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Warsaw Ghetto self-guided tour: what survives and where

Warsaw: Jewish History Guided Walking Tour in English

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In brief

A Warsaw Ghetto self-guided tour runs from Grzybowski Square, Próżna Street and the Nożyk Synagogue past the surviving wall to Chłodna, then through Muranów to the Umschlagplatz.

Before you go

  • Wall fragments at Złota 624
  • Synagogue closed on Saturdays19
  • Pawiak museum: check it has reopened43

Discover 23 stops

The ghetto and its memorials on today's map

Select a route, then tap a marker or stop to see its note and open Google Maps.

Map of the former Small Ghetto with Grzybowski Square, the Nożyk Synagogue, Próżna Street, the wall fragments on Sienna, Złota and Waliców Streets, the Chłodna footbridge and Prosta Street

  1. Before the war the square bustled with Jewish shops and stalls; the Singer's Warsaw festival ends here with a concert.

    Google Maps

  2. The only pre-war synagogue in Warsaw still in use; open Sunday to Thursday 10 AM to 5 PM, Fridays to 4.00 PM.

    Google Maps

  3. One of the few streets of the ghetto that survived the war.

    Google Maps

  4. Wall fragments in the courtyard between Sienna 55 and Złota 62; the Bersohn and Bauman hospital at Sienna 60 stands beside it.

    Google Maps

  5. The walls of the pre-war house at 11 Waliców date from the ghetto years; the poet Szlengel lived at number 14.

    Google Maps

  6. A light installation where a wooden footbridge joined the Large and Small Ghettos from 26 January 1942.

    Google Maps

  7. In May 1943 Marek Edelman's group left the sewers through the manhole at 51 Prosta Street.

    Google Maps

Mapping data © OpenStreetMap contributors

A Warsaw Ghetto self-guided tour links the scattered traces of the walled district into a single walk, from the Nożyk Synagogue to the Umschlagplatz, with a map and the opening hours you need.

Editorial team, warsawghettotour.click · Updated November 9, 2026 · Allow 8 min

Facts at a glance

  • StartGrzybowski Square, once crowded with Jewish shops and stalls.1
  • Small ghettoPróżna Street, the Nożyk Synagogue and the wall at Złota 62.2,3,4
  • The bridgeThe Footbridge of Remembrance on Chłodna, best after dark.5
  • Large ghettoThe Ghetto Heroes monument, then memorial stones north to the Umschlagplatz.6
  • IndoorsThe Jewish Historical Institute is free on Mondays and closed on Saturdays.7,8

Is there anything of the ghetto left to see?

Can you visit the Warsaw Ghetto today? Not as a place you can enter, but as a map of traces. After the Uprising of April 1943 the district was razed to the ground, and new housing was later built on its ruins.9,10 The Warsaw Ghetto Museum puts it plainly: material traces of Jewish presence in the city are scarce.11 What you will find are fragments, memorials and a few streets that the war spared.

A Warsaw Ghetto self-guided tour works best split into a southern and a northern part. The southern part covers the former Small Ghetto around Grzybowski Square and Próżna Street, then Złota, Sienna and Waliców Streets, where real fragments of the wall still stand, and Chłodna Street.12 The northern part covers Muranów, the former Large Ghetto, with the Ghetto Heroes monument facing POLIN, the mound on Miła Street and the Umschlagplatz. Each part is a walk of a few hours with stops.

Use the map to plan the order. The pins run in walking order, south first and then north, and each one opens in Google Maps. A map is a help, but look down at the pavement as well as around you: iron slabs in the pavement mark the line of the old boundary.4 Following them shows how close the wall ran to streets that look entirely ordinary today, past bus stops, cafes and playgrounds.

Plan the stops

Ghetto traces, addresses and access

StopAddressAccess
Nożyk SynagogueTwarda 6Closed Saturdays
Wall fragmentZłota 62 courtyardOpen courtyard
Mi Polin Mezuzah CenterZłota 62Free entry
Footbridge of RemembranceChłodna at ŻelaznaOpen street
Jewish Historical InstituteTłomackie 3/5PLN 15, free Mondays
Pawiak Prison MuseumDzielna 24/26Check reopening
UmschlagplatzStawki StreetOpen memorial

Sources for addresses and access: the Jewish Community of Warsaw, Warsaw's tourism office and the Jewish Historical Institute.19,4,21,22,23,24,25

Grzybowski Square, Próżna Street and the synagogue

Start on Grzybowski Square, north of the Palace of Culture. Before the war it was crowded with Jewish shops and stalls.1 Every summer the Singer's Warsaw festival closes here with a concert, on the square the tourist office calls the heart of the Jewish quarter a century ago.16 Guided Jewish history walks meet here too, by All Saints Church, and it is the natural starting line for this part of the city.

