Pole Mokotowskie

Pole Mokotowskie is a large, open park in central Warsaw, the kind of everyday green space where the city comes to run, cycle and picnic. It sits between the Mokotow, Ochota and Srodmiescie districts and covers roughly 70 hectares of lawns, paths and tree belts, with a pond and wide open ground rather than formal gardens.

This is a local park more than a sight, and that is the appeal. It is flat, open and easy, good for a run, a bike ride, a picnic on the grass or simply a break from the pavements. Families, students and dog walkers fill it in fine weather. If you want to see how Varsovians spend a free afternoon, this is a good place to do it.

The park is built for easy outdoor time:

• Running and walking on a network of paved and dirt paths.
• Cycling and inline skating on wide, separate lanes.
• Picnics on the open lawns.
• A pond, playgrounds and cafes around the edges.

The Polish National Library stands on one side of the park, and a monument to Polish airmen who fell in the Second World War stands within it.

The site was open ground on the edge of the growing city long before it was a park. Over the years it served as a military exercise field, a horse-racing course and, for a time, an early airfield, before it lost much of its original extent to building. The park as it is now was laid out in the 1970s and 1980s.

Half an hour for a stroll, or a couple of hours if you are running a loop, cycling or settling in for a picnic. There is no fixed route, so it is as long as you make it.

Late spring through early autumn is the busy, pleasant season. Weekends bring the biggest crowds; weekday mornings are quiet. It is open at all hours, though the paths are best in daylight.

The park is south-west of the centre. The M1 metro station Pole Mokotowskie sits at its edge, and trams and buses stop around the perimeter. For getting around the city, see the Warsaw guide.

The park suits an active day paired with other green space and the river:

• Lazienki Park, the royal park, a short ride east.
• The Vistula Boulevards, for a riverside walk or ride.
• Lazienki Krolewskie, if you want palaces and gardens as well as open lawns.

Yes. It is flat and open with a network of paths, and it is one of the most popular running spots in central Warsaw. You can put together loops of different lengths.

Yes. There are wide cycle lanes, separate from the footpaths, that also suit inline skating. The flat ground makes it easy for all levels.