3 May Constitution Square in Głogów
Stare Miasto
the largest roundabout in Poland with a park on its five-hectare central island
the largest roundabout in Poland with a park on its five-hectare central island
Wrocław Old Town attractions: the Market Square, the town hall, Ostrów Tumski, museums and the opera. See what to visit on foot and how to plan a route.
This page gathers places from the very heart of the city, from the neighbourhoods of Stare Miasto, Przedmieście Świdnickie and Szczepin. This is where the main monuments stand and where museums sit closest together. For the whole city go back to the overview of Wrocław attractions, and for parks and the zoo look at Śródmieście.
Begin at the Market Square and the town hall, then fan out to museums, churches and parks. The centre is compact, so you can link most places on this list in a single walk. Keep time for Ostrów Tumski, the cathedral island, which deserves half a day of its own and makes a good ending.
The Market Square is a medieval square laid out around 1232 on the initiative of Duke Henry the Bearded. It is one of the largest old town squares in Europe, with a block of buildings in the middle holding the Old and New Town Halls. The town hall houses the Museum of Bourgeois Art today, and on the square you can also see a reconstruction of the 1492 pillory.
Right next to the square lies Kurzy Targ, where the museum of pharmacy works in the House of the Silesian Apothecary. On Włodkowica Street stands the White Stork Synagogue. The Market Hall from 1908, on Piaskowa Street, is still a place of daily trade, so you can drop in on the way.
If you have time for only one museum, choose the Racławice Panorama, and for two add the Royal Palace. All the largest museums lie within walking distance of the Market Square. The choice depends on what you prefer: art, the history of the city, weapons, or perhaps nature and science. Below is a short note on each.
The Racławice Panorama is a branch of the National Museum built around the cyclorama painted in 1893 and 1894. The National Museum on Powstańców Warszawy Square holds more than two hundred thousand paintings and sculptures, mostly Silesian art. The Royal Palace is a Baroque residence of the Prussian Hohenzollerns, with an exhibition on a thousand years of the city.
Fans of arms and armour will find the Museum of Militaria in the City Arsenal from 1459. Natural scientists will like the Herbarium on Bem Square, which keeps the oldest herbarium in Poland. The Museum of Pharmacy has its exhibition in a building where a pharmacy worked from the 13th century to 1951. In Szczepin you can also visit the Museum of Games and Computers of a Bygone Era, inside the Świebodzki Station building. More places are listed under museums.
Ostrów Tumski is one of the oldest parts of the city and calmer than the Market Square. You reach it over Tumski Bridge, which is for pedestrians only and joins Sand Island with the cathedral. On the island you will see the cathedral, the botanical garden and a small statue of St John of Nepomuk on Church Square.
The Cathedral of St John the Baptist is Gothic and is the fourth cathedral on this spot. It has the largest organ in Poland and a viewing gallery in the tower. Tumski Bridge from 1889 leads to the island, and there you will also find the Botanical Garden, founded in 1811 and second oldest in Poland.
Two Gothic churches stand by the Market Square: the Basilica of St Elizabeth with its 91-metre tower and the Cathedral of St Mary Magdalene from the 14th century. The late Gothic church of St Stanislaus, St Dorothy and St Wenceslaus is a brick hall church in the southern part of the Old Town. The White Stork Synagogue, built in 1829, is one of the two active synagogues in the city. A wider list sits under churches and monasteries.
You can plan an Old Town evening around one of four stages: the Opera, the National Forum of Music, the Polish Theatre or the Puppet Theatre. All of them are in the centre, not far from the Market Square. After a show you can walk back to the old streets.
The Wrocław Opera occupies a building from 1841 on Świdnicka Street, rebuilt twice after fires. The National Forum of Music on Plac Wolności opened in 2015 and has an organ and four halls. The Wrocław Puppet Theatre has performed since 1946 in a former merchants' club on Theatre Square, with a repertoire for children, teenagers and adults. The Polish Theatre works on three stages, and its main building dates from 1906.
After the performance you can try Zagrywki in Przedmieście Świdnickie, an activity bar with shuffleboard, mini golf, karaoke and darts.
With children choose Kolejkowo in Szczepin or a walk through the parks by the Opera. Either one works well after a round of museums, because it gives children movement or moving models to watch. For older children there is also Train to the Sky, a steam locomotive set upright on Strzegomski Square.
Kolejkowo is a moving model railway with miniature trains, trams, ships and aircraft, showing scenes from Silesia. The centre has two parks: Nicolaus Copernicus Park by the Opera, with a carousel for children, and Juliusz Słowacki Park, which includes a piece of the old city moat. On the Old Town Promenade you will also see a neo-Baroque fountain with sculptures of Struggle and Victory.
The Market Square, the town hall and two churches take a few hours. Add Ostrów Tumski and one museum and you have a full day. If you like museums, spread the visit over two days.
Pick the Racławice Panorama or the Museum of Militaria. The first tells the story of one battle and one painting, the second shows historic weapons in a medieval arsenal. Both lie within walking distance of the Market Square.
Kolejkowo, the parks by the Opera and Train to the Sky on Strzegomski Square. The Dominican Gallery also holds Strefa Rozrywki, an entertainment centre with ticket machines.
Yes. You have museums, the Opera, the National Forum of Music, the Puppet Theatre and the Market Hall. The indoor places lie close together, so the walk between them is short.