Then walk into Próżna Street, a rare ghetto street that came through the war.2 The tourist office counts it among the rare places where something of the atmosphere of Jewish Warsaw is still felt.17 Look at the facades on both sides, the balconies and the gateways, and imagine the street full of people, shop signs and noise. Take your time here before you walk round the corner to Twarda Street.

At 6 Twarda Street stands the Nożyk Synagogue. Of the city's pre-war synagogues, it alone came through the war and still holds prayers.3 The Germans used it as a stable and a store for fodder during the war.18 You can look inside between 10 AM and 5 PM from Sunday to Thursday, or until 4.00 PM on a Friday, outside a short lunchtime pause, and it is a working place of worship with daily services.19,20 Dress modestly and follow the guidance of the staff at the door.

Route

The walk, stop by stop

  1. Start

    Grzybowski Square

    The pre-war heart of Jewish trade.1

  2. Next

    Próżna and the synagogue

    A surviving street and the Nożyk Synagogue.2,3

  3. South

    The wall

    Fragments in the courtyard by Złota 62 and Sienna 55.12

  4. West

    The footbridge

    The Footbridge of Remembrance on Chłodna.5

  5. North

    Muranów

    The institute, Nalewki, the archive site and Pawiak.13,14,15

  6. End

    The Umschlagplatz

    Along the memorial stones from the Ghetto Heroes.6

The wall on Złota and Sienna Streets

From the synagogue, walk south-west to Złota 62. Through the courtyard between Złota and Sienna Streets you reach fragments of the ghetto wall.4 The tourist office describes the stretch by Sienna 55 as a silent witness, standing in sharp contrast to the hotel tower nearby.28 It is a quiet residential courtyard: go in calmly, keep your voice down and remember that people live in the flats around you.

Next to the wall, the small Mi Polin Mezuzah Center documents the marks that mezuzahs left on door frames across Poland, and entrance is free.29,21 A few steps away, at 60 Sienna Street, is the building of the Bersohn and Bauman Children's Hospital, built in 1876 to 1878.30 The museum of the ghetto is being fitted out inside this survivor of the district; for the moment you can only see the outside.31

Near the corner with Złota Street, look down for a pavement line marked with the dates 1940 to 1943 and the words ghetto wall.32 It is easy to miss and powerful when you find it. The Warsaw Ghetto Museum's own walk through this small area takes an hour and a half and visits wall remnants on Sienna, Złota, Twarda and Waliców Streets.33 If you are short of time, this cluster of sites is the one not to skip.

Plan your day

Alone or with a guide?

It depends on your time and what you want to take home.

  • If I have a single afternoon

    Walk the southern part

    The synagogue, the wall and the footbridge lie close together.3,12,5

  • If I want the stories behind the stones

    Book a guided walk first

    The tourist office recommends licensed guides for Jewish Warsaw.26

  • If I am on a tight budget

    Go to the institute on a Monday

    The Jewish Historical Institute's exhibitions cost nothing on Mondays.7

  • If I travel on a Saturday

    Plan open-air stops

    The synagogue hours list no Saturday, and the institute is closed that day.19,8

  • If I can come back after dark

    See the footbridge lit up

    The installation looks most impressive in the evening.5

With a guide

Guided walks on the same ground

Group walk

Jewish history walk

From Grzybowski Square

  • Length2.5 hours
  • GuideEnglish, Spanish
  • MeetsAll Saints Church
See the walk

Group walk

Stories from the Ghetto

Synagogue, wall and footbridge

  • Length2 hours
  • GuideEnglish, German
  • AccessWheelchair accessible
See the walk

Private group

Private Ghetto walk

At your own pace

  • Length3 hours
  • PickupAvailable
  • MeetsPróżna Street
See the walk

Waliców Street and the footbridge on Chłodna

Walk north to Waliców Street. The house at 14 Waliców lay inside the ghetto and was home to the poet Władysław Szlengel, and the tourist office notes a section of wall across the street.34 The walls of the pre-war house at 11 Waliców also date from the ghetto years.12 The brick is scarred and patched, and standing between these walls is one of the closest encounters with the ghetto that Warsaw still offers.

A short walk further north brings you to Chłodna Street at the corner of Żelazna. Chłodna itself was kept outside the ghetto, and from 26 January 1942 people crossed it on a wooden footbridge the Germans had built between the Large and Small Ghettos.22 Today the Footbridge of Remembrance, a light installation, recalls it, and it looks most striking in the evening.5 Come back after dark if you can; the lit frames make the missing bridge easy to picture.

