Is eco-travelling the best
option for holidays?
Nowadays it is very common to
travel in town by car, bus or other way of public transport. Most people suffer
from tiredness caused by a wrong diet and lack of movement. That’s why we’d
like to offer you a tip focused on physical activity, deepening your
relationships with others and visiting places worth seeing. In a
nutshell: we prepared responsible, ecotourism travel for at least a little bit perseverant
people. (jk)
Most of the time we will cycling, but also horse riding and walking are
included. Let’s prepare for fun! Welcome to Wrocław.
DAY 1
We start our trip at Wrocław
Główny railway station, the easiest way to get to the city without getting
stuck in traffic jam. At the very beginning we
wanted to enter the “city gates” by bike due to well-developed Cycling Routes
in Wrocław (EuroVelo 9 and 313 km Szlak Odry) unfortunately we
had to confound this idea quickly- not everyone has his own bike and it would
be hard to start and end our ecotourism trip at the same place. 
Firstly it is worth to say few
things about Wrocław Główny main station. It is one of the biggest and most
important passenger station in Poland, until 1945 it was known as Breslau
Hauptbahnhof (which means "Breslau Main station"). The building was opened in
1857, and till now is the biggest railway station of Lower Silesia. We are not
planning to see many things in the city, in this journey it is the most
important to focus on the beauty of city’s natural surroundings.
We need to get to Więzienna
street, where renting a bike is possible. The first step of the
trip is a 2.1 km walk down the streets of Wroclaw(of course if you want, you
can messing-around longer in the city center, but it takes a lot of time). We
know Wrocław as a back of ours hand and because of that we have chosen the way
through Świdnicka Street. It’s the shortest way to the medieval market square
with exquisite buildings.
“Pomnik anonimowego
przechodnia”
Ściegiennego Street
Market Square:
Before
cycling trip we decided to eat something. Of course eating in a world’s chain
of restaurants/bar cannot enter the picture of our trip. Fortunately, it is
easy to find eco bars and restaurants with local food in the city center. I’ll
give you a little clue: you can eat best pierogi at Odrzańska Street (but also
in many other eating places, I like this one because of very home-grown look).
All you
need is…. to mess-around the city :D Local restaurants are everywhere.
After a meal
it is time for cycling….
It might seem
weird but first place to visit is Old Jewish Cemetery. Despite that most of the cemetery objects were built in
second half of 19th century, we can find easily imitations of various
architectural styles from different historical periods. Many famous people were
buried in here. It doesn’t matter what nationality we are- the beauty of this
place is astounding for everyone.
Opening hours: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Free entrance: Thursday
The next step of
our trip is Tumski Bridge. According to an old legend the ones who will stand
on the bridge searching for a love is likely to become enamoured. When people
want to cherish their feelings they leave a padlock on the bridge and throw the
key into the Odra River.
If you travel
with beloved one, buy a padlock in a local shop and put it on the bridge. Be
eco-traveler! (jk)
You can visit
Wrocław Cathedral if you want. We preferred to go to the Słodowa Island where a
party was organized. If you want to have fun, it is a place to be. Especially
for students. J You can buy some local food in there, have fun with
friends and get to know some positively quaint people.
In the past many
of those who had broken the law run away to Ostrów Tumski Island, because it
used to be under secular jurisdiction.
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Kupala Night
celebration on Słodowa Island.
We follow
cycling routes in Odra Szlak to get to the next part of our journey.
There is a
possibility to ride a horse in a nature- just visit “Ranczo na grobli”. Riding
a horse in a natural area is the best way to get close to the nature.
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Wrocław also possesses a beautiful ZOO and a
Japanese garden. You can choose which one you prefer.
The oldest scientific zoo in Poland which is an accredited member of the European Association of Zoos and
Aquaria (EAZA) has a variety of animals in his offer.
Japanese garden in Wrocław- the place in a middle of the city where you
can feel a true peace of mind and get relax close to the nature. The garden was
restored many times. The park obtained nowadays contains a Sukija type pavilion
with cut hedges, a fancy roof bridge connecting two banks of the pond, a new
island and large plants diversity.
