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A view of the Palace of Culture and Sciences. Credit Ilvy Njiokiktjien for The New York Times

In the 11 and a half years since Poland ascended to the European Union, its capital city has already been through several spin cycles of hype and letdown. Yet with its expanding arts and night-life scenes and recent slate of high-profile architectural projects and museum openings, Warsaw is finally growing into its aspirations as Eastern Europe’s culture capital. Today, concept stores, galleries and cocktail bars abound, and in 2013, the Warsaw restaurant Atelier Amaro even brought Poland its first Michelin star. The next Berlin it probably isn’t, but Warsaw seems finally to be coming into its own.

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    Dinner at the Inn Under the Red Hog, a restaurant filled with Soviet-era kitsch. Credit Ilvy Njiokiktjien for The New York Times
    Friday

    1. ­History Lessons, 3 p.m.

    Take a detour through the taffy-colored reconstructed Stare Miasto, or Old Town, on your taxi ride to the Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews, an ambitious 43,000-square-foot structure that opened in 2013 on the site of the former Warsaw Ghetto. The museum’s fascinating core exhibit, which opened to the public last October, uses multimedia, artifacts, replicas and interactive tools to tell the history of Poland’s Jews from their arrival in the Middle Ages through the Holocaust and beyond. The story is largely tragic: Poland was once the most diverse country in Europe, home to some 3.5 million Jews at the outbreak of World War II; today, Jews in Poland are thought to number around 25,000. Yet the museum is part of a larger resurgence of interest in the country’s Jewish past and an impressive contribution to global scholarship on both Jewish and Polish history. Entrance is 10 zloty, or about $2.60 at 3.85 zloty to the dollar. Audio guides cost 25 zloty and are highly recommended.

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    Duck at The Inn Under the Red Hog. Credit Ilvy Njiokiktjien for The New York Times

    2. ­­Eat Like an Apparatchik, 8 p.m.

    If it were to be believed in full, the apocryphal story of the origins of the Inn Under the Red Hog would make the restaurant a historical monument to rival any in Poland. Housed in a preserved Realist pavilion filled with opulent Soviet-era kitsch, the lively restaurant claims to be the successor of an inn of the same name that opened in Medieval times and later became a favorite meeting spot for Communist leaders and visiting dignitaries, including Lenin, Fidel Castro, Leonid Brezhnev and Mao Zedong. It was here, goes the legend, that the party elite gorged on forbidden delicacies and plotted the new world order. Playing on this theme, the menu is divided into two categories, “for the proletariat” (sauerkraut and wild mushroom pierogies with a steaming mug of borscht, for instance, for 38 zlotys) and “for the bourgeoisie” (herb-marinated roast duck with apple, stewed beetroot and cherry sauce for 59 zloty). Reservations recommended.

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    Bar Studio, at the Palace of Culture and Sciences. Credit Ilvy Njiokiktjien for The New York Times

    3. ­­Stalinist Nightcap, 11 p.m.

    Have a cocktail under massive Corinthian columns with Warsaw’s slouchy art-school set at Bar Studio, which opened four years ago in the Palace of Culture and Sciences, a colossal wedding-cake-style gift from Stalin that still dominates Warsaw’s skyline. When the Palace was built in the 1950s over a city still mostly in ruins, many considered it an ugly symbol of Moscow’s tyranny. Later, it became a thriving public cultural center, hosting museums, theaters and concerts by the likes of the Rolling Stones (one of the first major Western rock concerts behind the Iron Curtain). Today, in addition to several bars and cafes, the LED-lighted Palace hosts a multiplex cinema, museums, shops and an accredited university.

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  3. Saturday

    4. ­­French Breakfast, 11 a.m.

    Charlotte, a French cafe and bakery that opened in 2011 on rounded Savior Square (called “hipster square” in the local press), quickly became the go-to brunch spot for Warsaw’s style-conscious upper crust. The urbane atmosphere and delicious house-made breads and pastries make it easy to see why. Try Charle’s Breakfast: a basket of fresh-baked, perfectly soft-and-crusty bread served with homemade preserves and chocolate, one egg, a cappuccino and a glass of sparkling Beltoure — a steal at 25 zloty.

    5. ­­Art Crawl, 2 p.m.

