Muzeum Łowiectwa i Jeździectwa

What to Expect

Most tourists come to Lazienki for the Palace on the Isle and the Chopin Monument. The Museum of Hunting and Horsemanship is the museum they walk past — tucked into the southern part of the park, housed in two historic buildings from the 1820s, requiring a separate ticket and drawing no crowds. This is a mistake, because for thirty zloty (or one zloty if you are a student under twenty-six, or nothing on Fridays) you get one of the most unusual museum experiences in Warsaw.

The museum is spread across two buildings: the Cantonists’ Barracks (1826–1828) and the Kubicki Stables (1825–1826). In the Barracks — five exhibitions. The “Polish Hunting Room of the 19th and 20th Century” is a reconstructed noble interior with trophies, hunting firearms, and paintings tied to the hunting culture of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. “In the Field and in the Woods” splits into two parts: Forest (taxidermied forest mammals, ecosystem dioramas, rare and endangered species) and Birds (an ornithological collection of Polish habitat species). “Eyeball to Eyeball” displays exotic hunting trophies from beyond Europe. “Hunting Stories from Ancient Times to the Era of John III Sobieski” connects Polish traditions to the broader European noble hunting context.

In the Kubicki Stables, renovated between 2019 and 2021, two exhibitions. The Zbigniew Prus-Niewiadomski Coach House: a collection of horse-drawn carriages, sleighs, saddles, and riding accessories from the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Each vehicle is a time capsule — craftsmanship, social status, travel from the age before automobiles. Next door — the Royal Weaving Manufactory: nineteenth-century Jacquard looms and ornamental fabrics from the royal textile workshop. This is the only place in Warsaw where you will see working looms of this type.

Why are these subjects in one museum? Because Lazienki is historically a royal hunting ground — the place where Polish monarchs hunted for centuries. Hunting and horsemanship are the twin pillars of szlachta (Polish nobility) culture, and in this park they find their natural context.

Tips

• Tickets: 30 PLN regular, 15 PLN reduced. Children over 7 and students under 26: 1 PLN. Children under 7 free. Large Family Card: 20 PLN (adults). Fridays are free (individual visits).
• Combined Lazienki ticket (Palace on the Isle + Old Orangery + Myslewicki Palace + Stables + Barracks): 60 PLN regular. Worth it if you plan to explore the full park.
• Hours change seasonally. Winter (Oct-Apr): Tue-Wed 9:00–16:00, Thu-Sat 10:00–18:00, Sun 10:00–16:00. Summer (May-Sep): Tue-Wed 10:00–17:00, Thu-Fri 10:00–18:00, Sat 12:00–20:00, Sun 10:00–16:00. Summer Saturdays stay open until 20:00.
• Ticket office closes 50 minutes before the building.
• Two buildings, short walk apart — next to each other in the park, but you will need to step outside.
• Budget 40–60 minutes for both buildings. This is not a large museum.
• Wheelchair access: Partial. The Barracks has ramps (ground floor), the Stables has wheelchair platforms (installed after the 2019–2021 renovation). Upper floors of the historic buildings have limitations.
• Strollers: Yes, on ground floors. Park paths are paved.
• Photography allowed without flash. Tripods and professional equipment require written permission.
• Large bags, rucksacks, umbrellas must be left in the free cloakroom.
• Air-conditioned — a welcome escape on hot days.
• Chopin on Sundays: From May to September, free piano concerts take place at the Chopin Monument — a few minutes’ walk from the museum.
• Taxidermy note. If the sight of mounted animals bothers you, the Cantonists’ Barracks exhibitions are not for you.

Getting There

Bus: Mysliwiecka/Szwolezerow stops (lines 108, 162) — closest to the entrance. Plac Na Rozdrozu (lines 116, 151, 166, 180, 195, 222) — 10–15 minutes walk into the park. Rozbrat (lines 138, 143, 151, 182, 187, 188) — from Trasa Lazienkowska.

Tram: Lines 4, 10 — stops on al. Ujazdowskie / Trasa Lazienkowska.

Metro: Politechnika station (M1 line) — approximately 1.2 km, 15 minutes on foot west through the park. The bus is more convenient.

Walking within the park: From the Palace on the Isle — 6 minutes. From the Chopin Monument — 7 minutes. From CSW Ujazdowski Castle — 10 minutes south.

Bicycle: Veturilo (public bike) stations on streets surrounding the park. Cycling is not permitted inside the park.

Nearby Museums

Background

The idea for a hunting museum emerged in the 1970s. The Polish Hunting Association negotiated with Professor Stanislaw Lorentz, director of the National Museum, who suggested locating it at the Royal Lazienki — historically known as the royal hunting grounds. A separate initiative for a horsemanship museum developed in parallel. In 1982, the decision was made to merge both projects.

The Museum of Hunting and Horsemanship opened on 1 July 1983 with Tomasz Konarski — a painter — as its first director. Early exhibitions were held at the Polish Hunting Association headquarters on Nowy Swiat street while the intended buildings were being renovated. The first permanent exhibition, “Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter,” opened in the Cantonists’ Barracks in 1985.

The buildings themselves carry their own history. The Cantonists’ Barracks were built between 1826 and 1828 as military barracks housing young army recruits. The Kubicki Stables, designed by architect Jakub Kubicki, were built in 1825–1826 as royal stables — a horseshoe-shaped plan with a two-storey central section. Both stand in the southern part of the Royal Lazienki complex.

In 2018 the museum became a branch of the Royal Lazienki Museum — previously it had been an independent institution. Between 2019 and 2021, the Kubicki Stables underwent a thorough renovation, reopening with the Coach House and the Royal Weaving Manufactory exhibition brought to modern display standards. Today the museum holds over ten thousand exhibits — hunting firearms, taxidermy, carriages, equestrian equipment, textiles, and art connected to centuries of Polish noble culture.