If you have time, make a detour south-west to Prosta Street. In May 1943 a group of fighters led by Marek Edelman came up out of the sewers through a manhole at 51 Prosta Street, and a memorial marks the place.36,35 It stands among modern buildings and is easy to overlook; keep an eye out for it. From Chłodna, head north-east towards Muranów for the second part of the walk, or stop here for the day and continue tomorrow with fresh eyes.

Compare with a guide

What a guided version costs

Choose a guided walk and your party size.

Look at 4 options

What a guided version costs

Choose a guided walk and your party size.

2 people
  1. Jewish history walk2.5 hours · starts at, per person €21

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    View
  2. Stories from the Ghetto2 hours · starts at, per person €11

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  3. Jewish Warsaw walk2 hours · starts at, per person €10

    ≈

    View
  4. Private Ghetto walk3 hours · from just €66

    ≈

    View

Converted at the ECB reference rate, from-prices as listed by GetYourGuide. The precise amount is shown when you book.

Muranów: the archive, Nalewki and Pawiak

Muranów was rebuilt on the ruins of the ghetto, and the tourist office points out that its knolls and steps are made of that rubble.56,57 Start this part at the Jewish Historical Institute, Tłomackie 3/5, in the building of the pre-war Main Judaic Library. Inside you can still see traces of the fire the Germans set in 1943, and the exhibition on the Ringelblum Archive.13,58 Its doors open at 10 AM and close at 6 PM from Sunday through Thursday, and its exhibitions cost nothing on Mondays.8,7

Walk to the gate of the Krasiński Garden. A short stretch of Nalewki, the old main street of Jewish Warsaw, survives along the garden fence, with its original cobbles and tram rails.14 Then go west to Nowolipki Street. Between Nowolipki 28 and 30 a monument marks the spot where the Ringelblum Archive was hidden in the basement of a school.15,44 The brick church tower on Nowolipki is among the few buildings that survived the ghetto's demolition.59

The Pawiak Prison Museum stands at Dzielna 24/26.24 By the tourist office's estimate, some 100,000 people were held at Pawiak and nearly 37,000 of them were shot.60 A bronze copy of the elm on which families hung epitaphs stands outside.61 The museum was closed to visitors from 27 February 2026 until the autumn; confirm the reopening before you count on a visit inside.43 The memorial tree outside can be seen either way.

Video

A walk through the former Warsaw Ghetto: Miła Street, Pawiak and the monuments

MACK TRAVELS on YouTube · Video data is requested only when you tap play.

There are things we wish we could forget. And there are things we have no right to forget.
Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw)27

Pack and plan

Self-guided walk checklist

Before you set out4

  • Avoid Saturday if you want to enter the synagogue or the institute8
  • Check the synagogue hours and its midday break19
  • Check whether the Pawiak museum has reopened43
  • Bring cash or a card for institute tickets: PLN 1523

On the walk4

  • Follow the iron boundary slabs in the pavement4
  • Keep quiet in residential courtyards
  • Return to Chłodna after dark for the footbridge5
  • Dress modestly for the synagogue

From the Ghetto Heroes to the Umschlagplatz

Begin the northern half at the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes, put up soon after the war for the fighters and the dead of the ghetto.37 Facing it is the POLIN Museum, and on this square Willy Brandt went down on his knees in 1970.62,38 The museum itself needs time: the tourist office plans 3 hours for it, and its route ends in the ghetto and the years after the war.40,63 If you plan to go in, do it on a different day from the walk.

From there a trail of memorial stones leads you north towards the Umschlagplatz.6 On the way, where Miła Street meets Dubois Street, rises the mound over the bunker where Mordechai Anielewicz and about 120 insurgents were found on 8 May 1943.41 Stop at each stone and read the name and the few lines beneath it; together they tell the story of the ghetto through single lives, stone after stone.

The walk ends at the Umschlagplatz on Stawki Street. From 22 July 1942, transports of Jews to the Treblinka extermination camp left from here.42 Its walls are shaped to evoke the ghetto wall and a goods wagon at once.25 There is no better place to finish, and no reason to hurry. Sit for a while on the step, and let the traffic of Stawki Street pass in front of you before you walk away.

When a guide is worth it

Walking alone has real advantages: you set the pace, you stay as long as you need at each site, and it costs nothing beyond museum tickets. What you miss are the stories that turn a fragment of brick into a person's life. The tourist office recommends licensed guides for walks through Jewish Warsaw.26 Even a single guided walk at the start of your stay can make your own walk afterwards far richer.

Several group walks follow much of this route. A Jewish history walk of 2.5 hours meets at All Saints Church on Grzybowski Square. A 2-hour walk on Jewish Warsaw and stories from the ghetto is wheelchair accessible. For a private walk at your own pace, the site's 3-hour ghetto tour offers hotel pickup or a meeting point on Próżna Street. Compare the prices for your group before you choose.

