Wilanow Palace, summer residence of King John III Sobieski (17th century), Wilanow, Warsaw, Poland

Getty Images/DeAgostini

Wilanów Palace

Top choice in Warsaw


Warsaw’s top palace, 10km south of the city centre, was commissioned by King Jan III Sobieski in 1677. It has changed hands several times over the centuries, with each new owner adding a bit of baroque here and a touch of neoclassical there. Restoration of the palace's 2nd floor is underway until 2020, but in the meantime you can tour the magnificent ground-floor rooms packed with artistic baubles and treasures. Last entry to the palace is an hour before closing.

When King Jan III Sobieski decided this was the perfect spot for his country estate, there was already a village here called Milanów that had existed since the middle ages. The king renamed the village in Latin as 'Villa Nova', later Polonised into Wilanów (vee-lah-noof). Miraculously, Wilanów survived WWII almost unscathed, and most of its furnishings and art were retrieved and reinstalled after the war.

While restorations of the 2nd floor are underway you can follow two routes through the palace. Route 1 includes the White Hall, the palace's largest room, hung with portraits of successive owners of Wilanów; the Garden Galleries decorated with beautiful 17th-century frescoes; the Royal Apartments of King Jan III; the neoclassical-style Grand Vestibule; and the Potocki Museum, named after Stanisław Kostka Potocki, owner of Wilanów from 1799 to 1821, who in 1805 opened his art collection to the general public.

Route 2 covers Princess Marshall Lubomirska’s Apartments, an immaculately restored salon dating from the late 18th century and including the magnificent Chinese and Hunting Rooms. Also here is the Storage Accessible for Visitors, which allows a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the restoration and care of the palace's collection of object d'art and antiques.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Warsaw attractions

1. Wilanów Park

0.05 MILES

This splendid 45-hectare park adjoins Wilanów Palace and contains a variety of landscaping. The central part comprises a manicured, two-level baroque…

2. Orangery

0.09 MILES

Inside Wilanów Park, the Orangery sometimes acts as an art gallery for temporary exhibitions.

3. Poster Museum

0.13 MILES

Polish poster art is outstanding and this museum's collection numbers over 36,000, with an additional 26,000 artistic, advertising and propaganda prints…

4. St Anne's Church

0.14 MILES

A church has stood on this spot since the 14th century, but the neo-rennaissance St Anne's you see today dates to 1870. The tombs of the Potocki and…

5. Temple of Divine Providence

0.89 MILES

Opened in 2016, this monumental building, with a dome reminiscent of an enormous lemon squeezer, makes a bold contemporary statement. Its brutalist…

6. Królikarnia

3.11 MILES

A serene escape from the city is this park and Palladian palace (known as the 'Rabbit House') that showcases the National Museum's collection of works by…

7. Museum of Hunting & Horsemanship

4.05 MILES

The museum's collection is split across two park buildings dating from the 1820s. The Cantonists' Barracks features natural-history-style displays of…

8. Amphitheatre

4.07 MILES

Łazienki Park's mock-ruined amphitheatre was built in 1790 and is modelled on the Roman open-air theatre at Herculaneum, Italy. The stage, set on an islet…