Water parks and pools

Water parks and swimming pools in Lower Silesia and Wrocław: slides, thermal baths, brine pools and saunas for rainy days and summer.

This page gathers places built around water: from the Wrocław Aquapark network, through the thermal baths in Jelenia Góra and Bolesławiec, to municipal pools in the smaller towns of the region. What sets it apart from neighbouring lists is that the pool is the point, not a day on a beach: for lakeside swimming spots see lakes and bathing areas. Below we suggest where to start, what suits children and where to simply swim lengths.

Which water park should you try first in Wrocław?

Start with Aquapark Wrocław. It is a complex of three recreational pools in different parts of the city, described as one of the larger water parks in Europe, with a slide area, saunas and tropical-style attractions. The main site stands at Borowska 99 in the Huby district and, according to its description, was built between 2005 and 2008.

The two smaller branches are in Brochów and Zakrzów. Aquapark Brochów on Polna Street has a sports pool, an outdoor recreational pool, a toddler pool and a sauna zone with two Finnish saunas and a steam bath. Aquapark Zakrzów at Wilanowska 29 adds a wave pool, an outdoor brine pool, slides and a wellness floor with two fitness rooms. All three belong to one network, which is why the names repeat in the list.

Where can you find thermal baths and brine water?

For warm water all year round, go to Jelenia Góra. Termy Cieplickie, beside the Spa Park, has thermal pools with water between 27 and 36 degrees Celsius, lane pools, recreational pools and paddling pools. On top of that come slides, water jets, hydromassage, a lazy-river current and a separate spa zone.

In Bolesławiec, Termy Bolesławiec on Zgorzelecka Street offers a brine pool, a recreational pool, a jacuzzi, saunas and a salt cave with a microclimate close to the seaside. In Kudowa-Zdrój, Wodny Świat uses unchlorinated brackish water with a salinity close to the Baltic Sea, plus a 92-metre slide. In Świeradów-Zdrój, Salamandra has three pools, one with brackish water, and water slides, a few minutes on foot from the Spa Park. It is sometimes mistaken for a water park, but it is above all a municipal pool with a sauna area, open daily.

In Oława, Termy Jakuba combines an indoor pool with a summer pool of over 1,300 square metres and a sauna zone. In Jawor, the Słowianka pool has a 54-metre slide, saunas and a brine graduation tower.

Which pool works best on a rainy day?

Any indoor pool will do when it rains. For a full day choose Aqua Zdrój in Wałbrzych, which presents itself as the largest sports facility in the Sudetes: a water park with pools, a hotel and a restaurant at the foot of Chełmiec hill, in the Biały Kamień district. It is a handy base for a longer stay.

Quieter options are the municipal pools of smaller towns. The indoor pool in Osiecznica has a recreational pool, a tube slide, a toddler pool with a water umbrella and both Finnish and Roman saunas. In Kłodzko the pool on Jana Pawła II Street splits into three zones: pools, a fitness centre and a sauna complex, and Kłodzko Fortress stands close by, so swimming is easy to pair with sightseeing. In Głogów the Chrobry pool has a 25-metre sports pool and a recreational pool with two slides, geysers and water massage.

Aquapark Granit in Strzelin, with sports, recreational and children's pools, and Aquarius in Bielawa, with a slide seventy-three metres long and two Finnish saunas, offer the same strengths. If you like mixing water with other movement, see sport and recreation.

Where should you go with children?

Families look for shallow zones and slides that do not frighten the little ones. The Water Recreation Centre in Świebodzice has a paddling pool 0.6 metres deep, a recreational pool 1.2 metres deep and a 60-metre slide. Its sports pool measures 25 by 12.5 metres.

In Trzebnica the Gminny Park Wodny teaches swimming, including a programme for children and teenagers with motor disabilities, and runs aqua aerobics for seniors. In Brzeg Dolny the Aquasport pool on Wilcza Street has a six-lane sports pool, a recreational pool with water jets and geysers and a 40-metre slide. In Strzelin and Ząbkowice Śląskie children have pools of their own. More family addresses in the region are listed under for children.