At the end of the day we will see the
Wrocław Multimedia Fountain Show which runs from early May to late October.
This year show is organized every day at 10 p.m. definitely the show is worth
seeing.
DAY 2
That’s
why we have chosen horse riding again, as there is no better sport to feel the
connection with nature.
You can trully quell in here....
And here we had our accomodation. There's nothing better than a smell of a wood cottage in the evening, when you sit next to the fireplace. :)
Park Krajobrazowy Dolina Baryczy is a protected area in Nothern part of Silesia. This is kind of unique part in Poland, country which posesses relatively few water and swamp areas. The whole complex is a perfect place for active leisure and soaking up the nature. Ecotraveler can find many activities proper for his trip in here. “The Barycz Vallery” offers to bird watchers a great number of observation points situated on dikes, fishermen will be delighted with the amount of lakes in which people are allowed to fish and eco-lovers can buy a honey from an apiary located inside the ecologically clean areas. Greatly speaking this place has something in offer for everyone, you just have to look hard enough.
Bikepath length : about 35 km (but you can choose other bikepath if you want)
Wrocław
is definitely one of the most beautiful cities of Poland. Although the city is
charming, today is time to leave it and show you the other breathtaking parts of our
land. We need to admit that Lower Silesia does not posses plenty of intact wild
places (except some mountainous areas) but we managed to choose for you few things worth
seeing,
For
today we planned visits in following places:
-Church of the Holy Trinity in Żórawina called “pearl of Mannerism”
Nowadays it is not really in common to visit places like this. The
Church is quite small, very old and renovation works has just started but we
must admit: it once was “a big thing” .
Interior of the building is charming and rather restrained, nevertheless
everyone xan feel the spirit of the past standing on the old church parquet
floor. As a temple the building was a place were many persecuted people were
hiding and local priests can go on about fables to anyone who turns to them.
-A walk in arboretum
near Niemcza
There is possibility to
join lectures and
workshops on tree grafting and budding or just feast our mind on loveliness of
the garden. During the season there is a variety of event in the arboretum’s
offer.
-Horse
riding in the forests next to Ślęża Landscape
Park and a short visit in the Park
In
the past Ślęża was a sacred place for Slavic people (before Christianization of
Poland), that’s why we can find many vestiges of their culture when we visit
the forests at the mountain. It is worth
to hire a tour guide, because foreign people usually do not know our legends or
old customs which might be quite absorbing and worth to discover during ecotourism
trip.
The
only thing we agreed to be tempting for everyone is a possibility of watching
the landscape of park behind the glider’s glass. Unfortunately we did not have
enough time to do so….
-Accomodation
in cottage next to antique building museum
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| Antique building museum |
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| Lovely grandpa during a break between doing artworks- he talks to eveyone- no matter if they understand him or not. It was really pleasant to watch his works |
You can trully quell in here....
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| Lala-our beautiful and ecological source of fresh, warm milk in the morning |
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| Probably the smallest known village resident |
DAY 3: Barycz Valley Landscape Park
Park Krajobrazowy Dolina Baryczy is a protected area in Nothern part of Silesia. This is kind of unique part in Poland, country which posesses relatively few water and swamp areas. The whole complex is a perfect place for active leisure and soaking up the nature. Ecotraveler can find many activities proper for his trip in here. “The Barycz Vallery” offers to bird watchers a great number of observation points situated on dikes, fishermen will be delighted with the amount of lakes in which people are allowed to fish and eco-lovers can buy a honey from an apiary located inside the ecologically clean areas. Greatly speaking this place has something in offer for everyone, you just have to look hard enough.
Bikepath length : about 35 km (but you can choose other bikepath if you want)
Optionally you can choose canoeing.
Bikepath: Czarny Las lake-Kotlarka (where you can start canoeing)-Luboradowo-Staw Torfowy (Peat Pond)-Kuźnica Czeszycka-the thickest oak tree in Barycz Valley-Kuźnica Czeszycka(apiary)-Grabownica-Luboradow-Żeleźniki
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| Daybreak |
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| Cycling views |
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| Canoeing |
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| There are many lakes in which fishers are allowed |
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| Ecological apiary |
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| Kingfisher |
