Poland has some beautiful cities, but Wroclaw, in the country’s West, just stole my heart. This fairytale Polish city is so underrated, but it should be a must-do destination on everyone’s European itinerary! Not only does it have a beautiful historical rynek with colourful houses, but the city is also home to some amazing up-and-coming bars and cute cafes. You can also find some of the best doughnuts I’ve ever had – so what’s not to love?
How do I pronounce it?
Polish is a language I’ll never get my head around – the letters and the pronunciation just never seem to match up! “Wroclaw” is actually pronounced “Vrotswaff“. Make sense of that if you will.
Need to know
Wroclaw is definitely a walking city, you can easily get around the main sights on foot or by bicycle. The currency is the Polish zloty, and I always found it easy to find cash machines and many places accepted card. (I highly recommend getting a Transferwise account to make using foreign currency easier).
What to do?
Hunt for gnomes. You read that right. Wroclaw has hundreds of gnomes hiding all over the city, which makes for a fun challenge as you try to find as many as you can. On a more serious note, the medieval city centre is absolutely stunning: head to the main market square (rynek) where you’ll find cobbled streets, distinctive colourful houses and the impressive Wroclaw Town Hall with its decorative facade. St John the Baptist Cathedral has a tower you can climb for panoramic views of the whole city (you can whizz your way to the top in a lift).
What to eat
You just have to visit Nasza Paczkarnia. This little hole-in-the-wall does the most mouth-wateringly delicious doughnuts, it would be a crime to miss them.
Where to stay?
When I visited Wroclaw I was on my own so I just stayed in a hostel (so so cheap in Poland!) buuuut if I ever go back hotel Puro is definitely on my list of places to stay – it looks so relaxing! If you feel like splashing out why not try hotel Monopol? It’s right next to the market square and has an amazing swimming pool. It also boasts a whole host of famous past guests from Picasso to Marlene Dietrich (we’ll forget about Hitler though eh…).
Where next?
You can get the bus or train from the centre of Wroclaw to a whole host of European destinations. Definitely check out the capital, Warsaw, and from there you can easily reach other Polish cities such as Krakow or Poznan. Or, why not head up north to the Baltic states?
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Wow, what a beautiful city! I’d love to go one day and hunt for gnombs!
I don’t know much about Poland, so this is really cool! Wroclaw looks like a beautiful place. And I’m not much for donuts but THOSE look good!
Haha… I pronounced the city wrong all this time, and I still pronounced it the same when I read through your post. It’s easier. lol. The city is very pretty with those colorful buildings, and I agree with you that it’s a crime if you don’t try that donuts.
I have never been to Wroclaw, but I would love to go one day. Also, those doughnuts look amazing 🙂