In summer the seasonal sites open. Aquagród in Żmigród is a summer pool with a slide, individual and group swimming lessons and deckchair hire, open in the summer months only. In Lubin, the outdoor pools at the Regional Sports Centre include a sports pool with a water surface of 1,112 square metres and six 25-metre lanes, two smaller pools and the slides Delfin, Multislide and Anakonda.

Where can adults find saunas and quiet?

Adults who want calm should choose Aquario in the Ołtaszyn district of Wrocław. It is a pool and spa complex for adults only: a pool lined with marble tiles, natural light from floor-to-ceiling windows, a dry sauna and a steam sauna, a jacuzzi, a massage room and a gym.

In the city centre, on Teatralna Street right by the Market Square, the Wrocław SPA Centre occupies the historic rooms of a former bathhouse. It has two pools and a sauna area that the operator describes as a new take on sauna in historic interiors, plus a gym and aqua aerobics classes.

In the mountains look at Blue Mountain Aquapark & Saunarium in Szklarska Poręba: outside, a heated pool, a slide, a cascade, a paddling pool and a jacuzzi; inside, a zone with saunas. Guests from outside the hotel may use it, but at the peak of the summer and winter seasons it does not accept them. In Ząbkowice Śląskie the Sunny Water Park works as Saunarium & Spa, and Krośnicka Przystań in Krośnice, close to the Barycz Valley, combines pools, a sauna and a gym with a swimming section for children and teenagers.

Where can you swim seriously?

If you count kilometres, you look for lanes. Six 25-metre lanes are on offer in the sports pool of Termy Jakuba in Oława, at the Aquasport pool in Brzeg Dolny and at the pools in Lubin. In Świebodzice and Jawor the sports pool measures 25 by 12.5 metres, and the one in Jawor has a shallow section for learners. Lane booking is run, among others, by the Sunny Water Park in Ząbkowice Śląskie, so check the schedule before you travel.

Many municipal pools also run courses and swimming sections for children, for example Aquapark Granit in Strzelin. If you want one address with other activities, look at the ATOL complex in Oleśnica: an indoor aquapark-style pool with a sauna sits beside a bowling alley, a gym, a climbing wall, courts, an ice rink and a sauna zone, and the ATOL Marina water harbour is next door.

How do you use the list and plan a visit?

Each card gives the address and a description of the zones, and for seasonal sites a note about the season. Before you set off, check the pool's website: opening hours, prices, free lanes and entry rules for children change through the year. Summer sites such as Aquagród in Żmigród run only in season, and in some places parts of the offer, saunas for instance, have different hours from the pools.

Planning a longer trip? Swimming pairs well with a city: the objects of the regional capital are on the page of Wrocław attractions, and in Wałbrzych or Kłodzko you can take a break to see nearby monuments.

Frequently asked questions

Which Wrocław water park suits children best?

Start with the main Aquapark Wrocław site in Huby, which has the largest slide area. The branches in Brochów and Zakrzów are smaller: Brochów has a toddler pool, and Zakrzów has a wave pool and slides.

Where in the region are pools with brine water?

Termy Bolesławiec and Aquapark Zakrzów have brine pools, and in Kudowa-Zdrój Wodny Świat uses water with a salinity close to the Baltic that is not chlorinated. In Świeradów-Zdrój one of the Salamandra pools has brackish water, and Jawor has a brine graduation tower.

Are there water parks open only in summer?

Yes. Aquagród in Żmigród is a seasonal summer pool, and the outdoor pools of the Regional Sports Centre in Lubin, with the slides Delfin, Multislide and Anakonda, serve the warm months. Termy Jakuba in Oława has a summer pool beside the indoor hall.

Where can I swim when it rains?

Choose an indoor site: Termy Cieplickie in Jelenia Góra, Aqua Zdrój in Wałbrzych, or the pools in Kłodzko and Osiecznica. All of them work regardless of the weather.

Do saunas open at the same hours as the pools?

Not always. At Aquapark Granit in Strzelin the saunas are open at different hours from the pools, so check the schedule on the site's own page before you go.