Arriving at the main doors at the north end of the building, you will be met by the centre’s very own Robothespian. A fully programmable humanoid robot, the Robothespian was developed in Britain by the Eden Project in Cornwall. He speaks, interacts, mimics and performs, and visitors can prompt him to make a number of sounds, speech and movements by the adjacent control panel. This will keep the kids busy while you queue at the central ticket desk where you will be given a set of credit card-style entrance passes. You should keep hold of these as not only do they allow you to enter and exit the building throughout the day, but they will also become your ID card as you move through the exhibitions, many of which allow you to record your results (which are stored and then emailed to you afterwards).

Passing through the barriers, the first display you come to is a huge swinging ball. The ball swings backwards and forwards, periodically knocking over mallets that strike a bell as they fall. These bells are lined up around the swinging ball in a circle and although the ball swings in a straight line backwards and forwards, the knocking over of the mallets proves that the earth is constantly, actually rotating.

Having admired this, the interactive exhibitions begin. First of all, register your card with your name and email address at one of the terminals so that you will be identified as you progress through the CSC. You currently have over 350 experiments to visit, spread over two floors and six areas: Roots of Civilisation, Bzzz! (for preschool children) and RE:generation (for young adults) on the ground floor, and Humans and the Environment, LightZone and On the Move located upstairs. Each area demonstrates a range of phenomenon by way of experiments, button pressing, quizzes and in some cases physical exertion with the aim of helping you to discover the secrets of the world around us.

Not only will you learn an awful lot, but the place is great fun, especially if you are (or are with) a child. There’s a genuine flying carpet, you can pilot a spaceship, take a picture of your own eye (and then try to recognise it among the others photographed that day), discover who or what is living next to us in a major city, get involved in some crime solving or - and this was our favourite - try to outdo animals at their own game by out-hanging an Orangutan or beating a hippo in a race at the arena. There’s plenty to do and you can easily spend a whole morning or afternoon there trying everything, particularly if you stumble on a day free of the ever-present school groups. 

Additional hands-on activities geared especially towards teens can be found in the Re: generation Zone, where visitors over 14 can experiment with psychology, sociology, economics or biotechnology through 80 multimedia exhibits – we swear we’ve never seen teens more effusive and excited as they tried to identify a monkey’s emotions, or finish lyrics to popular songs. There’s also four interactive labs dealing with chemistry, biology, physics and robotics that offer supervised experiments for kids over 13 (instructions are in Polish however) and an outdoor Discovery Park filled with installations lining the Wisła. 

The attached Heavens of Copernicus planetarium adds yet another option for visiting science buffs as it immerses attendees in 20 million stars thanks to a giant spherical screen that surrounds the 137 seats on all sides. The seven different 40-minute films (which require heads ets for English) are geared towards different age ranges and interests – tots will delight in the Sesame Street show “One World, One Sky” while teens will prefer the more mysterious “Black Holes: Journey into the Unknown.” Before each film is a 20-minute live show (which is unfortunately only in Polish, though still interesting due to the impressive venue) about the skies over Warsaw that changes with the seasons .School groups dominate the Planetarium’s seats during daytime hours, and booking tickets in advance is highly recommended – when we dropped in only one of the eight daily shows had available space.

It’s easy to declare that the centre is well-worth a few hours of your time and will impress you with its design and range of experiments. Factor in the main floor cafeteria and the packed Science Store (potentially the best spot for children’s gifts in Warsaw) and it’s a one-stop day of fun. The staff is keen, very helpful and English-speaking; we saw many interacting happily with kids and helpfully controlling the chaos. If there is one gripe we have it would concern the Robotics show, which can be found inside the Roots of Civilisation section. The 20-minute show we saw told an embarrassingly bad story about a robot that wants to become human in order to marry a princess, and used language that seemed slightly out of reach for young children. The various accents can also be baffling (one robot sounds like a drunken Sean Connery) and the robots themselves are like stiff mannequins that move back and forth on a small track. Completely skippable.

Considering the size and scope of this operation, one minor flaw in an otherwise awe-inspiring complex is a feat unseen in Warsaw. And if truth be told, it would have been very hard to imagine such a potentially world-class visitor attraction being built in this city just a few years ago. Yet here it is, which ought to be worth an exhibit in and of itself about how the impossible can become possible.

Admission 22/13-16zł, family ticket 57zł. (2adults+2children). Use of the labs costs an additional 18/14zł. Note that you must buy a separate ticket for the Planetarium. Admission 18zł/11-14zł, family ticket 47zł.

Copernicus Science Centre comments Add Yours

• Sean Davis - Sopot 15 December 2010
  I went there on Sunday and while the family and I thoroughly enjoyed it, could someone point out to them that a 45 minute wait to get in is unnecessary. They appear to have built this wonderful centre without any consideration for, dare I say it, customers. There must have been over 50-70 people queuing when we got there but there are only 2 ticket points (if you don't include the one point where someone sits doing nothing as he only deals with previously arranged group bookings - there were none while we were waiting but that didn't stop him doing nothing). Because of the id card system which they use, and which serves as a very good souvenir, each customer/family takes a minimum of 3 minutes to serve which meant that the queues go very slowly. Also beware that at the moment there is nowhere to drink inside so you need to try to smuggle in some liquids if you have young children with you who are going to spend hours running around. I am sure it is going to be a fantastic place to visit one day but be warned that at the moment it is a work in progress.