What a difference a few weeks makes. We’re in full lockdown in our flat in the UK at the time of writing. We spend our days watching the occasional jogger speeding past our balcony. If things get particularly desperate, we follow the comings and goings of the local family of swans who have taken up residence in a half-sunken rowing boat outside our window.
Coronavirus has well and truly turned life upside down here, with no end in sight. Our short winter weekend in Wroclaw, barely a month ago, feels like a different lifetime. Even then, the spectre of a global pandemic was beginning to loom large. Face masks and surgical gloves had already overtaken sunglasses and novelty shirts as the top airport fashion choice.
Although now doesn’t seem like the right time to be publishing a wave of ‘Top 10 things to do in….’ posts (after all, none of us will be making use of these any time soon!), we do have a pretty hefty backlog of travel stories to work through. So, let’s kick off with our most recent – a flying, two-night hop over to the city of Wroclaw!
Day 1 – A Weekend in Wroclaw: Do We or Don’t We?!
The weekend in Wroclaw came about almost by accident. A recent job change for Matt meant annual leave was in much shorter supply than previously. At the same time, Lucy would have faced a battle to take even one day off much earlier than April. However, three months without a break seemed like a bleak prospect, so the challenge was to find a combination of flights that would let us jet off somewhere, anywhere, without needing to use up any holiday.
Thankfully, we didn’t need to spend too long browsing Skyscanner before solving the problem! A Friday 18:55 Ryanair flight from Leeds Bradford would drop us in Wroclaw at 22:00. Then we would catch a return on Wizz Air departing at 20:05 on Sunday and arriving in Doncaster-Sheffield at 21:20. So, providing we could clock off promptly on Friday, we should manage nearly a full 48 hours in Wroclaw!
When Friday finally arrived, things didn’t quite seem so simple. Aside from the creeping nervousness about Coronavirus, a hectic work week for both of us meant that we’d been more nonchalant than ever about actually getting ready to jet off somewhere. As the clock hit 4pm, we’d pretty much done no packing whatsoever. We should be leaving in 30 minutes!
In a whirlwind of chaos and stress, we tore through the flat. We grabbed anything we thought we might need and shoved it unceremoniously into our bags. Simultaneously, we flip-flopped between determination to make the flight at any cost and meek acceptance that we’d left it too late.
Racing to catch our flight to Wroclaw
In the end, as 5pm was racing closer, we decided that it was do or die. Wroclaw or bust. We were going for it.
Have you ever watched a film where a character needs to get somewhere in a hurry? Perhaps a job interview, or a dinner date, and they seem to strike lucky at every stage of their journey? That’s what our dash to the airport felt like. Traffic lights turned green on every street, and the usual rush hour queues were nowhere to be seen.
In the end, we arrived with plenty of time to spare. Before we knew it we were pulling out of Wroclaw Airport Departures on the 106 bus. This runs every 20 minutes and will get you to the city centre in roughly half an hour.
Welcome to Wroclaw
The soundtrack to our bus journey was the aggressive ranting of a gentleman who, clearly under the heavy influence of something, had been denied boarded earlier that evening. I wracked my brains to understand why this could be, whilst he ranted about his hatred for airline staff.
By the end of the journey, he’d managed to clear out a half-a-dozen people who were sitting around him. Maybe we’ll keep “hold a deranged phone call” as a tactic if we ever need more space.
It was pushing 22:45 by the time we checked in to our hotel – the basic yet comfortable B&B Hotel. With a 24-hour front desk and a ten-minute walk to the main square, it was perfect for a short weekend.
Late Night Burgers in Wroclaw
Most of the places serving food were closed. We’d resigned ourselves to finding either a takeaway or fast food for dinner.
However, In a stroke of luck (genius), barely a two-minute walk from the hotel was a shopping centre. This meant we could take our pick from the prestigious eateries of McDonald’s and KFC. Whilst we were debating whether to treat ourselves to a Big Mac or a Zinger burger, we spotted an alternative. Max Premium Burgers, a fast-food chain that hasn’t yet taken root in the UK.
There were no complaints from our side. The restaurant had easy ordering via a tablet with English options, an excellent vegan range, and quick service. It was perfect for a late-night arrival. There was even the added novelty value of the smallest burger I’ve ever seen in my life, and bizarre tiered-seating. Ideal for anyone who enjoys leaning against a stranger’s calves whilst dining.
Day 2 – A Wet and Windy Weekend in Wroclaw
Poland at the end of winter. It sounds cold just thinking about it, and so it proved. This was not a day for sitting by a river and admiring the view!
Wroclaw is a brilliantly walkable city. You can get a good impression of the place in a few days without feeling like you’ve had to rush. With this in mind, and given that the weather forecast was pretty bleak, we decided we’d have a relaxed explore on Saturday. This meant hopping from cafes to restaurants and trying to make the most of any ‘weather windows’.
