Landing at Warsaw Chopin Airport in Warsaw puts you right in the middle of things, with nearby cities and attractions within easy reach. Warsaw is the Polish capital, a city almost entirely rebuilt after 1945 and now one of the most energetic in central Europe. The Old Town looks centuries old but was reconstructed brick by brick, and around it rise glass towers, Soviet-era monuments, leafy parks, and a nightlife scene that spills out along the Vistula in summer.

Warsaw highlights: - Wander the rebuilt Old Town and the Royal Castle, a UNESCO site - Hear a free Chopin concert in Lazienki Park on summer Sundays - Ride to the viewing terrace of the Palace of Culture and Science - Visit the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews and the Warsaw Uprising Museum - Cross the river to Praga for murals, vodka bars, and old courtyards - Eat pierogi and zurek soup at a bar mleczny, the old-style milk bar cafeteria - Stroll or cycle the Vistula boulevards and the beaches on the east bank - Tour the baroque Wilanow Palace and its gardens

Warsaw sits in the flat heart of Poland, and short trips in every direction are easy. Zelazowa Wola, Chopin's birthplace, is about an hour west, with the forests and wild boar of Kampinos National Park on the way. Lodz, a former textile city reborn with street art and a huge repurposed mill, is about 90 minutes southwest. Plock, on a bluff above the Vistula, is a similar distance northwest. Order a zapiekanka from a late-night window and a shot of chilled vodka with pickles, and Warsaw will start to feel like home.