After years spent on the fringes of conscience, the Wisła is back in flavor and Warsaw’s new social hub…

Behold, the Wisla! Not the most majestic of rivers, but a river nonetheless. And one that’s come a long way in a short time. Unloved and underdeveloped, it’s not that long back you’d have mistaken it for the city’s official sewer. Now though, the wild riverbank has been transformed into a social hub, a must-visit for night owls and sun seekers.

True, attempts have been made before to inject it with some (night)life, and those who remember the 00s will recall the wooden beer huts that would mushroom on the Wisła’s edge each summertime. But this was territory contested by roaming psychos and Mr. Muscle thugs. In contrast, the river today is positively inclusive.

Temat Rzeka was the sensation of last summer, with nowhere else in Europe having more internet check-ins. And the success of last year has once more been revived by a busy calendar of events. But to catch the moment, visit Plażowa nearby. Based around a sleek, oblong structure that sits in the glow of the National Stadium, it’s the see and be scene space of July. Who cares if much of the beer tastes like it could have been siphoned from the river, many just turn up with their own carry-outs to enjoy a moonlit drink on the sands outside. With rugged scrub on one side, and Warsaw’s party people on the other, it’s a heady mix that defines summer in the city.

Temat Rzeka & Plażowa

Under Poniatowskiego Bridge