A good plan for a first visit is a guided walk on your first morning and this self-guided route on the second day, with the POLIN Museum or the Jewish Historical Institute in between. Wear comfortable shoes, carry water and a light rain jacket, and charge your phone before you set out, with the Warsaw Ghetto walking tour map saved for offline use. And leave space in your day after the walk; you may need a quiet hour to take in what you have seen.

FAQ

Fast answers to common questions.

Is there anything of the ghetto left to see?
Fragments and memorials.

You can still touch the wall in the courtyard between Sienna and Złota and at Waliców Street, and walk the surviving Próżna Street.12,2

Where does a self-guided ghetto walk start?
On Grzybowski Square.

The square was the busy heart of Jewish trade before the war, and Próżna Street and the synagogue are next to it.1,2

When is the Nożyk Synagogue open to visitors?
Sunday to Friday.

Doors open at 10 AM and close at 5 PM, or at 4.00 PM on a Friday, with a pause at lunchtime.19

Is the Jewish Historical Institute free?
On Mondays.

On other days a normal ticket is PLN 15 and a reduced one PLN 10.7,23

How do I find the old ghetto boundary?
Look at the pavement.

Iron slabs set into the pavement mark the line of the former ghetto.4

Is the Pawiak museum open?
Check before you go.

It was closed to visitors from 27 February 2026 until the autumn.43

Where should the walk end?
At the Umschlagplatz.

From 22 July 1942, the trains to the Treblinka extermination camp were loaded there.42

Sources

  1. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Walk around Srodmiescie district, part one ↩
  2. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Walk around Srodmiescie district, part one ↩
  3. Jewish Community of Warsaw · Zalman and Rywka Nozyk Synagogue ↩
  4. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Judaica ↩
  5. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Judaica ↩
  6. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Judaica ↩
  7. Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute · Plan your visit ↩
  8. Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute · Plan your visit ↩
  9. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Walk around Srodmiescie district, part one ↩
  10. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Walk around Srodmiescie district, part one ↩
  11. Warsaw Ghetto Museum · Walks ↩
  12. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Walk around Wola district ↩
  13. Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute · History ↩
  14. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Judaica ↩
  15. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Judaica ↩
  16. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw for Free ↩
  17. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Judaica ↩
  18. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Judaica ↩
  19. Jewish Community of Warsaw · Visit Warsaw ↩
  20. Jewish Community of Warsaw · Zalman and Rywka Nozyk Synagogue ↩
  21. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Judaica ↩
  22. Warsaw Ghetto Museum · Calendar ↩
  23. Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute · Plan your visit ↩
  24. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Pawiak Prison Museum ↩
  25. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Judaica ↩
  26. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Judaica ↩
  27. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Traces of the Warsaw Ghetto
  28. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Traces of the Warsaw Ghetto ↩
  29. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Judaica ↩
  30. Warsaw Ghetto Museum · The place: the Bersohn and Bauman hospital ↩
  31. Warsaw Ghetto Museum · There was a wall in Warsaw, and behind it Sienna Street ↩
  32. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw tenement houses: witnesses of history and survival ↩
  33. Warsaw Ghetto Museum · There was a wall in Warsaw, and behind it Sienna Street ↩
  34. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Traces of the Warsaw Ghetto ↩
  35. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Judaica ↩
  36. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Judaica ↩
  37. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Judaica ↩
  38. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Judaica ↩
  39. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Walk around Srodmiescie district, part one
  40. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Two days in Warsaw ↩
  41. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Judaica ↩
  42. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Traces of the Warsaw Ghetto ↩
  43. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Pawiak Prison Museum ↩
  44. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Walk around Wola district ↩
  45. Jewish Community of Warsaw · Visit Warsaw
  46. Jewish Community of Warsaw · Okopowa Street Cemetery
  47. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Judaica
  48. Jewish Community of Warsaw · Visit Warsaw
  49. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Judaica
  50. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Zabinski Villa
  51. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Warsaw Judaica
  52. Treblinka Museum · Treblinka Memorial Site
  53. Treblinka Museum · Visit
  54. Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and State Museum · Basic information
  55. Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and State Museum · Visiting
  56. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Hidden pearls of Warsaw's Muranow district ↩
  57. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Hidden pearls of Warsaw's Muranow district ↩
  58. Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute · History ↩
  59. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Hidden pearls of Warsaw's Muranow district ↩
  60. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Pawiak Prison Museum ↩
  61. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · Pawiak Prison Museum ↩
  62. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews ↩
  63. Warsaw Tourism Office (City of Warsaw) · POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews ↩

Read next

More to read before the walk

GuideHow much a Warsaw Ghetto tour costsGuidePrivate or group Ghetto tourGuideFree Jewish Warsaw walking toursGuideThe Jewish history tours of Warsaw compared

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