Where to Stay in Warsaw

The modern core around the Palace of Culture and Warszawa Centralna station, running north to the Royal Route and the Old Town. Both metro lines cross here, trams go everywhere, and you can walk to most sights.

Good to know: It is a working city centre rather than a pretty one - expect wide roads and communist-era blocks alongside new towers. The widest hotel choice in the city, and the easiest base if you only have two or three days.

The strip between the centre and the Vistula, below the escarpment. Converted riverside buildings now hold cafes and bars, the Copernicus Science Centre sits here, and the river boulevards are where Warsaw spends summer evenings.

Good to know: Ten minutes' walk downhill from the centre and genuinely pleasant, with better food than the tourist streets. Fewer large hotels and more apartments. The riverside bars are seasonal, so it is quieter from November to March.

The reconstructed medieval centre with the Royal Castle, the Market Square and the Barbican. It is a remarkable achievement, rebuilt from paintings and photographs after 1944, and it looks the part at dusk.

Good to know: Restaurants here are priced for visitors and the area goes quiet once the day crowds leave - Warsaw's real nightlife is elsewhere. Lovely to stay in for the setting, but walk five minutes out for dinner.

South of the centre around the Saviour Square roundabout, the densest cluster of good restaurants, cocktail bars and design shops in the city. It is where Varsovians actually go out on a Friday.

Good to know: Fifteen minutes' walk or a couple of tram stops from the Old Town, so you trade a little sightseeing convenience for far better eating. Weekend nights around the square are loud until late.

Across the Vistula, Praga escaped the wartime destruction, so the tenements, courtyards and shrines are genuinely old rather than rebuilt. Old factories now hold galleries, music clubs and the Neon Museum, and prices are the lowest of any central district.

Good to know: It has a rougher reputation than the reality, though it is scruffier and less polished than the left bank. Metro line 2 and trams cross in a few minutes. The best value in Warsaw if you want character over convenience.

The fast-rising skyscraper district west of the centre, next to the Warsaw Uprising Museum. Newer hotels with lifts, air conditioning and larger rooms than the old centre, and two metro stops into town.

Good to know: Built for business travellers, which means rates often drop sharply at weekends - the best value-per-quality in the city on a Friday or Saturday. Little street life in the evening.

A large residential district south of the centre with parks, quiet streets and everyday Polish life. Well connected by metro line 1 and close to Lazienki Park with its free summer Chopin concerts.

Good to know: You commute in for sightseeing, though the metro makes that easy. Best for longer stays, families wanting space, or anyone who would rather sleep in a neighbourhood than a city centre.