Life Behind The Iron Curtain Warsaw Walking Tour

Olivia was the best tour guide we had in all of Poland. She was informative and funny and extremely engaging! Excellent tour

Aga was a superb guide: knowledgeable, thorough in her presentation, eager to take questions and with a delightful sense of humor. It was everything one could want in a tour. Highly recommended.

Guide was very smart and made the tour very interesting and relatable . We would definitely recommend

Agnieszka is an outstanding guide. In perfect English, speaking clearly and at a relaxed pace, she brought Warsaw’s fascinating and complex 20th and 21st century history to life. Through pictures and photographs of life on the streets, in people’s homes and in public spaces, she made it easy to understand the hardships people faced during the last century. The time flew by, and I never once looked at my watch. The whole city gained meaning and a story. Without this tour, many of the monuments would have remained just monuments to me, without a deeper understanding of what they represent. My favourite part was the interactive censorship exercise, where we took on the role of censors under communism and had to decide which parts of an article could be published and which had to be removed. I highly recommend this tour to anyone who wants to understand Warsaw and make their visit more meaningful. I look forward to returning to this beautiful city and exploring more of it with the wonderful Agnieszka!

Oliwia did a great job sharing about what life was like in Poland in the communist era. This tour shared a lot of context about the current architecture of Warsaw and how present day Poland was influenced by this period. Oliwia was very knowledgeable and personable. She even let us borrow her umbrella when it started raining. Warsaw Undiscovered also goes the extra mile to provide a map of recommendations for restaurants and activities at the end of the tour. We used these recommendations for the rest of our stay in Warsaw. We would recommend doing this tour near the beginning of your time in Warsaw.

A very informative tour with an outstanding, knowledgeable guide Olivia. So fascinating to hear real life stories from somebody wth family history of Polish communism.

An excellent informative tour. We really enjoyed Olivia's knowledge and wry sense of humour!

We had taken a Warsaw walking tour the day before and were lucky to again have Olivia as our tour guide for this tour. It was a small group and we covered a good area exploring the communist side of Warsaw. Olivia brought to life the architecture, culture and politics of living during this time in Warsaw. We saw a totally Warsaw from a totally different perspective. Highly recommend this tour.

The tour was great as you heard history from the perspective of everyday life from home life, shopping, work and travel etc. the guide was personable and shared many stories giving the group a glimpse into 1945-1989 and the lingering effects. Highly recommended.

Every 5 star review is telling the truth of how amazing and impactful this experience is! We did it as a family and enjoyed every minutes of it. Our guide was knowledgeable, passionate, witty, and a delight. In all honesty, if there’s only one tour you can fit in on your visit while in Warsaw, I’d highly recommend this one! If you have Polish ancestry, you’ll be even prouder and if you don’t, you will wish you had! At the end of the your tour, you receive a link to restaurants and must sees from an extraordinary local’s perspective! I always enjoy the other members of the tour group as well and our group was awesome! This tour does not disappoint. :-)

I've been on tours all over the world and this one was one of the very best! I highly recommend it. Our guide was witt, informative, and engaging. I wish I had time to go on another tour with her.

Super informative and interesting guided walk. Olivia was very engaging and we learned loads!

Olivia was great. Learned a lot. She gave great recommendations. Honestly, she set the standard for the remainder of the tours I did on this vacation.

Tour guide Agnieszka was great...a lot of knowledge, cheerful and good stories...couldn't be better...Thanks a lot from the 6 friends from Holland

This was such an amazing tour! Aga speaks easily about her city and what life was like under communism. Her ‘real-life’ accounts helped the time period ‘come to life’ for us. We enjoyed the tour so much that I wish we had booked another tour either her. Highly recommend!!

I had such a great time with Warsaw Undiscovered that I ended up taking two of their tours in just a few days! On Monday, I did the Life Behind the Iron Curtain tour with Oliwia, and it was so fascinating and well done that I signed up for their Historic Heart of Warsaw tour on Wednesday with Agnieszka. Both tour guides were fantastic storytellers who really knew how to make history come alive. They shared so many interesting stories that kept me engaged the whole time, and they gave great insight into Polish culture. I didn’t feel like a tourist—I genuinely felt immersed in the city’s rich history and culture. Oliwia’s tour gave me a powerful look at life in Poland during the Iron Curtain years, while Agnieszka’s tour brought the historic heart of Warsaw to life with amazing details and behind-the-scenes stories. Each tour was a different experience but equally captivating. If you want to go beyond the usual sightseeing and truly understand the soul of Warsaw, I highly recommend Warsaw Undiscovered. These tours were enjoyable and really opened my eyes to the city’s history in a way that stuck with me.

Very informative and enjoyable. Interesting to hear individual stories from that time. I would thoroughly recommend this tour.

I learned a lot during this tour that shows us what life was like during the communist era from the perspective of the common man or woman. Our guide was highly knowledgeable, witty, and engaging. One of the top tours I've been on!

Terrific tour with Olivia - we learned so much about life behind the Iron Curtain and appreciated the old photos and map she shared. Olivia made what could have been a boring tour really quite interesting. We enjoyed Olivia’s personal anecdotes and her dry sense of humor. If I am able to visit Warsaw again I will definitely sign up for one of the other tours Olivia leads - we just ran out of time in this trip!

Olivia’s Life Behind the Iron Curtain walking tour was fascinating. I learned a lot and found it interesting to compare how each country managed things differently during that time- after doing similar tours in other countries. Highly recommend!

It was a great tour, led by a kind and knowledgeable tour guide who taught me lots. I would highly recommend. Thanks very much for a great morning!

Olivia is excellent. We learned a lot from her. Sharing some about her family's experience really made this tour so much better and more relevant. She knows her subject from a lot of different perspectives.

