Where to See Autumn Colours in Warsaw: Parks and Forests

Warsaw is one of the greenest capitals in Europe, and for a few weeks each year the city turns gold and rust. Because so much of that green is public - royal parks, municipal forests, river escarpment - the best displays cost nothing to see.

Saxon Garden

The Saxon Garden, the oldest public park in Poland, puts on some of the most photogenic colour in the centre, with mature specimen trees along its baroque alleys a short walk from Pilsudski Square. It is free and open around the clock.

Skaryszewski Park

Across the river, Skaryszewski Park in Praga Poludnie is often called the most beautiful park in Poland. Its lake, meadows and horse-chestnut and oak avenues make it a prime autumn walk, with the National Stadium on the skyline.

Bielany Forest

For real woodland inside the city, the Bielany Forest in the north is a nature reserve of old oak and hornbeam on the Vistula escarpment. In October the canopy turns across 130 protected hectares - the closest thing to a forest trip without leaving Warsaw.

Kabaty Woods

In the south, Kabaty Woods offers nearly 925 hectares of pine and mixed forest at the end of metro line M1. Its flat trails are the classic Warsaw autumn weekend: families, runners and mushroom-scented air.

When to go

Colour typically builds from early October, peaks around mid-to-late October and lingers into November, weather depending. Weekday mornings are quietest in the central parks; the forests absorb crowds even on sunny weekends.