Copernicus Science Centre

We had heard a lot of good things about the Copernicus Science Centre long before our trip. The building is located on the banks of the Vistula River, on Wybrzeże Kościuszkowskie Street. And as you might guess, it was hard to find a parking space. Watch out for local con artists - parking across the street costs 10 PLN per hour! But a street away you can park for free.

If you're planning a trip to the Copernicus Science Centre, we have two important pieces of advice. First - book your tickets online. Second - bring your Large Family Card. Let’s explain why. Large Family cardholders and people with online tickets are admitted through a separate queue. For all others there is a long queue, which, when we arrived, was as long as the building itself. We had to stand in line for 2 hours. When we finally got in, they stopped letting people in just a few places behind us, because the maximum number of visitors had been reached. Thus, the people standing in line behind us were not as lucky as we were.

The interior of the Copernicus Science Centre consists of a few hundred exhibits to explore, divided into thematic laboratories. You can (and should!) touch everything and try out how it all works. All the main fields of science are covered: physics, chemistry, optics, acoustics, biology, health, electricity. For children under 5, they also launched a special section called Bzzz!, where kids can experiment with sound recognition or play in the water channels to learn how to control the water flow.

Adults won't be bored either. There are so many attractions that even after spending 6 hours there, we didn't manage to see everything. We highly recommend this place!

Fun fact: the Copernicus Science Centre opened on 5 November 2010. A year later the Copernicus Planetarium opened next to it, and the roof of the main building is a green garden that visitors can walk in. A Foucault pendulum hangs in the main hall and shows the rotation of the Earth.

After our visit to the Copernicus Science Centre we went to dinner at the French restaurant Rue de Paris for tasty crêpes. In the evening we also went to see the second Warsaw Mermaid statue, this time on the bank of the Vistula River.

On the second night we slept at Puffa Hostel. It was a budget place and was not as comfortable as the previous one.