Are you looking for somewhere indoors to go to entertain your small kids in Warsaw? Somewhere to escape the rain, cold or heat? These are the places we found during our time there!
We spent 2 weeks in Warsaw in summer.
And it rained.
Every single day.
Sometimes in the afternoon it would clear and we could venture out to an outdoor playground, but for the most part we were stuck indoors.
I had to find ways to entertain two energetic boys - an 11-month-old and a 3-year-old - while staying in a small Air BnB apartment.
I struggled to find resources in English around what to do with young kids when it rains in Warsaw, so I have put together the below information to help if you find yourself in a similar situation.
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We walked everywhere, so this list is definitely not exhaustive if you venture further out. These are all walking distance from Rondo ONZ, where we stayed.
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This play centre is located inside the Złote Tarasy shopping mall and we visited quite a few times! It costs 18PLZ for one hour per child during the week and you have to wear socks. If you forget you must buy them (even parents who aren’t actually going in the play equipment).
There is a huge jungle gym, a ball pit, a trampoline and little buggy things that wee ones can drive around in. Our 3 year old loved it, but it was all a bit much for the baby. He was happy enough to crawl around and watch the bigger kids.
Apparently you can leave your kids there while you go off and do your shopping, as there were a few older kids there with no supervision (there was a woman at the front desk but she was most certainly not watching the kids!) but I didn’t do that with mine being so young.
There were no toilets or change tables in the play centre. I was told to use the toilets out in the mall, which were fine. I am not sure what happens if the unsupervised kids need to wee?
A shopping mall is generally a good option when it’s raining and the play centre was an added bonus! We would have a play, get some lunch and then head back to our apartment for a nap, it was a nice way to spend a rainy day in Warsaw.
This was a strange one.
I had read an article in a magazine about this restaurant, saying how child friendly it was and that it had an amazing play space and held events like kids cooking classes. It sounded like a perfect place for us to spend a rainy afternoon!
When I arrived with my two boys, we did not receive a friendly welcome, so much so that I thought we must have been in the wrong place!
Although it was a weekday lunchtime, the place was fairly empty, and our waiter seated us all the way at the back of the restaurant, far from anywhere else. He sat us there and then didn’t come back.
After waiting a while, I went up to the staff at the front door and explained that we’d like to order and they sent the same guy back again. He didn’t seem too happy about it.
They had a children’s menu and the food was all really good and fresh. Once we ordered it came out quickly and what we weren’t able to finish was packaged up for us to take home.
After we’d eaten I asked our less-than-enthusiastic waiter where the children’s play area was and he took us upstairs, through more of this huge restaurant, until we eventually arrived at an awesome play area. One of the best I have ever seen in a restaurant!
There was a big kitchen set up where they run their children's cooking classes. The main drawcard for us was the huge ball pit and slide!
It was spotless and we had the entire space to ourselves. We spent a heavenly time there sliding and swimming about in the balls. With no other big kids there rough-housing (which is usually the case in these types of play areas) my little ones had the time of their lives.
I guess it was a blessing that our waiter was so offended by our existence, as he never came back so I didn’t feel like we had to leave after any particular time.
Would I recommend coming here? Yes! The food was great and the play area was so much fun (I imagine it’s way more hectic on weekend though). Just be prepared for some surly service!
This cafe is amazing!
It was created by two mums, so they know exactly what kids want. We spent an entire rainy day there, having had it recommended to us by a random mum in a playground.
The food was great! There was no English menu, so I took a stab at choosing and ended up with a pretty good ciabatta with hummus and grilled veggies. They have a healthy kids’ menu, high chairs and fully equipped baby change table.
The seating space was a little bit cramped, but we have a Mountain Buggy Nano stroller, which folds up tiny, so we had no issues bringing it inside. It was noisy - full of mums (no dads at all!) and their kids who were having a great time, which I loved as my boys are super noisy in cafes too!
The main draw-card was their play area. It is split into three sections and had enough to entertain my boys for hours. So long in fact that I ordered afternoon tea as well as lunch - an amazing chocolate cake, I’d go back just for that!
The first section is for the littlest visitors - up to two years old. There was a mother’s group in there with their tiny babies, so we didn’t stay for long.
Even though my baby wasn’t yet one, he was a big chunka who loved to wrestle. The other babies looked so tiny compared to him! It was full of lovely toys for little ones, everything looked very clean and new.
There was so much to see and do and you could tell that a lot of thought had gone into creating the space to be fun, physical and educational.
We didn't see the third section, but it is a racing car simulator for older kids.
In the cafe space there is a library with books and games that you are able to borrow while you’re there. These were all in Polish, as you’d expect, but I thought that was a really nice touch.
They also run a whole bunch of classes and activities for kids of all ages there - music, languages, dance, yoga. Such a great place if you live nearby!
Do you have any more indoor play areas in Warsaw to add to the list? I’d love to hear of anymore that you know about!