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This 'underrated' European gem with £34 flights should be your next city break
This 'underrated' European gem with £34 flights should be your next city break

Metro

time2 hours ago

  • Metro

This 'underrated' European gem with £34 flights should be your next city break

Underrated and often dismissed, Warsaw has spent years languishing at the very bottom of Europe's 'cheapest city breaks' lists. But as the city finally grows into itself, it's quietly starting to draw interest. Anyone who's ever been to Poland's capital tells me the same thing: 'I didn't expect to like it so much.' It happens so often that I just smile and nod. Warsaw doesn't dazzle on arrival. It's no Paris, no Rome – but that's part of the point. It reveals itself slowly and leaves you wanting to come back. It's where I grew up, and over the years, I've seen the city go through many stages: struggling, desperate to impress, trying to be something it wasn't. Now it finally feels like itself. Here's how I'd spend a weekend there. Fuel your wanderlust with our curated newsletter of travel deals, guides and inspiration. Sign up here. It's tempting to begin where most tourists do, in the Old Town. And if you like your European cities with cobbles and castles, you absolutely should. It's beautiful, a true testament to Warsaw's phoenix-from-the-ashes brand. The Royal Castle – the red-brick palace that greets you as you enter – was rebuilt from scratch after World War Two. Nearly 90% of the city was razed during the Nazi occupation; most Varsovians will tell you stories of their grandma bringing a brick to help rebuild it. If you like history, sign up for a tour. The palace has plenty of stories and surprisingly impressive artwork. If castles aren't your thing, keep walking the cobbled streets toward the main square. Depending on the season, you might find an ice rink, food stalls, or events popping up. While you're in the area, take the stairs to the rooftop garden on top of the University of Warsaw Library. One of the largest in Europe, the library hums with tired students cramming for their finals. It doesn't get much more local than that. If you're in need of coffee, stop to refuel at STOR, a local favourite serving excellent coffee in a cosy space. It's the kind of place where you end up staying way longer than planned. If you're hungry, head straight for Syrena Irena. You'll get pierogi (giant stuffed dumplings), herring and borscht in an award-winning setting. It may be all over Instagram, but for once, the food lives up to the aesthetic. Afterwards, grab a bike or e-scooter and head toward the Vistula River. The riverside boulevards have been having a moment for a while now – now they're one of the nicest spots in the city. Long and winding paths trace the Vistula's edge, offering views that shift with the light and seasons, and no shortage of spots to linger over something cold, salty, or sweet. If your sweet tooth kicks in, make a detour to Baja Vegan Patisserie. Come summer, there's usually a queue for jagodzianki – pillowy, blueberry buns that vanish as fast as they appear. Outside berry season, a pączek (filled doughnut) does the trick: soft, rich, and comfortingly old-school. For something more refined, book a table at Le Braci, a Michelin Bib Gourmand pick that gets both the mood and the menu exactly right. The truffle pasta is unforgettable. To balance out the pasta, head to Łazienki Królewskie, the largest park in the city. Worth a visit year-round, but especially lovely in summer when free Chopin concerts take place on Sundays. Bring a blanket and enjoy one of the open-air piano recitals that have been a tradition since 1959. As the evening rolls in, make your way to Saviour Square, a staple on Warsaw's food and nightlife map for years. Charlotte, a French-inspired bistro and wine bar, is always buzzing. If you grew up in Warsaw, chances are you skipped school once to eat their famous bread with white chocolate. The next morning, pick up where you left off and settle into one of Charlotte's outdoor tables, order a bread basket and do some people-watching. When you're ready to move again, make your way to Mokotowska Street. One of Warsaw's most elegant streets, it's the city's answer to