Ok so here's a lazy person's travel hack that actually works: bus route 180 from metro wilanowska to centrum is basically a free city tour that goes past literally all the main sights. Royal route, lazienki park, university area, old town approach - the works. Costs 4.40 pln instead of those awful hop-on-hop-off tourist buses that charge 60+ pln and make you stand around listening to terrible multilingual commentary.

Full route takes about 45 minutes and you actually get to sit down like a normal human being. The bus runs every 10-15 minutes during the day so you're not stuck waiting around forever. Sit on the right side (heading toward centrum) for better views of the parks and palace areas. Gets you oriented without having to walk miles on your first day.

Best part is you can hop off anywhere that looks interesting and catch the next bus - unlike those tourist bus things where you're committed to their weird schedule. Wilanów palace area is worth a stop if you have time, or just stay on until nowy świat and start your walking tour from there. Way more civilized than trying to navigate on foot when you're jet lagged and confused.

Pro tip: download the jakdojade app for real-time bus tracking because warsaw public transport is actually reliable but the app makes it stress-free. Also works for trams and metro so you're not that tourist staring confused at bus stop signs.