This walk was excellent- informative, interesting and sometimes funny. Our guide showed us how different life was under the communist umbrella and what a challenge it was to change into a modern democratic society. I highly recommend it.

Oliwia is a brilliant tour guide. Every time we visit a new city on holiday, we go on a walking tour and Oliwia is one of the best (if not the best). She loves Warsaw and her passion for it is infectious. We went on 3 tours (Praga, Historic Heart and Life Behind the Iron Curtain) with her. The city has quite a history and a lot of character and each tour brought different aspects to life and helped us make sense of Poland and its people. She covers a lot as you walk and has an excellent knowledge of many different topics, answering our many questions. She has a personal connection to the city too which brings added relevance. She’s informative, fluent in English and also a lot of fun (with a dry wit) and can adapt, as we saw, to the variety of people who join her tours. We would definitely recommend her to anyone visiting the city and, based on our enjoyment of the city as a direct result of meeting Oliwia, we will definitely be back for more! Thank you.

Olivia, our guide, did a great job. She showed details you would never noticed by yourself. Her stories were hearttouching. Happy to be able to share this valuable insights. Dziekuje, Olivia!

Fabulous tour with Agneska who really brought the group together (6 people from 3 different countries and of ages 25 to 71) , encouraged questions and discussion, and as well as giving lots of information about Communism she also delved into Polish people's attitudes to it and how these have or are changing with different generations. And some background social history too. Fascinating and highly recommended.

Our tour with Oliwia was just wonderful. It was so interesting to learn more about communism and the struggle for survival. I have a whole new appreciation for what they went through and their toughness. She was a real pro - balancing the history with humor. Highly recommend. I took many other photos along her tour but I don’t want to spoil what she shared. Just go! If you’re worried about understanding her English, don’t! It’s perfect!

Our guide was great. She really showed me what it was like back then. I wouldn’t have been able to live that way.

This is an excellent guided tour! We feel so lucky to have found Warsaw Undiscovered. Oliwia is an excellent guide, not only because she is a local with extended knowledge of the history and speaks native-level English, but also because she has an authentic way to narrate and can answer thoroughly all questions. Highly recommended and I would attend their other tours next time I would be in Warsaw. Dziekuje!

I took a number of tours over a week in Warsaw - and this one stands out as the best. Not only was Olivia extremely knowledgeable and entertaining, but I never would have appreciated the places we visited on my own, let alone found them. The Iron Curtain era in Poland is still very recent and many sites remain, although some are in altered forms. Understanding life behind the Iron Curtain helps understand Poland as it is today.

I’ve spent over a week in Warsaw and taken a number of tours, the “The Life Behind the Iron Curtain” walking tour was the highlight. Olivia was both knowledgeable and entertaining, and the sites were one’s I would never find, let alone appreciate, on my own. The tour covers an important era in Poland’s history that lets you better understand the country as it is today.

An excellent tour! Our guide Olivia explained some of the history of the communist era, showing us buildings and telling how they are used today. A perfect length of tour without too much walking.

A real eye opener on what It was like to live in Poland during this period bought to life by the stories of everyday people.

Olivia, our guide was fantastic! Her description of life behind the iron curtain included her own family's history, which made the whole experience even more relatable. She pointed out signs on the streets and buildings, described their importance and relevance, which any tourist would normally miss. It was a very memorable experience.

The tour of Communist Warsaw was excellent! Agnieszka was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about her subject. She is also a very warm individual with whom it was easy to connect. In fact, the tour was so good, I took the tour of the Jewish history of Warsaw the next day.

A dynamic and well informed guide. In all an excellent tour providing an overall historical perspective and many small details of life in Warsaw during the communist period.

Very interesting tour on a topic not covered by many. Stories told in a creative and respectful manner. Would highly recommend.

An incredibly insightful tour. I learned so much and will now be touring Warsaw with a different lense. Oliwia was a fantastic guide, and her personal family connections to the past were helpful to personalize and further understand how communism affected the average Polish citizen. I booked this tour on a whim, and I’m so glad I did. Don’t hesitate to do the same!

Oliwia Is outgoing and made the tour fun and interesting. She is very knowledgeable about the topic, and even though she was very young when her family left Warsaw during communism, she had a wealth of information from her parents and grandparents. She gave insight into how life under communism is still impacting those who lived through it, and how the change to life after the fall of the USSR has progressed.

Whether you like story or not this tour is a must if you are visiting Warsaw. It’s incredible how communism affected so many layers and dimensions of the polish society, with elements that remain even today. All this was explained with such passion and attention to detail by Agnieszka. She showed and shared so many stories and facts about the communist period, even with some family and personal experiences that made it super authentic and personal. From times it feels like traveling for an instant to that period of time and you really empathize with all the difficulties and hard times that the polish society had to face… If you are not already convinced I don’t know what else would 😁. Can’t stop recommending it, thanks a lot Agnieszka and Oliwia for the amazing work!

Aga is the best! You will come away educated, amused, and grateful to have spent time with this bright and knowledgeable young lady. She has a local’s behind the scenes insights and shares. She will readily customize her tour to your needs.

We've just finished the tour with Agnieszka and it's the first time I write a review immediately after finishing the tour...this is how good it was!! If you are looking for a knowledgeable, funny, understanding and professional tour guide do not look any further and book a tour with Warsaw UnDiscovered! The "behind the iron curtain" tour was fantastic, we've got so much information and it really helped us understand polish society better. Agnieszka, our your guide, was fabulous!

Excellent tour, a super nice and fun Guide, with excellent knowledge, I fully recommend this tour, you really know a little more about the history of this city.