    Over the past decade, Warsaw’s art scene has consistently grown in size and stature. Though the city lacks a proper gallery district, some of the most interesting places lie within walking distance of one another. Lokal_30, an experimentally minded gallery and project space that represents both emerging artists and bigger names like the filmmaker Jozef Robakowski, operated for seven years out of a tiny apartment before moving in 2013 to a larger space. Just around the corner, Galeria Grafiki i Plakatu (Graphic Art and Poster Gallery) offers a good overview of the influential Polish Poster School, while down the street, the commercial gallery Raster is one of Poland’s top incubators for young talent, representing the likes of the Surrealist sculptor Olaf Brzeski and the photographer Aneta Grzeszykowska. And Warsaw’s art scene has a lot to look forward to: In September, the architect Thomas Phifer finally unveiled his plan for the stunning new quarters of the Museum of Modern Art and TR Warszawa theater building complex, set for completion in 2020.

    6. ­­Home-Sewn Fashions, 5 p.m.

    Opened in 2012, Mysia 3 is an “alternative department store,” housing a curated crop of Polish and international brands (COS, Muji, Leica) across five floors. Browse the cutout dresses and oversize blazers by independent Polish designers at Moda Polska, or pick out a piece of delicate handmade jewelry made from repurposed metals at Orska.

    7. ­­Polish Molecular, 8 p.m.

    Atelier Amaro opened in 2012 to great acclaim, and within months, its rarefied style of molecular Polish gastronomy brought the country its first Michelin star. The chef Wojciech Modest Amaro has worked with the culinary minds behind El Bulli and Noma, and this heady lineage shows in dishes like savoy cabbage with pine vinegar and bison grass oil, served with saffron milk cap mushrooms fried in butter with peach tea and Emilgrana cheese. Diners can chose between a set of five or eight courses (or “moments,” as they’re called here) for 260 or 320 zloty respectively, though only the eight-moment option is available on Friday and Saturday nights. Bear in mind that the acclaim for Atelier Amaro means the 30-seat restaurant is usually fully booked at least a month out, so reservations are essential.

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    Women at The View Warsaw, a new V.I.P. club on the 28th floor of a skyscraper. Credit Ilvy Njiokiktjien for The New York Times

    8. ­Nightclubbing, 11 p.m.

    Warsaw’s club scene continues to punch above its weight, and visitors will never lack for a dance floor. You’ll find hip-hop, grime and electronic music at Milosc Kredytowa 9, which spills out into a stately courtyard on the street of the same name. Or, for a truly surreal experience, walk the farcically long red carpet through the lobby of The View Warsaw, a V.I.P. club that opened this summer on the 28th floor of a skyscraper, where you’ll be greeted by an EDM-soundtracked rooftop phantasmagoria of spiked heels and designer suits. If all else fails, do as the Varsovians do and go dancing at Plan B, an affably rowdy dive bar above Charlotte on Savior Square. Entry is free at Plan B and costs 20 zloty at The View, with tables starting at 800 zloty for four people.

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    The Neon Muzeum. Credit Ilvy Njiokiktjien for The New York Times
    Sunday

    9. ­Neon Memories, Noon

    Head across the Vistula River to the industrial Praga district, where many former factories now house a range of art spaces, independent shops and music venues. In the Soho Factory arts complex, the Neon Muzeum began as a 2005 documentary project on Poland’s Cold War neon signage and has since grown into one of Warsaw’s most interesting cultural institutions. The largest of its kind in Europe, the neon collection offers a fascinating look at the intersection of art and social organization in the Polish People’s Republic and serves as an accessibly illuminating entry point into the country’s postwar history.

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    A dish at Warszawa Wschodnia Restaurant Credit Ilvy Njiokiktjien for The New York Times

    10. ­­Modern Lunch, 2 p.m.

    Grab a bar seat around the open kitchen at Warszawa Wschodnia Restaurant by Mateusz Gessler, which opened in November 2012 in the Soho Factory complex, for some French-inflected new Polish cuisine. The Polish fare, such as a hearty bouillon-boiled beef with horseradish sauce (46 zloty), tends to be better than the French (skip the overworked beef tartar for 39 zloty). Mr. Gessler, a celebrity chef and former night-life entrepreneur behind the popular, now-defunct Cinnamon nightclub, can usually be seen rushing around the restaurant, chatting with diners and helping out in the kitchen.

  5. Lodging

    Warsaw’s first boutique hotel, Hotel Rialto (Wilcza 73; rialto.pl), occupies an early-20th-century tenement house given a full Art Deco-style restoration. From 310 zloty.

    Opened in 1901 by the Polish composer and pianist Ignacy Paderewski, the grand, neo-Renaissance Hotel Bristol (Krakowskie Przedmiescie 42-44; hotelbristolwarsaw.pl) has hosted Pablo Picasso, Marlene Dietrich and Sophia Loren. From 540 zloty.