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Best Things To Do in Wroclaw

Wrocław, pronounced “Rotes – slav”, is a beautiful Polish medieval city with a vibrant cultural scene. Looking at the restored buildings in the historic center one can imagine what life may have been like four or five hundred years ago, while sipping a nice Starbucks café latte macchiato!

The view from this café is incredible and, of course, free wifi is always enticing. But we weren’t in Poland to check the pulse of globalization; we were far more interested in getting out and walking the city, and finding the absolute best things to do in Wroclaw. Along our walk we found dwarfs galore  and an enormous 360 degree panorama painting, markets, museums, as well as the best pierogies I’ve ever eaten.

Plenty of things to do in Wroclaw, like sailing on the River Odra.
Sailboats catch the wind on the River Odra in Wroclaw, Poland.

It’s easy to see why Wroclaw was voted the Best European Destination of 2018! We totally agree. In fact, as you can see from our Poland travel blog and guide, we are just starting to scratch the surface of this large country. Even so, we’ve traveled to Wroclaw twice; the city has such a good vibe we just love going there. In fact, we are already talking about our next visit.

What to do in Wroclaw

Statues of two pigs, a goat, a hare, and a goose is the Memorial to Slaughtered Animals.
In an almost hidded cul de sac, called ul. Jatki, there is a Memorial to Slaughtered Animals. This small area is filled with souvenir and craft shops, and it is a great stop on your Wroclaw itinerary.

Tourist Information Center Wroclaw

We’ve written about the Wrocław dwarfs before and if you’re traveling with kids, you should go on the hunt. Since this is such a large part of your visit, we think your very first stop should be to pick up the map in the Tourist Center so you don’t miss a single statue.

They also will let you in on all the events happening in the city, plus they have a nice selection of souvenirs. You can find them right at the beginning of the main square, across from the cathedral.

Wroclaw Tourist Information Center Rynek 14, 50-101 Wrocław tel. + 48 71 3443 111 Open 9.00 – 21.00

Our Favorite Things to do in Wroclaw

Pastel colored buildings that are reminiscent of Medieval times line the squares in the center of Wroclaw.
Pastel colored buildings that are reminiscent of Medieval times line the squares in the center of Wroclaw.

Market Square Wroclaw – Rynek

If you followed our advice, you are already here, at the beautiful center of Wroclaw. From here you can visit so many different sights, but take the time to really enjoy your walk around. The square is lively at any time of the day with both tourists and locals out and about seeing and being seen.

The statues and fountains make it easy to spend time just gawking at all of the ornately decorated architecture. Pick one of the many sidewalk cafes and sit just to watch the world go by with a warm coffee or a cool ice cream.

Here are some of the tourist sights right on the Wroclaw market square:

The Wroclaw Cathedral.
The Wroclaw Cathedral

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

Check out the stunning wooden carvings on the door as well as the largest organ in Poland. You can also climb one of the towers for a few zloty to have a fantastic view of the city.

Piwnica Świdnicka

Piwnica Świdnicka, located in the Town Hall cellars, is one of the oldest restaurants in Europe. Delve into the underground vaults and explore the traditional Polish menu. There might be better places to eat in town, but none with the history and splendor of Piwnica Świdnicka.

Hansel and Gretel House is one of the things to see in Wroclaw.
Hansel and Gretel House, whimsical and pink, should be on your to do list.

John and Margaret House

These two houses, better known as the Hansel and Gretel house, are connected by an archway. They are a great little photo stop, but you can also enter them and see an exhibit about one of their artists, Eugeniusz Get-Stankiewicz. You can see his bust on one of the outer walls. There is also a small pub here worthy of a quick stop for a little libation.

Hala Targowa Market in central Wroclaw.
Hala Targowa Market in central Wroclaw. There’s nothing like exploring a bustling market.

Markets

There are plenty of markets all over the city with special markets in summer and winter offering traditional craft items right on the Rynek. Nearby, you should treat your senses to a walk through the flower market that takes up a bit of the Plac Solny (the old Salt Market). It is full of brilliant blooms and testy saleswomen. They don’t mind you taking photos, but only touch and smell if you plan on buying.

Hala Targowa

A more traditional all-day indoor market, the Hala Targowa is easy walking distance from Rynek and will take you right back to Soviet times (with a lot more availability of goods, I’m sure). It’s big, cement, surprisingly full of light, and has all the stalls you would expect.

We love watching the fishmongers and butchers preparing their goods for the customers, and who doesn’t love the vibrant and huge variety of pickled items you can find here.

Hala Targowa Piaskowa 17, 50-359 Wrocław, Poland Mon. – Fri.  8:00-18:30; Sat. 9:00-15:00

Square in front of Wroclaw's Old Town Hall.
The Old Town Hall, which houses the city’s art museum, should be one of the first things on your Wroclaw itinerary…You won’t want to miss it.

