English B is the place to be!: Finding the quiet city

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)

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.

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.

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.

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

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….

That’s why we have chosen horse riding again, as there is no better sport to feel the connection with nature.

-Accomodation in cottage next to antique building museum


Antique building museum

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....

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. :)

Lala-our beautiful and ecological source of fresh, warm milk in the morning

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