Warszawa — The rebuilt capital on the Vistula.

Warsaw has been the capital of Poland since 1596, when King Sigismund III Vasa moved the court here from Kraków. Today it is the largest city in the country — more than 1.8 million people — and its political, business and transport centre, spread along both banks of the Vistula: the historic centre on the left bank, the once working-class Praga district on the right.

The city has a dramatic 20th-century history. After the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 the Germans systematically demolished the left-bank city — the losses reached some 85% of its buildings. After the war the old town was rebuilt from the rubble, largely from the vedute of Canaletto. That unprecedented reconstruction is why the old town was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1980 — as a model of how a destroyed historic ensemble can be restored.

The emblem of Warsaw is the Mermaid — the armed woman-fish of the city's coat of arms, whose statues stand on the old town market square and by the Vistula. Fryderyk Chopin is inseparably bound up with the city too: he grew up in Warsaw, and free piano concerts are held by his monument in the royal Łazienki park on summer Sundays.

The main sights are spread out but well connected. The Royal Castle and the old town lie at the start of the Royal Route — the ceremonial axis running through Krakowskie Przedmieście and Nowy Świat to Łazienki and on to Wilanów. Two metro lines, trams and buses serve the city.

Getting here is easy from anywhere in Poland: Warsaw is a hub of the intercity rail network (about 2.5–3 hours from Kraków, Gdańsk or Wrocław). Chopin Airport lies about 10 km from the centre (the suburban train reaches Warszawa Centralna in about 20 minutes), and cheaper Modlin about 40 km to the north.