Experience Wroclaw

from Wroclaw In Your Pocket - September - December 2019

If you’re looking for an alternative way to experience Wrocław and Lower Silesia, or simply enjoy letting ‘the pros’ organise your time, check out the activities below. More online at iyp.me/polandshop

WROCLAW ROLLING TOURS

Roll along in somewhat dorky but quite comfy style and see a whole lotta the city in the process during this company’s scooter tours, including the Grand Scooter Tour (2.5h, daily at 9:30, 100zł/person) and Classic Scooter Tour (1.5h, daily at 18:30, 80zł/ person); or try a scooter-less day trip to Książ Castle, Project Riese tunnels (which you can read more about on the next page), the UNESCO-listed Churches of Peace in Świdnica and Jawor, and other destinations in Lower Silesia and beyond. Wroclaw Rolling Tours can also organise airport transfers.Qtel. (+48) 793 15 43 30, www.wroclawrollingtours.com.

TOURCITY PANORAMA

This outfit offers personalised sightseeing tours around Wrocław in their fleet of comfortable electric cars. Standard 60-minute tours will let you see the main sights of the Old Town (p.26) and Ostrów Tumski (p.32), while a 90-minute tour is a good way to get out to Centennial Hall (p.36) and the Zoo (p.51). Tours are available in English, Polish, and sometimes German. Groups over 7 people should contact the company by email at wroctours@ gmail.com, while smaller groups can make reservations by phone.QH‐5, ul. Purkyniego 11, tel. (+48) 728 97 90 70, www. tourcitypanorama.pl.

PASSENGER CRUISES

River cruises are a popular way of exploring Wrocław’s elaborate waterways and viewing the city from a different perspective. While many are seasonal, this outfit offers year-round excursions from three different harbours aboard five different vessels. 40-50 minute panoramic river cruises are available leaving from the Przystań Kardynalska on Piasek Island (G-4), Przystań Zwierzyniecka (ul. Wróblewskiego 1, M-6), and Przystań Zoo (near the Wrocław Zoo, N-7) for the reasonable rate of 20-25zł. QM‐6, ul. Wróblewskiego 1, tel. (+48) 609 20 08 67, www.statekpasazerski.pl

MUNICIPAL SWIMMING POOLS

This gorgeous complex in the very centre of Wrocław, dating back to 1895-97, was built to house the city municipal baths. A beauty from the outside, the interior ornamentation of the three-pool complex includes sculpted sandstone, stained-glass windows, artistic ceramic tiles, vaulted ceilings, and colonnades inspired by the ancient hot baths of Rome. Currently serviced by SPA Centre Wrocław, full spa services are also on hand.QF‐6, ul. Teatralna 10-12, tel. (+48) 71 341 09 43, www.spa.wroc.pl. Open 06:00-23:00; Sat 08:00-22:00; Sun 09:00-21:00. Opening hours subject to change. Admission 18/16zł.

PROJECT RIESE TUNNELS

Eighty kilometres southwest of Wrocław, underneath the ‘Sowie,’ or Owl Mountains, lie seemingly endless kilometres of mysterious abandoned tunnels. It was here, in 1943, that Hitler ordered the undertaking of a massive, top-secret project known as ‘Riese’ (Giant) - one of the Führer’s most ambitious schemes, the exact nature of this underground complex remains unclear and subject to many fanciful conspiracy theories. The corridors are now run as tourist attractions and can be toured with amateur historians, who often do more to mystify than demystify the history. To find out more head to iyp.me/riese.

HIKING MT. ŚLĘŻA

Rising out of Lower Silesian plains some 40 kilometres southwest of Wrocław, this 718m peak was, and in some ways still is, the most important site of Pagan worship in Poland. With remnants of stone rings dating back to the Bronze or Iron Age and animalistic sculptures of uncertain origin, the peak is now a popular weekend hiking destination for Wroclavians, with a network of trails and a mountain hut sitting on its top. To hike it yourself, take a bus from Wrocław to the town of Sobótka and follow the red trail from the main square - it will be about 2h10 to the top. For more information, go to iyp.me.sleza.