Things To Do in Wroclaw

A City of Bridges and Dwarfs

Wroclaw sits on a dozen islands in the Oder, linked by more than a hundred bridges, and its Market Square is one of the largest medieval squares in Europe. The city is also famous for its several hundred bronze dwarfs hidden on windowsills and lampposts, a joke that started with the anti-communist Orange Alternative movement in the 1980s. Most tours make a game of spotting them.

Electric Car and Golf Cart Tours

Wroclaw's most booked activity is the electric car tour: an open-sided vehicle covering twenty to thirty sights in an hour or two, from the Market Square and the Old Town Hall across the river to Ostrów Tumski and the Centennial Hall. The version with an audio guide is the cheapest; the one with a live guide is better rated; and the two-hour private electric car tour is the pick for families. For a slower pace, the three-hour bike tour does thirty sights on flat riverside paths.

History on Foot

Until 1945 Wroclaw was German Breslau, and the Third Reich, World War Two and postwar history walking tour explains how a besieged German city became a Polish one almost overnight. The private two-hour Old Town walking tour is the classic introduction, and it covers the Market Square, the Salt Square, the university quarter and Cathedral Island.

On the Water and Indoors

The evening cruise on a heated boat loops the Old Town in forty-five minutes with the lights on the cathedral and the Grunwald Bridge. Hydropolis, a water-themed science center in a former reservoir, is the highest-rated indoor attraction and works well with children or in winter.

Practical Notes

Wroclaw is three and a half hours by train from Krakow and Warsaw, and a day is enough for the Old Town while two allow Ostrów Tumski and the Centennial Hall. December brings one of Poland's biggest Christmas markets to the square. Most tours here offer free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.