Nowy Świat & Royal Route
Nowy Świat / Trakt Królewski
A historic avenue running south from the Royal Castle to Wilanów, lined with neoclassical buildings, Warsaw University, the Presidential Palace and cafés. It is Warsaw's most elegant walking route.
The Royal Route was the road kings took from the Royal Castle to their palaces in the southern suburbs. It runs about 10 km in total, and its finest stretch is the roughly 2 km walk south from Castle Square along Krakowskie Przedmieście and Nowy Świat. Along the way you pass St. Anne's Church (its bell tower offers views over Castle Square), the Mickiewicz Monument, the Presidential Palace, the Hotel Europejski, the main gate of Warsaw University, the Holy Cross Church (Chopin's heart lies in a pillar on the left), the Copernicus statue, and the Staszic Palace, home of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Along Nowy Świat, low neoclassical houses have cafés, restaurants and dessert shops on their ground floors. The long-established Blikle is famous for its rose-jam doughnuts (pączki). On weekends and public holidays, parts of the street are closed to cars, which makes it pleasant for walking. The black 'Chopin benches' along the way play music at the press of a button. You can detour east to the Chopin Museum, and at the south end the route connects to Three Crosses Square and Ujazdów Avenue. Continuing south leads to Łazienki Park.
Opening hours
Open all day
Nearby sights
- Fryderyk Chopin Museum
- National Museum in Warsaw
- Holy Cross Church
- University of Warsaw Library Roof Garden
- Saxon Garden & Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
- Copernicus Science Centre
- Grand Theatre – Polish National Opera
- Palace of Culture and Science