Paris's Rue Saint-Honoré. Unlike most of the city, the street survived the war relatively unscathed. The townhouses lining it, with their pre-war façades and quiet grandeur, offer one of the rare chances to see what Warsaw once looked like, and almost became. The street is lined with Polish designers, curated boutiques and cafés. My top picks are Galilu for perfume, SOTE for Polish jewellery that feels special without being showy, and Lukullus or Słodki Słony for sweets. From Mokotowska Street, walk to Three Crosses Square and take a right to the National Museum. With over 800,000 pieces of art, it's worth a visit,whether you're an art fan or not. Nearby is the Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw's most recognisable and perhaps most divisive building. A gift from Stalin, it still occupies a charged place in the Polish imagination. These days, it marks the centre of the city and houses everything from theatres to cafés. Next door is its minimalist new neighbour, the Museum of Modern Art. This white cube of a building looks plain at first glance, but give it a moment. Inside, it opens up into a series of expansive, concrete spaces, pared back and quiet enough to let the art do its job, but still striking in their own right. Even if you're not there for an exhibition, it's worth stepping in just to see the space. @ There are a lot of great museums in Warsaw that impressed us. We learned a lot more about the history of Warsaw and Poland throughout our week and the great thing is that many museums offer free admissions! Here are some of the main ones and which day it is free on: Monday 📍Warsaw Uprising Museum Tuesday 📍National Museum of Warsaw 📍Museum of Caricature Wednesday 📍Fryderyk Chopin Museum 📍The Royal Castle Thursday 📍Zacheta: National Gallery of Art 📍POLIN: Museum of History of Polish Jews 📍Wilanow Palace (free admissions is limited) 📍Polish Army Museum 📍Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle Friday 📍Lazienki Museum Buildings 📍Muzeum Historii Polski Saturday 📍Museum of Sports & Tourism Free Everyday 📍 Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw 📍Asia & Pacific Museum 📍Gasworks Museum 📍Geological Museum #warsaw #warsawmuseum #warsawtips #poland #museums #free #warsawthingstodo #fyp #travel #europe ♬ Ghibli-style nostalgic waltz(806744) – MaSssuguMusic Depending on your mood, you could head to Hala Mirowska, a 100-year-old market hall still full of flower stalls and produce vendors, or visit one of the nearby museums. The Warsaw Uprising Museum is interactive and accessible (even for kids). POLIN, the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, is a deeply moving place that offers important context to the city's complex past. End the day at Jassmine, one of the best jazz bars in town. Get there early as seats fill up quickly and for good reason. The lighting is low and deliberate, the atmosphere relaxed but polished, and the cocktails are better than they need to newcomers to seasoned musicians, the lineup never disappoints. If you've made it this far, you might be thinking this sounds suspiciously like a sponsored story. It's not. More Trending Just a long-form love letter to a city that had it tough, but made it. I hope you enjoy it more than you expected. From Warsaw, a four-hour journey by car or by train will take you to Wroclaw, in Poland's west. Known as the 'Venice of Eastern Europe', it earned its title thanks to the 12 islands that make up Wrocław, each connected by bridges (there are 130 in total) and canals reminiscent of the famous sinking city in Italy. You can read our full travel guide for Wroclaw here. There are plenty of direct routes from the UK to Warsaw, most at affordable prices. The cheapest month to travel is January, when return fares start from just £34. But you'll have to be prepared to wrap up against the Polish winter chill. In September, direct one-way flights from London with Wizz Air will set you back as little as £16. All in, the round-trip won't cost you more than around £41. MORE: 'Baffling' UK bus is 'world's most confusing' and leaves at different times every day MORE: I discovered the Algarve's deserted island with no houses, roads, cars or people MORE: I grew up in Yorkshire — here's my insider's guide to a weekend in the Dales

