What to do in Warsaw when it rains

The forecast may have spoilt your plan for the park, but it doesn’t have to spoil the meet-up. Just move it indoors, somewhere the whole group can spend a few hours without glancing at the window every few minutes. Below, the places are grouped by what you’re in the mood for: learning something, food, a film, getting moving or a bit of competition.

Museums and science

A museum is a good plan for a rainy day if you can do things there, not just look. These three give you the chance.

Centrum Nauki Kopernik

Śródmieście · getting there: metro Centrum Nauki Kopernik; bus, stop Biblioteka Uniwersytecka · website

The Copernicus Science Centre stands at Wybrzeże Kościuszkowskie 20. Here you do the experiments with your own hands, and they’re as much fun for adults as for children, so a rainy day as a group flies by. A bit of competition at the exhibits happens all by itself, and afterwards everyone has a different story to tell. If someone brings their children, nobody has to choose between the kids’ plans and their own. The centre also runs events, and the programme is on its website. From the metro, take the Wybrzeże Kościuszkowskie exit.

Muzeum Sztuki Nowoczesnej

Śródmieście · getting there: metro Centrum · website

Since 2024 the Museum of Modern Art has been based at Marszałkowska 103, on plac Defilad, where Centrum metro station is too. A building right in the centre makes a handy meeting point when the group is coming in from different districts. Inside there are exhibitions, the Kinomuzeum cinema and a reading room, so you can spend half a day here, moving from art to film. That’s practical for a group: whoever wants to keep looking keeps looking, and whoever has had enough waits in the reading room. Before you go, check the Kinomuzeum programme and fit your visit around a screening.

Muzeum Warszawy

Śródmieście (Stare Miasto) · getting there: tram, stop Stare Miasto · website

The Museum of Warsaw fills the historic townhouses at Rynek Starego Miasta 28-42, on the Old Town Market Square, and has a large permanent exhibition. It’s a chance to see the Market Square from the inside. On top of that there’s a detective game, “Szyfr zegarmistrzów” (“The Clockmakers’ Cipher”), which gives your visit a shared goal, not just a route. When it’s raining and you’re in the Old Town, it’s a plan close at hand. When the rain stops, your walk round the Old Town starts on the doorstep. Meet at the main entrance, in the house at number 42.

Food halls

When rain calls off the picnic, a hall full of different kitchens takes its place. The food is the excuse and getting together is the point.

Hala Koszyki

Śródmieście (Śródmieście Południowe) · getting there: metro Politechnika · website

Koszyki is a market hall built in 1906-1909 and reopened in 2016 after being rebuilt. Today its roof covers restaurants, shops and a supermarket, so a downpour won’t spoil the plan: you each choose a different cuisine and still sit together at one table. The hall’s website lists upcoming events, so it’s easy to turn lunch into something more. In the rain, the tram is the shorter way in: according to the hall’s website, it’s about a 5-minute walk from the Pl. Politechniki stop.

Fabryka Norblina

Wola (Mirów) · getting there: metro Rondo Daszyńskiego or Rondo ONZ; bus, stop Norblin · website

The old Norblin factory at Żelazna 51/53 now has Food Town, restaurants and cafés, plus a cinema and the Norblin Factory Museum. On a rainy day the easiest thing is to build the plan around a film: dinner before, then coffee or the museum after. In a downpour the Norblin stop comes in handy, because buses stop right next to one of the buildings in the complex. Check what’s on at the cinema before you set off.

Cinema

A film on the big screen is a plan the weather can only improve. Two cinemas, two different programmes, and at both you’ll have plenty to talk about afterwards.

Kino Muranów

Śródmieście · getting there: metro Ratusz Arsenał · website

It’s not far from Ratusz Arsenał metro to the cinema on plac Bankowy, so you won’t have to walk long in the rain. The film and the chat afterwards both fit under one roof, because the cinema has a café. Muranów has four screens, and its programme sometimes includes festivals and film seasons, so choose the film together on the cinema’s website. Whoever arrives early waits for the others in the café.

Kino Iluzjon

Mokotów (Stary Mokotów) · getting there: metro Pole Mokotowskie · website

Iluzjon, at Narbutta 50a, is the cinema of Filmoteka Narodowa - Instytut Audiowizualny, Poland’s national film archive. A classic on the big screen is a different experience from a film on the sofa, and afterwards you’re left with something to talk about. It’s a chance to catch up together on a film you’ve each only ever heard about. The cinema’s news page also has exhibitions and upcoming Akademia Polskiego Filmu (Polish Film Academy) events. Before you post the plan, pick a screening from the programme on the cinema’s website.

Getting active indoors

Rain is a good excuse to wear yourselves out indoors. On the wall and in the water, you each set your own pace.

Arena Wspinaczkowa Makak

Bielany · getting there: metro Młociny, then bus 250, stop Palisadowa · website

The climbing arena at Palisadowa 20/22 has about 2,900 m² of walls, routes up to 18 metres high, a two-storey bouldering area and a coffee bar. On the wall, each of you climbs at your own level, and between attempts there’s time to chat and cheer the others on. Climbing as a group has a practical side too: there’s always someone below to point out the next hold. The bar comes in handy when someone would rather watch than climb. Before your first visit, have a look at the arena’s website for news and upcoming competitions.

Wodny Park Warszawianka

Mokotów · getting there: metro Wilanowska or Wierzbno, then tram · website

The water park at Merliniego 4 has an Olympic pool, a leisure pool and an outdoor pool, squash courts and a spa. A swim is a safe bet on a grey day when nobody has a better idea. Squash and the spa let you split up as you like: whoever wants competition picks up a racket, and whoever wants a rest heads to the spa. Save the outdoor pool for a day when the rain stops. You can get there by tram from Wilanowska or Wierzbno metro station.

Games

A bit of competition warms a group up better than a cup of tea. Write the score down in the plan’s chat. You’ll want it for the rematch.

Pinball Station

Wola (Czyste) · getting there: metro Rondo Daszyńskiego · website

Pinball Station is the Interactive Pinball Museum (Interaktywne Muzeum Flipperów) at Kolejowa 8A, open since June 2016. Pinball is ready-made competition for a group: you take turns, while the rest cheer and keep an eye on the scores. First-timers pick up the rules quickly, and anyone who’s played for years has someone to take on. A museum where you play rather than just look also works well for people who aren’t keen on museums. Before you go, check on the website that the museum is open that day.

Escape Room Centrum (Room Escape Warszawa)

Śródmieście · getting there: metro Świętokrzyska · website

The venue at Marszałkowska 140 belongs to Room Escape Warszawa, a company running since 2013. It has two more venues: on Śniadeckich, near Politechnika metro, and at Inżynierska 1 in Praga, near Dworzec Wileński metro. Cracking puzzles together soon shows who in your group is the brains of the operation and who handles pressure well. It’s a plan for a group that likes having a shared goal. When you choose a room, check the address, because there are three venues.

Hulakula

Praga-Północ · website

At Hulakula, Jagiellońska 82b, bowling, pool, arcade machines and karaoke all fit under one roof. For a rainy afternoon it’s a plan that needs no talent from anyone: if you don’t like bowling, play pool, and if you don’t play pool, sing. Even in a big group, nobody is left on the sidelines. Save the karaoke for the end, once everyone has warmed up.

How to get the group together

When the weather changes your plans, post a plan in met with an indoor place, such as Hala Koszyki or Centrum Nauki Kopernik. Your friends see it, and whoever fancies going out despite the rain is in. You agree on the screening and the time to meet in the plan’s chat.