ET Leave Home, a monthly travel recommendation

For January, Warsaw

Paid subscribers get two extra issues a month. New this year, one of those is ET Leave Home. Each month, I’ll give you a list of recommendations for a different city. We’re kicking things off in Warsaw.

I was supposed to be in Warsaw this week for book research. That was my original plan, anyway. I then decided that it would make more sense to go at the beginning of the book research/writing process and not to Poland at the height of winter, and so went back in July. But it’s snowing in DC today and the little calendar reminder I forgot to delete for the flight I ended up moving went off a few days ago so here are some thoughts on the city and things you should do there.

I’ll say up front that I love Warsaw. I’ve been twice — once in 2017 and once in 2024, each time for about a week — and both times was struck by how much there is to sink your teeth into in the city. And while you shouldn’t go expecting beauty in the Old European sense since so much of it was destroyed in the war and had to be rebuilt, I think it’s also very beautiful all the same.

Anyway! Without further ado, here are some things to see and places to eat that might help you see the beauty, too.