Drive me around Warsaw June 1?

Do you speak English and have a car? I have a layover in Warsaw 9AM-9PM and would like to be shown the city. If you're available - send an email to awerman2 AT hotmail (how much will it cost?)

You don't need a car to get around Warsaw. You must be American :)) There is a really efficient, if somewhat overcrowded public transport system, you can pretty much go door to door on the tram and central Warsaw is quite small. Going around Warsaw by car you will spend plenty of time stuck in traffic and then looking for parking etc. I know it's nicer to have company especially if your guide has local knowledge, but I would say take the bull by the horns and do it yourself.

The 'must see' things in my opinion would be the Stare Miasto (Old Town) which would include doing the tour of the Royal Palace. From there you can wander down Krakowskie Przedmiescie and Nowy Świat. On the way you should stop for coffee in either Blikle or Wedel. I would favour Wedel because it has a bit of a Viennese coffee house vibe and gives a sense of pre-war years. Then you can go on to Palac Kultury (one entrance charge but lots of the exhibits are separate charges once you get inside. You probably won't be interested in most of them but you can't really visit Warsaw and not at least take a peek inside), and the Royal Park of Łazienki (free). If you're Jewish you might want to take a look some things of related interest but regardless of that you should also visit the Warsaw Uprising museum. If you want to get a flavour of 'real Warsaw' go the Hala Mirowska markets which are not far from the centre. Also while in the city centre you can take a riverside walk and then get the little ferry (free of charge, goes every twenty mins or so) across the river to Saska Kępa, in Praga, one of the older parts of Warsaw that survived the war fairly intact. There's been a lot of redevelopment but there are still tree lined quiet streets with pretty villas that have retained the spirit of the pre-war years. If you have the energy you could go out to Wilanów to visit the palace there.

Here's a good online guide that covers a lot of the basic information you need:

inyourpocket.com/warsaw/sightseeing

Hope the sun shines on you all day and you have a lovely time!

Although I agree with atch that yes in warsaw you don't really need a car to get around id still recommend getting a driver or cab if ur only going to be in the city for like 12 hours (really 10 by the time you get yours bags, get your bearings, then check back in upon returning back to the airport). You don't want to get lost in a foreign city especially if you don't speak the language trying to navigate their public trans system (weirdly enough NYC has by far the most confusing I've ever experienced) miss your flight, and mess up your travel plans. Although it is manageable if you chose this route.

You can find some taxi driver that is willing to drive you around for a few hours off the meter. I doubt it should cost you much more than maybe $10 to $20 an hour. I'm not sure if they have ridesharing like uber or lyft in Poland but that can be another option. Oftentimes its far cheaper and more personal than a metered taxi.

Another option due to your limited time schedule is prioritizing perhaps 2 or 3 main sites you want to see and plan the route well so you have enough time to get back to your flight. I would definitely put lazienki palace at the topic of the list. With enough planning you can do the public trans system. I personally would prefer to be driven by a local tour guide in his/her car or even cab but that's just me.

Layovers are a great way to get a sense of a city or even country especially if you plan to return or are on the fence about devoting several nights on a certain spot. Everyone I fly with complains about having to wait at an airport for x hours but I always take it as an opportunity especially to go sightsee if it's a long one.

Yes, but the big problem there is that he won't speak much English, if any at all. I agree that if the OP plans a route in advance he won't get lost. Warsaw is just not that big and if he really gets confused he can always take the taxi option at any time and ask to be taken back to the centre or indeed to the airport.

Warsaw sight-seeing city bus will take you to top tourist attractions.
city-sightseeing.pl/en
Buses run every 60 minute all year round (there is blue line and red line). You can hop on hop off at any stop within the 24-hour or 48-hour ticket.

That's a brilliant idea! Hope the OP checks back here instead of twiddling his thumbs waiting for an email.

If someone would like a guide/driver/English speaker, you should expect to pay $ 70 USD per hour in Warsaw, that would be the going rate. You are paying for the car and driver/translator at a fixed hourly rate irrespective of one person or four.

$70 an hour for a driver? I don't think so man. Even the chaffeuer companies here charge $36 an hour to drive you around in a new mercedes s class. 70 zloty maybe but not 70 dollars.

Ok, here's a price for you. 'First time in Warsaw' private tour, 8 hours duration, by car and foot, 270 US dollars plus lunch plus admission charges to museums etc.

Would you drive him around? Its kind of a strange place to look for a ride??

I suppose you could jump out at stop light......lol

Not me, it was an ad on the internet. Dirk was speculating about the cost of it so I found an example. I've noticed before that the prices of private tours/day trips are pretty outrageous. They seem to be mostly targeted at American visitors .

That's actually a pretty standard international price for like an 8 hour tour even cheap when compared to some other places. So yeah 270 / 8 = 33.75 hourly roughly the same cost of a chaffeuer service here. You're paying for someone who is bi or tri lingual and has an intimate knowledge of warsaw and not shy speaking. Plus they most likely are part of a company rather than just a private individual hence driving up the cost.

What surprised me when I booked my flight for my upcoming trip is that business class for 2 ppl round trip cost $14k. And yet those were the last two seats available! The seats I got a literally like 3 rows behind business yet still cost 3.2k round trip for 2 ppl. When I booked a flight in February it was almost half the cost.

Atch if you are booking for the day hire it will cost you, 260-280 USD for car/driver speaking + lunch and drinks for the driver guide another 20-30 USD on the day rate.