Ninety seconds on Royal Castle
22 painted views of Warsaw by Bernardo Bellotto, the largest set of his work anywhere, cover the walls of one room here, and they are the reason you come. Rembrandt portraits and state rooms refilled with rescued art fill the rest.
German troops blew the castle up in 1944, and the rebuild, begun in 1971 and paid for by public donation, opened its interiors in 1984. That is why the state rooms read as a mix: recovered and restored antiques, paintings and sculpture set among new gold, crimson, marble, crystal and parquet.
In the Canaletto Room, Bellotto's Warsaw views hang in gold frames from floor to ceiling, edge to edge, almost like wall panelling. The floor is bare apart from a few benches along the walls. Take your time with the lower rows, because the paintings near the ceiling are hard to make out from the floor.
The Great Assembly Hall, the ballroom, keeps preserved fragments of its original stucco and the rescued statues of Apollo and Minerva among the new work.
The Lanckoroński Gallery holds two portraits by Rembrandt, The Girl in a Picture Frame and The Scholar at the Lectern.
Grodzka Gate is the main visitor entrance and the shortest way to the ticket offices, where individual visitors buy tickets on the day. Choose your route at the desk, from the short Royal Route to the full Castle Route.
Downstairs, leave bags, umbrellas and coats in the cloakroom, where free lockers sit beside a short introductory film. Borrow an audio guide before you set off; it comes in many languages.
The Museum Route takes in the Senators' Hall, the Matejko paintings and the Lanckoroński Gallery. Keep an eye out for the gallery, which sits slightly off the main flow and is easy to miss.
You can go round on your own with the audio guide and stop as long as you like in any room. Guides at the castle may lead groups only if the museum has certified them, so a guide is a group arrangement rather than something you need on your own.
Arrive a little early if you carry bags or push a pushchair, because everyone passes a security and cloakroom check at the door.
Leave the tripod and flash behind, as both are banned indoors. Plan a rest in the cafés outside on Castle Square, because seats along the route are few.
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