5 Things to do in Warsaw on a budget

While Warsaw is a cheap city to begin with, spending easily adds up when studying abroad. However, there is always something to do here that won’t break the bank!

Rent bikes

While it’s not quite as popular as it is in other European cities, Warsaw is a bike friendly city with bike lanes all around. You can rent the Veturilo-Nextbikes for 1zl an hour (18p!) and they are really easy to use. The scooters are also fun but not quite as cheap. I love riding across the Świętokrzyski Bridge to the other side of the river and chilling at the Poniatówka beach, especially when the sun is setting.

2. Go thrift shopping

I, like most people, love to shop! But hitting the shopping centres every weekend is not cheap or sustainable. What I’ve found is that there is a lot of good vintage, second-hand stores and markets which make it really cheap and easy to get some new clothes if you’re like me and only brought two suitcases back in September. Not sure how I will get all of my cool finds home again though…

A few of my favourite shops are Bazar Miejski, the Gemma charity shops and Jestem Vintage market.

3. Visit all off the green spaces

There is lots of parks and gardens which are free to access and very nice to walk and sit in, especially as the weather gets nicer. My favourite is the Uni of Warsaw Botanical Garden and Lazienki park. In summer, there are also free concerts in the park on Sundays.

4. Museums and Galleries

Many museums in Warsaw offer one day of free entrance per week, usually on a Thursday. However, there is very cheap or even free student tickets on most other days.

There is so much history about Warsaw and the museums and galleries are really well done. My favourites are the POLIN museum on the history of Polish Jews and the Zacheta Gallery.

5. Walk the royal route

The Royal Route is a really beautiful part of the city. It begins in the Old Town and travels south for over a mile. Start on Krakowskie Przedmieście Street and continue south passing: