We spent a week in Warsaw at the beginning of autumn ’22 and it was the perfect European city break! Why Warsaw? Cheap flights from Helsinki and tons of vegan restaurants, I guess! Warsaw is actually one of the top vegan-friendly cities in the world, according to HappyCow. It was also a chance to check out a new country – Poland. I wasn’t expecting much to do in Warsaw but we were surprised by the endless sights to see here. This is a historical city where the old blends into the new in inexplicable ways.
In this post, you can find out all about the Warsaw vegan scene – where to find the best food in town and things to do in the Polish capital!
| Getting Around Warsaw |
| Where to Stay in Warsaw |
| Things To Do |
| Vegan in Warsaw |
| Vegan Restaurants |
| Map of Places |
Practical info: They don’t use the Euro in Poland, their national currency is the Polish złoty. 1 złoty = 0.21 EUR (approx.) But, euros are widely accepted if you pay by card. While paying with card, it gives you an option to pay euros or zl. I suggest paying in local currency as the euro charge is a bit more. Almost all restaurants and shops accept card payment.
People in the city do understand English, we didn’t really have any issues in restaurants, but there were occasions when we had to communicate with signs and gestures! In September, it’s cool and windy with some sunny times, so carry a light autumn jacket with you. Now, let me tell you about getting around Warsaw and the top things to do in the city. If you’d like to go directly to the vegan food spots, jump here.
Getting Around Warsaw
As soon as we landed in Warsaw, we got a 72-hr public transport paper ticket and boarded a bus to the city. There’s red ‘bilet’ ticket machines, where you can purchase your ticket. It’s easy to get around Warsaw with all the trams, buses and metro. There exists a simple metro system with M1 blue and M2 red lines. Tickets can also be bought onboard buses or tram in many cases.
Where to stay in Warsaw
For the week, we went in for an apartment we found on booking.com – Central Place Pl. Bankowy. I chose an apartment over a hotel stay, as it gives you a much more local experience! It was quite small but comfortable, peaceful and well located, by a church. You can find many other lovely apartments around the old town area!
I didn’t spend much time choosing a place as this was actually a semi-business trip and we needed to stay near the Old Town. We didn’t find any exclusively vegan hotels, but there are some lovely hotels in town – here’s my top suggestions for Warsaw! (rating out of 10 on booking.com)
PURO Warsaw Centrum – A stylish, modern 4-star hotel, pet-friendly, caters to vegans (9.3)
Motel One Chopin – Modern, trendy hotel, known to cater to vegans (9.1)
SleepWell Apartments – Elegant apartments in a fantastic location in the centre (9.0)
Royal Tulip Warsaw – Luxurious aparthotel with vegan options for breakfast (9.5)
Chopin Boutique – Stylish classic style rooms in Warsaw centre (8.8)
*these are affiliate links through which you can make bookings. In case you do, I earn a commission – at no extra cost to you. This helps run the blog – thanks for the support!
Things To Do in Warsaw
The Old Town
You must first visit the Old Town of Warsaw. Warsaw was almost completely destroyed during WWII and the town has been rebuilt since then. The ‘Old’ Town is now fully restored and a UNESCO heritage site. I took the Orange Umbrella Walking Tour in English, it’s free (tips expected) and takes about 2 hours 15 minutes.
The Old Town tour will take you slowly through all the major landmarks and your guide will tell you a lot about the history of Poland. Some photos I clicked on the tour:
The Royal Castle is a sight to see in the Old Town and if you want to explore the palace museum, you have to pay an entry fee. There is free entry Wednesdays! The website for info: Royal Castle Warsaw
The Warsaw Uprising Monument is an important landmark that can be found at the outskirts of the Old Town. At the end of this post, you can find the map with all places marked!
Warsaw Ghetto Wall
In the area surrounding the Old Town, you may come across the remains of the wall and wall boundary marker of the Warsaw Ghetto, where as many as 460,000 Jews were imprisoned during Nazi occupation. Here we take a moment to remember the atrocities of those times.
The Palace of Culture and Science
This prominent gothic building and clock tower stands tall and lit up in Warsaw Centrum. You can and should go up to the terrace for some views over the city (around 5€ for a ticket). We did a very similar thing in Riga and thus decided to skip this one. Tickets to the observation deck and official website: Pałac Kultury i Nauki
Museums
Warsaw has plenty of museums to choose from, depending on your interests. We recommend the following history and cultural museums – Chopin museum, The Uprising museum and the National Museum. Entry is affordable, being around 25zł (5€) per adult ticket. For a fun time, how about check out the Neon museum, the Pinball Arcade museum or the Vodka museum?
Copernicus Science Centre would be an interesting place for families with kids and later you can walk by the Vistula river, and find the Warsaw Mermaid statue. You can also find a rooftop botanical garden opposite the science centre!
The Saxon Garden and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Vegan in Warsaw
I’ll tell you this already – Warsaw IS a vegan haven. They have a bustling vegan food scene. We were blown away by how many fully vegan restaurants there are in town – we only needed to dine at vegan places. And at affordable prices (half as expensive, coming from Finland). If you want to plan a European city trip purely around (vegan) food, then Warsaw is a great destination!
You can find so many different cuisines here – plenty of falafel humus stuff, vegan ramen and sushi – tons of vegan Asian food spots including a couple of Loving Huts! There’s Polish vegan fast food chains – Krowarzywa and Mango Vegan. For fine plates and upscale dining, there’s The Botanist.
My challenge was to try out around 14 restaurants in 5 days! I tried to prioritize places in order to try as many as possible and managed 12 in the end. All this food may look delicious but you don’t need to try out all restaurants or dishes (even if you’re a travel/food blogger). I pushed myself to eat more than usual just so that I could do all the places on my list. Eat slow, with no worries, and actually enjoy. I hope this helps you choose between the best!
Vegan Restaurants in Warsaw
#1 La Vegana
Zgoda 4, 00-018 Warszawa, Poland
La Vegana is the very first place we dined at when we landed in Warsaw on a Monday night. Many restaurants happened to be closed at that time, but this one didn’t let down! This place popped up on my Google Maps search, which was a surprise as I hadn’t noticed it before when I researched for vegan in Warsaw. We stepped in with no idea what kind of food they serve and found that it was Vietnamese, which was a surprise! Wasn’t expecting to have Asian food on our first eat out in Warsaw but we were so hungry and one look at the menu had me almost drooling.
We had the Seitan ‘power balls’ and their recommended Tofu Bulgogi (tofu and oyster mushroom in spicy soy sauce) as starters. The main dish was a Vietnamese curry served with rice (can’t remember the name) and everything was delicious. The staff was friendly and brought us our drinks and food at a relaxed pace.
The place was packed and noisy on a Monday, so reserving a table in advance is a good idea. They are open daily from noon until 10PM. Facebook page: La Vegana
#2 Krowarzywa
Chmielna 23, 00-032 Warszawa, Poland
Poland’s very own vegan burger chain Krowarzywa serves up wholesome burgers, wraps and salads. We were very happy to come across one and went in to try one of their burgers. We’d just dined at the previous spot but I couldn’t resist. Ordered their Chickpea burger for take away!
Good burger, good vibes and good prices! Krowarzywa is a must, when in Warsaw. Updates on their social pages: Krowarzywa fb.
#3 Vege Miasto
Aleja "Solidarności" 60A, 00-240 Warszawa, Poland
Vege Miasto near Old Town is a top rated restaurant on GoogleMaps and HappyCow. We found it to be a very happening place, a packed evening hangout, with outdoor seating. We came here to try the ‘Pierogi’ – Polish dumplings and luckily also ended up trying the potato pancakes! The food variety is amazing – you can find ‘healthy’ meals, traditional dishes, gluten-free and delicious looking dessert options as well.
The dishes were super filling and a good value for money. Not to miss vegan dining in Warsaw! They are open daily from noon up until 9PM. More info on their Facebook page: Vegemiasto
#4 Eter – Vegan bakery & speciality coffee
Hoża 5/7, 00-528 Warszawa, Poland
I had just enough time to pop in to this trendy vegan café to sample one of their desserts along with coffee. The pistachio tart was exceptional. They have a bunch of other pretty looking desserts on display as well. A perfect place to hang out and have a coffee!
Instagram: Eter Vegan Bakery
#5 Peaches Gastro Girls
Mokotowska 58, 00-536 Warszawa, Poland
Not far from Eter vegan bakery, hidden away in an inner courtyard, you’ll find Peaches. It’s a summery hip place with fine lunch menu. Everything served is vegan, although they don’t specifically mention it anywhere. The exotic menu consists of a selection of a few starters, cold dishes, warm bowls, desserts and beverages.
The cucumber plate sounded quite interesting and it was indeed special – sage, chives mayo, chili and cucumber in a broth. It was an explosion of flavour with just the right amount of herbs and spices. Order with a side for a filling meal.
Instagram: peaches_gastrogirls
#6 Lokal Vegan Bistro
ul.Krucza 23/31, Warsaw, Poland 00-525
In a block near Peaches, Lokal serves up some Polish homemade style food, soups and dishes such as pasta, vegan kebab and seitan steak. Worth checking out as well! I didn’t dine here but J checked it out and tried the ‘Rainbow Fries’ bowl:
website: Lokal Vegan Bistro
#7 Momencik
Poznańska, 16, Warsaw, Poland
Check out Momencik for casual Mexican eats. J managed to try a burrito at this spot. You can find so many different cuisines in this one area, it’s amazing. Youmiko Vegan Sushi is a few steps away and is highly rated.
