A brochure (available in five languages) explains how the tour works. Black benches have been set up in front of places that Chopin frequented where you can push “play” and listen to one of the composer’s works.

The palace, the Chopin Salon, the café he hung out at, the botanical gardens and the belvedere—Chopin’s Warsaw years are illustrated through various sites and their architecture.

You can upload music from this 21st century pedestrian tour on your iPod or mobile phone at each stop, where explanations and descriptions are inscribed on the bench in both Polish and English.

At the Chopin Information Center, just in front of the Presidential Palace, there is an interactive multimedia/Internet stand where you can listen to interviews with Chopin lovers, who describe their impressions of the music that is playing. Photos accompany each musical excerpt, which you can listen to on headphones that are available just below the screen.

The City of Warsaw’s website offers an audioguide in several languages to complete your musical promenade. A great way to rediscover Chopin, even after 10 years of piano lessons.

by Isabelle Brigout
Photos © Isabelle Brigout

City of Warsaw website
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