Founded by a pair of tour operators in a garage, the Museum of Life Under Communism moved from the fashionable Praga district to the Constitution Square area in 2019. Along with fascinating recreations of Communist-era living rooms, phone booths, and food, there are informative displays and great photo opportunities. Buy tickets online or on-site, enter free with a Warsaw Pass, or visit one of the Communist-era Warsaw tours the owners run in retro Nysa vans. Live guides are available in a range of languages, but you need to book in advance.
The Life Under Communism Museum is a must for design fans and history buffs.
Photographers and videographers can rent objects from the museum to use in shoots.
Much of the museum is accessible to travelers who use wheelchairs.
The Museum of Life Under Communism sits right by Constitution Square, about a 0.5-mile (800-meter) walk south of the Palace of Culture, and about 2 miles (3 kilometers) south of Castle Square. The best metro station is Politechnika (Line 1), less than a 10-minute walk away, or catch the number 4 tram from in front of the Royal Castle to Constitution Square.
The Museum of Life Under Communism is open seven days a week, but sometimes closes for filming, so it’s worth booking ahead. It opens from mid-morning to early evening Monday through Thursday and Saturday to Sunday; on Fridays, it opens at noon and stays open a little later.
Nazi troops destroyed much of Warsaw during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising—even Warsaw Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a reconstruction. So when the Soviet-aligned government rebuilt after World War II, it created a wealth of Communist architecture. Don’t miss the gigantic Palace of Culture and Science, the MDM residential district around Constitution Square, and the city’s many brutalist sculptures.