Wroclaw Museums

The City Museum of Wroclaw is made up of seven branches showcasing a variety of aspects of Wroclaw culture. The full list of venues includes museums for history, art, theater, archaeology, military, medallic and cemetery art. Exhibits for the branches are displayed in three of the most significant buildings in the old town.

The Royal Palace house the Historical, Theater, and Medallic Museums. The Museum for Bourgeois Art is in the old Town Hall, while the 15th century City Arsenal is the venue for the Military and Archaeology Museums.

The Cemetery Art branch is found in the old Jewish cemetery. Our favorite museums are listed below, do try to get to each of the venues, if for no other reason than to visit these incredible locales.

Old Town Hall – Museum of Bourgeois Art

This building is my favorite in all of Wroclaw; it’s so pretty. Then to put in it the museum with the best name ever! How can you go wrong. One of the main reasons to visit, of course, is to see the interior of the Old Town Hall, especially the Great Hall. The art is fantastic.

Of course there are some permanent exhibitions like a great silversmith collection, but they have also been great at nabbing some of the roving modern art exhibits, like Dali and Warhol.

Ratusz Wrocławski Rynek 50, 50-996 Wrocław, Poland (you can’t miss it) Wed. – Sun. 10:00-17:00

A photo of Wroclaw from 1945.

Historical Museum of Wroclaw

This magnificent historical museum is housed in the Royal Palace where you can visit the royal apartments as well as see exhibits of the city’s history for the past 100 years. While you’re here, check out the Theater and Medallic Museums as well.

Muzeum Historyczne Zamkowa, 50-076 Wrocław, Poland Wed. – Sun. 10:00-17:00

A painting of a battle that can be found in the Panorama Raclawice.

Panorama Raclawice (Racławice)

On our second morning we walked out to the Panorama Raclawice without stopping to think that we should have booked tickets in advance. This is Wroclaw’s number one tourist attraction and, as we soon discovered, it’s quite popular even in the off season! The museum only allows a set number of visitors during the periodic viewings of the day.

We walked right in as they were letting in a group. The lady at the ticket counter nearly laughed when we asked if we could join that group (there were almost a hundred people waiting inside and outside the museum for later entry times), but she must not have seen too many Americans.

Her mirth changed to pleasant surprise when we told her we were from the US and she quickly picked up the phone, asked some questions, smiled at us and sold us two tickets. We don’t recommend this way of booking, however. Instead just book ahead on the website.

The panorama painting is a life-sized circular depiction of the battle of Raclawice during Poland’s failed bid for Independence from Russia in 1794. From the middle of the room, the viewer is placed in the heart of the battlefield, and all of the main players of the day can be seen mid-fight (or flight as the case may be).

The museum has an excellent personal listening device that tells the story of the battle and helps the viewer understand the different factions. The crowd size was large, but we found that by moving slightly ahead of the main group, who had to wait for the narrative to come across the loudspeakers in Polish, we nearly had entire sections of the painting to ourselves since we were basically on our own.

Panorama Racławicka ul. Purkyniego 11 50-155 Wrocław Tue. – Sun. 9:00-16:00 Oct.-Apr. Mon. – Sun. 9:00-17:00 Apr.-Sep. (Take buses A or N or tram 2 or 10 if you don’t want to walk or have little ones with you.)

World Heritage Site Centennial Hall.
World Heritage Site Centennial Hall is renowned for its superior cement architecture.

Centennial Hall

A UNESCO World Heritage site, inscribed for it’s architecture, the Centennial Hall was built in 1911 by Max Berg. It is massive and seats 6,000 people. You can visit this site everyday from 9:00 – 6:00 PM for 19 zlotys. Wystawowa 1, 51-618 Wrocław, Poland

Where to Eat in Wroclaw

Eating in Wroclaw is fantastic. The prices are pretty inexpensive, the waiters are friendly, and everyone seems to genuinely want to please you. Add to that some fantastic food and you have a winner. We were on a pierogi hunt, and we tried them all over the downtown area. You would think we would get tired of them, but no. We tried pierogi boiled, fried, covered with cheese, all kinds, and we loved them all.

These few restaurants are our recommendations, especially for pierogi, but there are plenty more fantastic restaurants so check out this article from our friend Karolina on where to eat in Wroclaw as well.

A restaurant interior in Wroclaw.

Kurna Chata

This was typical, hearty homestyle Polish cooking. Again, we walked in without a reservation, but were early enough to get in and out before the later diners, so they were happy to give us a seat. The food here was cheap, plentiful and amazing. I loved the baked pierogis. Kurna Chata Odrzańska 17, 50-113 Wrocław, Poland +48 71 341 06 68

Chatka przy Jatkach

Traditional Polish where everything is delicious. You must try the pierogi staropolskie and the borscht (barszcz). Make a reservation or take your chances. They will try to squeeze you in somewhere. There is plenty of outside seating in nice weather. Chatka Odrzańska 7, 50-113 Wrocław, Poland +48 530 230 811

A plate of pierogies with ham and onions.
My favorite Polish dish, boiled pierogies. Yum!