Hunting for breakfast in Wroclaw
Breakfast was the first order of the day, and we’d spotted a few cafes around Swietego Antoniego which looked promising. But, unfortunately, we’d underestimated how quite how much the good people of Wroclaw enjoy a weekend brunch. Every cafe was full. A couple of them even had queues of people standing outside waiting to get in, huddled together in down jackets.
Time for Plan B – explore with a takeaway coffee and pastry, before finding a spot for an early lunch. We grabbed our caffeine and sugar fix from the lovely little Ciacho Cafe (try their doughnuts – they’re excellent) and headed towards the river.
Wroclaw is sometimes described as the ‘Venice of Poland’. Whilst that may be ever-so-slightly overdoing things, it’s certainly true that there’s a lovely network of islands and bridges to discover. For example, a short stroll over the bridges across the Oder River will take you to ‘Ostrow Tumski’. This is otherwise known as ‘Cathedral Island’ and holds the title of the oldest part of Wroclaw.
Cathedral Island, and nearby Sand Island, is home to a network of cobbled streets and a collection of classic churches. This includes the gothic Wroclaw Cathedral (aka St. John the Baptist Church) and the ancient St. Giles Church, built in the 13th century. There’s enough to explore here to keep you busy for at least half a day.
Neither time nor the weather was on our side. As the rain came in we dashed to get off the islands and find somewhere indoors. Wroclaw Market Hall is open on Saturdays, so we made a beeline to check it out. It’s by no means the biggest or best indoor market we’ve ever been to (Chorsu Bazaar in Tashkent or the Marrakech Souks, anyone?), but it’s a fun spot to wander around. There are a lot of flower sellers, plenty of food, and a few cafes which are popular with locals. It would be a good spot to grab some well-priced dumplings, no doubt!
Sampling traditional Polish food at lunch
The early lunch we’d planned was looking increasingly tempting, and a quick wander back down the river took us to Kurna Chata, a traditional Polish restaurant which turned out to be a great spot to try some local dishes. We were very keen, heading through the door less than a minute after the opening time. However, we only had to endure ten minutes of being the only awkward diners in an empty restaurant before it started to fill up.
We’d both been disappointed by the food on previous visits to Poland. Thankfully this meal was the beginning of a renaissance! The dumpling and sausage dishes were both excellent – although the mustard which came with the sausages was so potent that Matt thought his sinuses were about to explode each time he took even the slightest bite. With quick and friendly service, we would definitely recommend this as a lunch spot.
By the time we’d heading back out into the big wide world, the weather had taken a turn for the worse. Horizontal rain and baltic temperatures battered us the moment we stepped out. Not even woolly hats and gloves could salvage the situation, and we soon decided that we should grab some dessert.
Having been knocked back by the cafes at breakfast, we gave it a second go. Eventually we ended up eating a lot of cake at the lovely Central Cafe. There was no queue, although we had to move fast to bag the last stools at the window bar! It was just one of those days where everyone wanted to be inside with a hot drink.
We stayed as long as we thought socially acceptable (although the temptation to order another cake or three was strong), and headed back out into the cold. Another brisk walk around the main square – with even its colourful facades looking beautifully bleak in this weather – and we were ready to get back inside again!
There’s only so much caffeine and cake that one can cope with (no, seriously), and we didn’t want to miss the chance to see more of Wroclaw. The answer? Trams!
Exploring Wroclaw by tram
Trams in any city are a brilliant way to explore, especially if you have some spare time on your hands. Cheap, regular and – crucially – overground, trams are the ideal opportunity to ‘live like a local’. You can easily discover an area of a city to which you’d otherwise never head.
A 24-hour metro ticket for Wroclaw’s trams can be bought from any machine at the tram stops. It will barely set you back the price of a coffee. We nabbed our tickets and crisscrossed the network, eventually disembarking in the town of Lesnica.
We had a short wander around Lesnica. Here we discovered a statue of Pope John Paul II, some more tempting cafes (although we resisted), and a Lidl. Very exciting. Lesnica is also home to the ‘Zamek Cultural Center’, a stately building in beautiful parkland. Unfortunately, we’d arrived too late to check it out, but could at least wave in its general direction.
By the time we’d waited for the next tram back (and when I say ‘waited’, I mean sprinted to catch one when we realised it was due to leave), the last light had already faded. Where had the day gone?! Thankfully, the forecast for Sunday was much better. We decided we’d grab some dinner before calling it a night ready for a day of non-freezing exploring tomorrow.
Having spent a sizeable chunk of the day eating, we weren’t super hungry. We set ourselves up in the Etno Cafe, which turned out to be a great way to spend the evening. Salads and falafel was the order of the evening for both of us, as we plotted out our last day in Wroclaw….
Day 3 – Weekend Sunshine in Wroclaw!
It was our last day in Wroclaw, but we still had plenty of time to explore before the 8pm flight back. So, learning the lessons from yesterday’s failed brunch quest, we headed off early to try and grab a spot at Charlotte’s, where we’d seen an enormous queue the day before. Even 30 minutes after opening, at 09:30 on Sunday morning, we had to wait a couple of minutes before a table became free – this place is crazy popular, and with good reason!
