Jewish Warsaw Free Walking Tour

Duration: 2h and 30min
Languages: English, Spanish
Quality Verified Registered on July 05, 2017

We are Walkative! Our goal is to promote our cities across Poland, Germany, France, Ukraine and Israel and cooperate in promoting our partners across all of Europe - no matter what your budget is! Since 2007 we have guided more than 3 million people. We provide tours in English, Spanish, Polish and German mostly.

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  • Free booking and cancellation
    Free payment tour, no set price, booking and cancellation are free

Tour description

Before the Second World War, Warsaw was a city with the biggest Jewish community in Europe. The only other city with a Jewish community of similar size was… New York! The story of Jewish Warsaw is a story of stubborn returns. For many years, even centuries, Jews were banned from the city. However, that did not stop them from participating in city life – during good times and bad. Jews joined Varsovians in their struggles against occupying powers, and they played an active part in the Polish uprisings. The city experienced a major influx of Jews in the 19th and 20th centuries. During the Interwar Period, Jewish Warsaw flourished. Hundreds of artists, actors, writers, and journalists called the city home. Its cultural life was incomparable to any other time and place in history. Realizing what Warsaw was helps us understand the tremendous loss.

The Second World War and Holocaust left the city changed forever. The wounds and scars will never heal. But, alongside stories of destruction, there are stories of the unimaginable bravery of those who fought without hope. There are also stories of the present; stories of rebirth… Let’s get back first to the past. This city was once famous for its Jewish culture. There are many people whose names history will never forget and Varsovians will always be proud of: Ludwig Zamenhoff, the inventor of Esperanto; Isaac Bashevis Singer (born Icchok Baszewis Singer), who won the Nobel Prize for literature are just two examples.

The stories of the Warsaw Ghetto and the Uprising there, and of people like Janusz Korczak and Mordechai Anielewicz will leave you trembling. While the story of Oskar Schindler’s rescue of over a thousand Kraków Jews has become internationally famous with the release of the film Schindler’s List, a much less well-known story is that of Warsaw resident Irena Sendler, who actually saved more Jews than Schindler did. Her story is depicted in The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler. Last, but not least, it is worth mentioning one more person made famous by a Hollywood film: Władysław Szpilman, better known as The Pianist from Roman Polański’s film. But there is more to Jewish Warsaw than the past. There is also the here and now – the living Jewish community with a synagogue, kindergarten, school, and the only regularly functioning Yiddish theatre in the world: the Ester Rachela Kamińska Jewish Theatre. 

To discover all of this, just come and join us at the meeting point and be ready for journey through times and emotions!

ℹ️ ⚠️ ATTENTION - booking rules

Please note that our free tours are designed for individual travelers and small private groups only. Hence, we do not accept parties of 8 or more people on regular free tours and guides have the right to deny participation to such groups. If you travel in a party of 8 or more please book a private tour in advance.


If you show up at the meeting point with the bigger group our guide will ask you for the payment (10 eur/person) before the tour or cancel your reservation on the spot. To confirm your reservation please arrive 10 minutes before starting. We can not guarantee participation when you will be late.                                  

Please note that multiply bookings (under different names) for 7 people who belong to one group will still be treated as one organized group and the guide has the right to deny participation to such parties.

This policy is implied in the best interest of our individual visitors. 

Please respect our rules.      

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Highlights

What will we visit on this tour?

  • Meeting point:
    plac Grzybowski 3/5, 00-115 Warszawa,...
    plac Grzybowski 3/5, 00-115 Warszawa, Poland
    View on map

    All Saints Church in Plac Grzybowski 3/5 - look for the yellow umbrella!

  • 1
    Outside visit
    plac Grzybowski

    Plac Grzybowski and Próżna street - one of very few areas in Warsaw that survived the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto.

  • 2
    Outside visit
    Synagoga Nożyków

    The only surviving pre-war Warsaw synagogue.

  • 3
    Outside visit
    Waliców

    Waliców Street: once the ghetto border.

  • 4
    Outside visit
    Chłodna

    Monument commemorating the footbridge once connecting parts of the Warsaw ghetto.

  • 5
    Outside visit
    POLIN Muzeum Historii Żydów Polskich

    Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews and the 1948 Monument to the Ghetto Heroes.

How much does this tour cost?

Free tours do not have a set price, instead, each person gives the guru at the end of the tour the amount that he or she considers appropriate (these usually range from €10 to $50 depending on satisfaction with the tour).

Tour opinions

424 ratings
4.8
By category
Professionalism
4.82
Fun
4.45
Expression
4.66
Quality
4.77
Route
4.68
Generic
5 stars
355
4 stars
55
3 stars
6
2 stars
6
1 star
2
Silvia 26 Sep 2023
Aviles

Verified booking
Travelled in couple - Sep 2023
Es un tour súper entretenido y muy interesante. Recomendable 100%.
María 23 Sep 2023
Maracay

Verified booking
Travelled alone - Sep 2023
Ana es muy simpática y me encanto como contaba la historia del Guetto de Varsovia lo recomiendo ! Muchas gracias increíble
Daphna 22 Sep 2023

Verified booking
Travelled alone - Sep 2023
Thank you Olivia! What a fascinating valuable tour.
Bernal 20 Sep 2023
la Vall d'Uixó

Verified booking
Travelled in couple - Sep 2023
Tour muy recomendable. Te sumerje en la historia de los judíos durante la segunda guerra mundial
Laura 17 Sep 2023
Vienna

Verified booking
Travelled alone - Sep 2023
Excellent Tour, learned a lot, highly recommended
Show 424 reviews

Who is this tour for?

Accessibility
Suitable for people with reduced mobility.
Groups
Accepts reservations up to 7 people.
Pets
Suitable for carrying pets.

What should you know?

Minimum of attendees
A minimum of 5 people is required for the tour.
Additional costs:
The tour does not require the payment of entrance fees or additional expenses.
Free cancellation
If you will not be able to attend the tour, please cancel your booking, otherwise the guide will be waiting for you.
When do you want to go?
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