Parts of the Old Town (Stare Miasto) may date from the 13th century, but it is really quite new. In a sense. It was razed, along with the rest of Warsaw, during the Second World War, but rebuilt – painstakingly by volunteers from around the country who answered the call to help – in the 1940s and 1950s and is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The volunteers used old plans and paintings (some by Canaletto, the Italian artist who was painter to the Polish court) to reconstruct the buildings and they sifted through the rubble for usable bricks, statues and pieces of facades.

These are some of the highlights:

The Square has lots of restaurants that serve traditional Polish food such as pierogi (dumplings with a variety of fillings; savory - meat, cheese, mushroom or potato, and sweet – blueberries, strawberries). The waitresses wear traditional dress. It’s touristy, but nice, and in the centre of the square is the statue of the mermaid, Warsaw’s ancient emblem, holding a shield and a sword defending the city.

The city walls (Barbakan) look too new, but offer a nice view. On the walls is the beautiful and sad statue of the Little Soldier in his too-big clothes and German helmet decorated with a red-and-white ribbon, the Polish colours. The statue represents the children who fought alongside their older brothers and sisters to free Poland during the Second World War.

St. John's Basilica (the Cathedral) and, beside it, the Jesuit church. The cathedral was used for coronations and its vaults are the final resting places for kings and several famous Poles.

The Castle. The renovation wasn't finished until the 1980s. The palace wasn’t just bombed, the German soldiers mined it just in case there was a pretender to the Polish throne hanging about. In the courtyard over the past weekend there was an exhibition of photographs of the late pope John Paul II, a very famous Pole indeed.

In the Castle Square is Warsaw’s oldest monument, the Zygmunt Pillar. King Zygmunt (Sigismund III) moved the capital of Poland from Krakow to Warsaw.

There are a couple of ways of getting around, apart from walking. There is a little train that starts its journey in Castle Square. It’s festooned with balloons and is a favourite with children. The other is by horse and carriage. There are quite a few of these docile beasts standing around patiently waiting for passengers.