Warrington Museum's WW2 gas mask sold by charity shop by mistake
Warrington Museum's WW2 gas mask sold by charity shop by mistake

BBC News

time7 hours ago

  • Entertainment
  • BBC News

Warrington Museum's WW2 gas mask sold by charity shop by mistake

A World War Two replica gas mask on loan from a museum for a window display was accidentally sold by a charity artefact was put in the window at St Roccos Hospice shop in Stockton Heath, Warrington, as part of a children's treasure hunt for a festival in the village next Garratt, one of the Stockton Heath Festival organisers, said "our hearts sank" when it was discovered that the item loaned by Warrington Museum was missing from the shop window less than three hours after the display was set up. However, he said "through the power of social media" they managed to track down the woman who bought it for £5 and she returned it "so we had a happy ending". Steph Clemens from Warrington Museum and Art Gallery, said it was grateful to the festival organisers for their swift action in "solving the curious case of the missing gas mask" and ensuring its safe return."It's now something we can look back on with a smile after a series of misunderstandings with no harm done," she said. Ms Clemens added: "We often lend pieces from our handling collections. They are typically used for education projects and lent out to schools."In this case, the gas mask was a replica of one that would have been used by civilians during the Second World War."The Stockton Heath Festival, which has been staged since 2008 and takes place between 3-6 July, includes 50 events from art exhibitions to live music and open-air children's treasure hunt features 15 items in 15 shops in the village with World War Two being this year's theme. Read more stories from Cheshire on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC North West on X. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.

Inside abandoned UK airport set to reopen with cheap flights to holiday hotspots
Inside abandoned UK airport set to reopen with cheap flights to holiday hotspots

Daily Mirror

time9 hours ago

  • Business
  • Daily Mirror

Inside abandoned UK airport set to reopen with cheap flights to holiday hotspots

From being bombed in World War Two to ferrying business passengers to Amsterdam, a transport hub which is no longer in use could soon be ready for its next chapter This ghost town of an airport site could soon spring back into life thanks to a £500 million regeneration. If plans come to fruition, holidaymakers would be able to jetaway to European hotspots on low-cost flights for the first time in 12 years. The last scheduled flight left Manston Airport in Kent for Amsterdam on April 9, 2014 and since then its been used as a lorry park. Currently undergoing a major refurbishment, the revived airport is slated to reopen in 2028. ‌ The airport can be found in the village of Manston in the Thanet district of Kent, 14 miles north-east from Canterbury by the coast. It was used by the Royal Air Force during the World Wars after it opened in 1918, and was frequently targeted by bombs during World War Two's Battle of Britain. ‌ Manston has a single runway that is 2,748 metres, or 9,016 feet, long. Wide at 60 metres, it was designed to handle emergency landings for Concorde and the Space Shuttle. Initially, the revived airport will focus on cargo operations but plans are afoot to introduce passenger services. The multimillion pound revamp will include new terminals and upgraded runways. Tony Freudmann, main board director at controlling airport company RiverOak Strategic Partners, told Kent Online: "Looking at the way the passenger market is going, we are confident we can persuade one or more low-cost carriers to base their planes here. "It does not work for us if they fly in just once a day because that is not economic. If they base three or four planes at Manston, we will have rotations three or four times a day, as they have at Southend. ‌ "That will cover our costs and bring passenger footfall through the terminal all day and every day. We will reinstate the twice daily KLM service to Amsterdam Schiphol that we had before and that will give business people in particular access to almost anywhere in the world." Passenger routes to the the Netherlands, Spain, Cyprus and Malta could be introduced, flown by budget airlines including Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air. ‌ Survey work is underway at the airport site and expected to be concluded in early 2026. A public consultation into possible flight routes will be launched at that time. If plans go ahead, construction work is expected to be completed by early 2028, when recruitment for operational roles would begin. Demand for flights at Luton Airport and Stansted Airport is said to suggest additional additional passenger flights would be popular in the region. "Opening an airport – even one like Manston which already has in place a full-length runway, taxiways and airport buildings – takes a huge amount of preparation and planning first and so it will be many months before we are ready to welcome construction teams on site," a post earlier this year on the RiverOak website reads. Opposition to the proposal to revamp the airport has been loud and coordinated, with groups such as Don't Save Manston Airport noting that the travel hub previously failed commercially and arguing that it will do again. They have argued for increased aviation capacity is bad for the environment.

