certain older buses, the button is above the door (and may not be red).
• If you want to get on a bus, wave your hand when you see the bus approaching to indicate your intention to the driver

The doors will not open automatically in air-conditioned buses and trams, and in all of them in the winter. To open it, locate the button labelled drzwi (blue) and press it.

Not all bus stops that have "Centrum" in their name are in the city center. For example, there is a bus route 525 that goes from Centrum (the actual city center) to Centrum Zdrowia Dziecka in Wawer. This is always clear from the route map.

In the night when regular buses, trams, the metro and SKM do not run, a system of night bus lines will take you basically to every part of city. Most buses start and finish at the back of Central Railway Station (Dworzec Centralny). All buses operate at 30-minute intervals and depart from their central stop at Dw. Centralny 15 and 45 minutes after the hour, which facilitates changing. For a map of all the night bus lines visit ZTM. Lines operate from different stops within the Dworzec Centralny area – consult the schematic at the bottom of the map to make sure you are waiting at the right stop.

All night bus stops (except for Dw. Centralny and Centrum) are request stops. Signal well in advance to give the bus drivers time to slow down and pull up at the stop.

Trams in Warsaw have the obvious appeal to tourists in that it is easier to predict where they are going – they usually go straight ahead and only rarely turn, as there are not many tramway junctions in Warsaw. The trams will also have the speed advantage over buses in the city centre during rush hours.

Tram lines have single- and double-digit numbers. Trams with numbers above 40 operate in certain times only. The tram services can end as early as at 22:00, but most routes are served until midnight.

Between June and August, a special tourist line T is operated using historic cars from pl. Narutowicza .

Public transportation tickets are issued and controlled by the single Public Transport Authority of Warsaw (Polish: Zarząd Transportu Miejskiego or ZTM) and are valid for all city buses, trams, the metro and SKM. Some tickets are also valid in the suburban trains (Koleje Mazowieckie' and WKD).

Where to buy?

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Tickets can be purchased in automated ticket machines that are abundant across the city, especially at major transit hubs. They are either red and gray or blue and yellow, and rather conspicuous, even if they can be mistaken for an ATM or vice-versa. There are such machines at every metro station and at railway stations within the city centre, as well as at some of the more busy bus stops (e.g. at the Warsaw Chopin Airport). The ticket machines have a multi-lingual menu and are pretty easy to operate if you know what ticket type you want to buy. They accept credit and debit cards, as well as Polish zloty coins and bank notes. Some machines can be quite slow, so take your time and be patient for the machine to respond to your query.

ZTM has a network of service points where you can also purchase tickets. Those are the only places where you can have your personal travelcard made, which you would need if you intend to use a 30- or 90-day ticket.

Many kiosks, shops and post offices also have tickets on sale – it is indicated by a sticker saying Sprzedaż biletów ZTM. Shops and kiosks surrounding the major transit hubs often do not sell tickets if there are ticket machines nearby.

In almost all buses, trams and SKM trains, there are ticket machines which can sell you tickets for the ride on that particular vehicle. They are different from other ticket types in that they have a printed QR code, and that they do not require validation. In case of ticket machine failure, you can purchase your ticket from the train attendant on board the SKM train. In case there is no ticket machine in the vehicle, or it is inoperable, people are not allowed to ride that vehicle and in case of control a fine may be given. On-board ticket machines do not accept cash payments; it is possible to pay with a credit card or via the BLIK system.

A more convenient alternative to traditional tickets are digital tickets one can obtain through three officially-supported mobile phone apps: SkyCash, MoBilet or mPay.

You can find more information on purchasing tickets and ticket sale locations at the WTP's English-language website. A point of sale locator map] is also available there.

There is a paid-parking zone in the center of the city. This applies M-F 08:00—18:00. Parking costs 3.00 zł for the first hour. Subsequent hours cost more although there is no hour limit. 0.60 zł is the minimum payment. You can pay with coins (10 groszy upwards and you will be given the exact time you have paid for after you have paid the minimum charge) or with the Warsaw City Card (not the tourist card). From 2015 the old parking machines have been systematically replaced by the new ones, which no longer accept payment with Warsaw City Card. They do however accept payment with major credit cards. The parking ticket should be left under the windscreen for inspection.

