The tour begins at the Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw’s most recognizable—and controversial—communist landmark. Built between 1952 and 1955 as a “gift” from the Soviet Union, the building still dominates the city skyline and continues to provoke mixed emotions among locals. We do not visit the XXXth floor terrace on the tour.

Before World War II, Warsaw was a capitalist European city filled with dense tenement housing. After 1945, communist authorities and modernist architects saw reconstruction as a chance to redesign society. One result was Muranów, a green residential district built in the late 1940s on wartime ruins as an attempt to create a model socialist neighborhood.

Another major postwar achievement was the reconstruction of the Old Town, beneath which a key traffic route was built with assistance from Soviet engineers involved in the Moscow metro. You’ll pass through this area on the way to Praga.

The Praga district offers a glimpse into the darker realities of communist Warsaw. Largely neglected by state investment, it became a center of informal and illegal activity. Behind its courtyards, residents exchanged foreign currency, traded Western music, and searched for goods unavailable elsewhere—turning decline into survival.

The tour ends in Warsaw’s government district, where prewar modernist architecture meets monumental socialist realism. Ironically, the leader of communist Poland reportedly refused to move into the new party headquarters, claiming it looked more like a capitalist bank than the office of a workers’ party.