Pierogarnia Stary Młyn

All pierogi, all the time! Try a combination of boiled, baked and fried with a variety of fillings. All pierogi are made to order and are delicious. Right off the Rynek, so it can get crowded quickly. Pierogarnia Rynek 26, 11-400 Wrocław, Poland +48 71 344 14 15

Hotels in Wroclaw

We have been a few times and stayed in various places, but our favorite is the Hotel Europeum, because of its good value, parking, and it has easy walking access right into the downtown area and nearby restaurants.

Zdroj Fountain found in Wroclaw's Market Square, with beautiful buildings in the background. Wroclaw is one of the prettiest cities in Europe.
Zdroj Fountain found in Wroclaw’s Market Square.

More Practical Information for Wroclaw

Don’t forget to check out the Official Travel Guide of Wroclaw for lots more information.

Getting to Wroclaw

Wroclaw is serviced by an international airport about 10 km from the city center. You can find decent flights from Ryanair or Wizzair, cheap enough to go for a weekend. You can also get to Wroclaw by train.

It’s an easy ride from many eastern Germany cities, like Berlin (4 – 4.5 hrs.) and Dresden (about 3.5 hours) as well as all the major cities in Poland. Krakow is only about four hours away, and Poznan is a mere two.  We drove both times and the signage is easy to follow in Poland, so it was no problem.

Getting Around with Public Transportation

Trams and buses are plentiful and easy to navigate. A one-way 30 minute ticket is only 3.00 zlotys or about 88 US cents. It is good on as many buses or trams you need to take to get to your destination within 30 minutes.

Don’t forget to validate your ticket or you could get fined. You can buy tickets at newspaper stands or ticket machines. It’s better to have one before you board, because the drivers are not always happy to sell you a ticket. You can buy a one day ticket for 11 zlotys as well.

Apps

Bulive.pl will get you the bus schedules.

Places to Go Not Far From Wroclaw

Just an hour’s drive outside of the Wroclaw, you should visit the Peace Churches of Jawor and Swidnica, which are UNESCO World Heritage Site wooden churches. We visited them and found them to be beautiful and well worth the stops.

Have you been to Poland?  To Wrocław?  What was your favorite thing about the city? Any tips?

Author Bio: Corinne Vail is a travel photographer, food lover, and a perpetual traveler who has been travel writing for over 14 years. For many years she lived overseas in Germany, Japan, Turkey, South Korea, and the Netherlands teaching the children of the US. military. She’s visited over 90 countries, and she’s not stopping anytime soon.

Wroclaw - My Favorite City in Poland.
Wroclaw - the best city in Poland.

Frank

Friday 6th of April 2018

Looks beautiful, especially the town hall. We'll be in Poland in a few months (first time) and will make sure to visit Wroclaw. Wrocław, pronounced “Rotes – slav” Serious? I look at those letters and wonder how Wroclaw could be pronounced like that. Good to know I would have totally offended people and made myself look like an idiot.

Corinne Vail

Sunday 8th of April 2018

Frank, The pronunciation is not obvious, but same as you...we had to ask someone. I should have got it on video....next time. You will really enjoy Wroclaw.

Patt

Thursday 7th of January 2016

If you don't know what is interesting to do in Wroclaw I recommend services of this company http://www.wratislaviatour.com/. They organized a great time for me: landscape park, adrenalin park, shooting and then trip to Cracow and Karpacz.

Escape Hunter

Friday 18th of July 2014

Very beautiful rooftops, towers... Poland has amazing architecture and plenty of big cities. It should gain more popularity.

Corinne Vail

Friday 18th of July 2014

Hunter, Unfortunately most of the architecture is rebuilt since it was devastated during the war. It is beautiful now, though.

Anna

Tuesday 15th of July 2014

Oooh I'm glad I saw this. I'll be in Wroclaw in less than 2 months! I hadn't heard about that museum before but the battlefield painting sounds amazing, and a must see!

Corinne Vail

Wednesday 16th of July 2014

Anna, I thought it was fascinating. If you know when you are going to be there, try and buy tickets ahead of time. It's really popular. We just got lucky that the lady let us in, but it was full for the whole day.

Mike

Wednesday 9th of July 2014

I have two very close friends who are from Poland and I can't wait to catch up with them someday and get a tour of their country, Corinne! For the little kid always in me I would love to go on the hunt for Wrocław dwarves. And they Polish home cooking...oh yessss please! :)

Corinne Vail

Thursday 10th of July 2014

Mike, It was a great way to see the city, while having a bit of fun. I loved every minute of it!