Parking fees can also be paid with mobile phone apps such as moBILET and SkyCash. In that case the driver should leave a special sticker with the name of the app under the windscreen, but a handwritten note is also accepted.

The maximum base fare (taryfa 1) is 3.00 zł/km and applies to journeys within the city (zone 1) on weekdays. The cheapest companies charge between 1.40 zł/km and 2.00 zł/km. Taxi drivers can charge 150% of the base fare (taryfa 2) at night or on weekends and public holidays, and 200% of the base fare (taryfa 3) for journeys into the suburbs. Watch out for blue rectangular signs saying taxi 2 strefa (Taxi Zone 2), they can charge 300% of the base fare (taryfa 4) at night and in the suburbs or on weekends and public holidays).

In addition, they can also charge you 8 zł initial fee (closing the door), 40 zł an hour for waiting for you if you are not in the first zone, and for getting back to the boundary of the first zone if you left in zone 2. There are no surcharges for additional passengers (normally up to 4 should fit), or for luggage.

They cannot charge you for anything else. There is no obligation or custom of tipping the drivers. The driver is required by law to give you a receipt. The full route must be written on the receipt. If the route was suboptimal, the fare can then be challenged. Call the City Guard (Polish: Straż Miejska) at 986 or +48 (22) 986 from a mobile phone should there be any problems.

The aforementioned prices apply only to registered taxis. Others (non-taxi carriers) may charge you whatever they feel like, so they are best avoided.

Uber fares in Warsaw (as of May 2016) are 5 zł for closing the door, plus 0.20 zł per minute, plus 1.40 zł per kilometre.

A legal taxi will have its number displayed on the front door under the window (black digits on white), on a TAXI sign (not TAX1 or TAKI), on a sticker with the base fare displayed on the passenger (rear) door window, and on the driver's ID card visible inside the cab. All taxi meter fares are in zł not in euro, even though some drivers will accept payment in euro. In this case he or she will convert the meter fare to euro and most likely round it up to the nearest €5 (to avoid payment with coins, which are harder to exchange). So, if the meter shows "40.0" and you are asked to pay €10 – that's ok, but if the drivers tries to charge you €40, saying that the meter fare is in euro – you are certainly being ripped off.

Free wi-fi is widespread in Warsaw. Municipal hot-spots (freewifi.waw.pl) are free of charge and available in over 150 localities throughout the city. Those include the Old Town, most of public parks, major city squares, the vicinity of most public buildings and museums. They are all marked by blue or purple "HOT SPOT UM-Warszawa" plaques hanging on street lamps. It is also available in over 300 city buses and some tramways (marked with a white and blue wi-fi icon at the doors).

Most restaurants and cafes also offer access to free wi-fi. The networks are usually either open, or require a password (usually available at the bar) or accepting the regulations (usually in Polish).

Internet cafés (Polish: kawiarenka internetowa) are rare in Warsaw.

• Tourist Information Center (Palace of Culture and Science Building, just opposite the Central Train Station). You can use the computers with Internet for 30 minutes for free. 
• Arena, Booth 2001D, Centrum metro station building (500m north from Central Train Station at ul. Marszałkowska, across hotel Novotel), ☏ +48 22 620 80 32. 07:00-00:00. Over 20 machines. 5 zł/hour, pay as you go. 
• Cafe Net, Booth 2010C, Centrum metro station building (500 m north from Central Train Station at ul. Marszałkowska, across hotel Novotel). 07:00-00:00. Over 20 machines. 6 zł/hour, prepay. 
• Verso, Freta 17 (Stare Miasto – Old Town). Photo and printing shop in which there are 3 computers for public Internet access. 5 zł/hour; 1 zł/5 minutes.