#Leonardo Verde – closed 🙁
Lovers of Italian plant-based cuisine – find yourselves here! I wasn’t very hungry at the time so I just ordered a tasty arancini ball.. J got the pizza with artichokes, mushrooms and smoked tofu, which we thought was pretty good.
#8 Vegan Sushi Bar
Nowolipki 15, 00-150 Warszawa, Poland
This is top rated sushi spot in Warsaw and I decided to take a look. The menu was elaborate, with a variety of sushi options and we settled for the ‘California rolls’. The highlight, however, was the tempura bowl! It was well done and everything else was well presented as well. Recommended for sushi lovers!
Website: vegansushibar
#9 Vegan Ramen Shop
al. Jana Pawła II 52/54, 00-150 Warszawa, Poland
Head over to any one of the Vegan Ramen Shops in town for some explosive plant-based umami! This is a hugely popular spot among locals and tourists alike, and we witnessed people queuing outside for a lunch spot! Luckily, we found a table indoors, in their glass box of a restaurant. Our order came in a decent amount of time even though it was busy (be prepared to wait, though).
The menu we got was only in Polish so we just asked the staff for a suggestion and they pointed out the popular ‘Spicy Miso Ramen’ bowl. I wasn’t sure about how strong the miso and spiciness would be but it went together perfectly! I do recommend this place, especially if you’re a fan of Asian flavours and ramen. They have a variety of spicy, creamy and clear ramen soups.
Instagram: veganramenshop
#10 Mango Vegan Street Food
Żelazna 58/62, 00-879 Warszawa, Poland
Mango Vegan have a couple of restaurants in town and their menu consists of dishes from different cuisines, from Middle eastern to oriental. They do have a nice space and if you come in the afternoon, you can get a lunch menu offer. À la carte prices were a bit above the average.
The lunch included a starter, a main dish and a small dessert. The starter in my case, was a huge bowl of noodle soup, which I was unable to finish. The main was a shakshuka with quinoa falafels which were falling apart. It wasn’t my favourite, but I loved the tiny sticky-sweet Baklava they served for dessert!
Honestly, go here for drinks and dessert. Instagram: mangoveganwarsaw
#Boca Boca Vegan Guilty Pleasure – closed 🙁
This is where we enjoyed our last dinner in Warsaw and it was a good choice! I had to decide between Boca Boca and Pink Vegan, and this was first on the way. It was the casual and chill ambience for us, and the one staff around that made the experience so nice. The food wasn’t mind blowing – they were simple comfort food plates.
The ‘Not Dog’ had a marinated carrot (a real vegan hotdog?) Not in pic: Nachos with pineapple salsa and house-made chili mayo, and they also made us a cup of warm mulled wine! So sad they went down in June 2024 Boca Boca facebook page
#11 The Botanist
Ordynacka 13, 00-364 Warszawa, Poland
The Botanist was actually top on my list of dinner places to try in Warsaw. Well, guess what – we saved it for our last night, and silly me, forgot to make a reservation. I was hoping they had a table for 2 but they are very popular, it seems. So! Make your reservations a few days in advance! This is fine plant-based dining in Warsaw, and at good prices.
Reservations: The Botanist
Other suggestions
Warsaw had tons of vegan food spots and we couldn’t manage to get to all on our list, even though we were there for 5 whole days, but hopefully we’ve covered the best! Places we missed dining at this time (other than the Botanist):
Uapami Seitan, Veganda, Veg4seasons, Pink Vegan, Loving Hut
If you find yourself on the other side of Warsaw, across the bridge, Nancy Lee is a good brunch option. In additions to all these vegan restaurants, there are also tons of places with vegan options – Relax na Wilczej does a great vegan breakfast! Starbucks had vegan croissants and apple pie!
Warsaw Vegan Travel Guide – Map
..
That’s all for our Warsaw vegan travel guide! If you’d like to support the journey and making of these vegan travel guides – like and share this post!
Direct tips welcome: Buy me a Coffee / PayPal
*note: Only honest reviews here. We paid for every single meal and none of these reviews are sponsored.
Last updated on October 20th, 2024
Warsaw is so close to Copenhagen yet we have never visited… That will have to change. Thanks for a great, inspirational guide!
Thanks! Yes, Warsaw would make for a great alternative city trip within Europe.
WOW Warsaw has not been on my radar but now it is! I’d love exploring Old Town and trying out all the vegan restaurants. Great guide.
yay! Thanks.
Wow, 12 restaurants in 5 days, I call that dedication to being a vegan blogger 😉 Warsaw sound amazing! I’ve heard so many great things about it already, I think it’s time to visit it soon myself 🙂
Thanks, that’s what it is ;D ..and Warsaw was actually a pretty great place to visit! Have fun trying out all the vegan food!