Putin tells Trump that Russia has to respond to Ukrainian attacks
Putin tells Trump that Russia has to respond to Ukrainian attacks

Nikkei Asia

time15 hours ago

  • Politics
  • Nikkei Asia

Putin tells Trump that Russia has to respond to Ukrainian attacks

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a video meeting with members of the government on June 4. (Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/pool via Reuters) MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday that he would have to respond to high-profile Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia's nuclear-capable bomber fleet and a deadly bridge bombing that Moscow blamed on Kyiv. The war in Ukraine is intensifying after nearly four months of cajoling and threats to both Moscow and Kyiv from Trump, who says he wants peace after more than three years of the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two.

UK's Starmer waters down welfare cuts to quell Labour revolt
UK's Starmer waters down welfare cuts to quell Labour revolt

Japan Today

time16 hours ago

  • Business
  • Japan Today

UK's Starmer waters down welfare cuts to quell Labour revolt

FILE PHOTO: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer looks on during his meeting with the Crown Prince of Bahrain, Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa (not in picture), at 10 Downing Street, London, Britain June 19, 2025. Jordan Pettitt/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo By Andrew MacAskill and Elizabeth Piper British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sharply scaled back planned welfare cuts on Friday to quell a rebellion by lawmakers in his governing Labour Party, the latest U-turn to dent his authority just a year after winning power. Planned changes to make it tougher to collect some disability and sickness benefits would now apply only to new applicants, while the millions of people who already rely on the benefits will no longer be affected, the government said. The reforms had sought to shave 5 billion pounds ($7 billion) per year off Britain's rapidly rising welfare bill. However, more than 100 lawmakers from the Labour Party, which founded the state-run National Health Service and sees itself as the protector of the welfare state built after World War Two, had publicly opposed the cuts. The revolt had meant Starmer faced a potential defeat in a vote on the changes in parliament next week - a year after he won a landslide majority in a national election. Starmer said there was no other option to pressing ahead with reform of the welfare system "because it doesn't work and it traps people", but after listening to lawmakers, "getting that package adjusted ... is the right thing to do". "We've now arrived at a package that delivers on the principles, with some adjustments, and that's the right reform, and I'm really pleased now that we're able to take this forward," he told reporters, defending the concessions as a "common sense" solution. In a letter to lawmakers, work and pensions minister Liz Kendall confirmed that only new claimants would be subject to the planned tightening of eligibility. Labour lawmaker Meg Hillier, who chairs an influential parliamentary committee and had spearheaded the efforts to water down the bill, welcomed the government's move as "a good and workable compromise". U-TURN The government did not set out the cost of the change in policy. Care minister Stephen Kinnock said that details would come in the next budget, which is due in the autumn. Ruth Curtice, chief executive of think tank Resolution Foundation and a former senior finance ministry official, said the compromise would reduce the government's savings by around 3 billion pounds a year. A spokesperson for Starmer said details of the plan would be set out before the vote on Tuesday, but "these changes will be fully funded, there will be no permanent increase in borrowing". The spokesperson declined to comment on possible tax rises. It was the third big U-turn for Starmer's government, following a reversal in unpopular cuts to payments to pensioners for fuel to heat homes in the winter, and a decision to hold an inquiry into the authorities' response to gangs that groomed girls for sex, after having said no such inquiry was needed. Starmer has argued that Britain's disability benefits system is too costly to sustain, and makes it too difficult for people who can work to do so, by penalising them for their earnings. Campaigners said that even if existing claimants were exempt, the changes would still harm too many people. Disability UK, a charity, said it rejected a "two-tier system" that would deny new claimants benefits that existing claimants receive. "It is not a massive concession to have a benefit system where future generations of disabled people receive less support than disabled people today," said Mikey Erhardt, the group's policy lead. The opposition Conservative Party's work and pensions policy chief, Helen Whately, said on X the decision was humiliating for Starmer, and represented a missed opportunity to cut the welfare bill while "leaving taxpayers to pick up the bill". Annual spending on incapacity and disability benefits already exceeds Britain's defence budget and is set to top 100 billion pounds ($137 billion) by 2030, according to official forecasts, up from 65 billion pounds now. © Thomson Reuters 2025.

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