The menu at Charlotte’s in Wroclaw is based on bread baked in-house, and a choice of condiments and spreads. It was delicious, and we still talk about it over a month later! If you do get the chance to go, the white chocolate spread is something a bit different – and absolutely incredible (Lucy doesn’t even like white chocolate and still thought it was amazing!). We’d fly back just for another breakfast there!
By the time we rolled out of Charlotte’s, the queue must have been 15-20 people deep, even with a relatively regular turnover of tables. Definitely the right decision to turn up early!
Sunny Walks through Wroclaw
Thankfully, the sun was shining and the weather was perfect for walking off all the carbs. We were finally able to see Wroclaw in its best light – the vibrant colours of the old town square, the flower market on Solny Square (which is open 24/7), the parks and riverside walks along the Oder.
It was also a great time to meet some of Wroclaw’s smaller residents – the army of dwarfs which have taken over much of the city over the last 15 years. These little guys can be found everywhere you turn – maybe taking a nap on a tiny bench, taking out some cash from a tiny ATM, or rolling a tiny beer barrel along the pavement. A mini-economy has sprung up around the dwarves, with tourist shops selling replicas (which vary substantially in quality!) or maps showing the main locations for the estimated 400 figures across the city.
We loved finding them at every turn, even more so when we learnt more about their origin. These are not simply an exercise in encouraging tourism to the city. Instead, they exist as a homage to the ‘Orange Alternative’ anti-soviet protests, which spread across Poland from Wroclaw in the 1980s.
Dwarves were chosen as the symbol of the movement, with dwarf graffiti becoming commonplace across the city as a humorous retort to the oppressive regime. One of the original pieces of graffiti can still be found just outside the old town, at 22 Smoluchowskiego Street – keep an eye out for a sandstone-coloured building, and the graffiti can be found to the right of the central doorway. It’s a lovely walk in good weather, and a little loop can take you back down the river or to Wroclaw’s excellent zoo.
Admiring the immense Raclawice Panorama
Still on the hunt for dwarves, after racking up a healthy step count it was time to head towards the Raclawice Panorama. We’d never been anywhere like this before. The panorama is a 114m x 15m painting wrapped around the walls of a rotunda so that visitors are effectively ‘inside’ the artwork when they stand and view it.
It depicts a famous Polish victory over the Russians at the battle of Raclawice in 1794, and visitors are treated to 30-45 minute audio guide (available in multiple languages) of the action as you walk around. A unique experience, and worth a visit if you are looking for things to do in Wroclaw – note that you must stick to defined start times, and may need to book in advance at busy periods.
With the panorama giving us our minimum culture quota for the day, it was time to get a very different panorama! The Garrison Church towers above the old town, a stone’s throw from the main market square, and we (mostly Matt, to be fair) couldn’t leave without getting a birds-eye view of the city from its tower. Unfortunately, we were both under the impression that there was a lift which would take visitors up to the viewing platform (aka. Matt promised that this was the case). 150 steps out of 300 later, we were resigned to the fact that we were sadly mistaken!
The views from the top of the tower are, to be fair, spectacular, and the climb is certainly worth it if you are reasonably fit. However, if you don’t like narrow spiral staircases, with limited space for passing people on the way up or down, this may not be the tower for you!
Having squeezed ourselves back down the tower, nursing tender knees and admiring the amount of dust we’d collected on our clothes from the tower’s walls as we crammed past people, it was time to start thinking about grabbing out final meal in Wroclaw before heading to the airport.
One Last Treat: Polish Dumplings
We were already in the market square, so we didn’t want to venture too far. Although this was a quiet time of year to visit Wroclaw, the eateries around the square are constantly busy. We took a couple of loops before deciding to join the queue (another queue!) for Pierogarnia, which specialises in baked dumplings alongside the traditional boiled varieties.
It was well worth the 15/20 minute wait – traditional surroundings without feeling too forced, reasonable prices for a restaurant on the main city square, and efficient service, which is just what you need when you have a flight to catch! The baked dumplings reminded us of a Polish twist on Cornish pasties (which may have more to do with the fillings we chose than anything else) and were a perfect final meal for our weekend in Wroclaw.
Once we’d finished, it was time for one last walk around the main square – which had a ‘first day of Spring’ buzz thanks to the weather – before heading for the 106 bus back from the airport. The final surprise for Wroclaw was walking past the main train station, which looks more like a castle than a transport hub! They don’t make them like that back in the UK…
Arriving back in the comparatively dull Doncaster station for the final leg of our journey, we were relieved that our planning had paid off and we’d managed to get the weekend under our belt. Little did we know that it would be the last trip for quite some time…
Stay safe.
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Loved the information in this post. With some luck and how this virus is doing we plan on 5 or 6 days in Poland in September. My wives family is from Poland but as of now we don’t have a destination. Her town is about a hundred miles north of Wroclaw so we’re discussing your experience.