Poland is a beautiful country with so many incredible cities to explore and natural scenery to admire. We took a little weekend break to Wrocław from London and spent two wonderful days exploring the city. Like we try to do when we travel, we took the weekend quite slow to really make the most of our time there. After our trip, we feel like we’ve got a good idea of how best to spend a couple of days in Wrocław on a budget. Read ahead if you’d like to find out how!

For the first day, it’s all about seeing the city and doing the loop walk around it. You can do either one first but we chose to wander around the beautiful old town first.

The old town of Wrocław is so insanely beautiful and centres around the main town square called Market Square (Rynek). Here you’ll find one of the most amazing buildings in the city, the Old Town Hall. This gothic building was built in parts for over 250 years and has gone through many restorations since. It is currently used for cultural events and temporary exhibitions as well as having one of the oldest restaurants in Europe, Piwnica Świdnicka. Inside there’s also the Museum of Bourgeois Art which is open Wednesday to Sunday and can be visited for 15 PLN. Even if you don’t go inside, the outside is absolutely stunning.

Apart from the town hall, there are lots of other amazing buildings to keep an eye out for. You can visit St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church and St. Mary Magdalene Church for free at certain times of day. There’s also the Church and Monastery of St. Adalbert, St. Matthias Church and the Greek-Catholic Cathedral of St. Vincent and St. James. However as beautiful as all the churches are, our favourite thing to do in the old town was just wander around and admire the buildings. Especially around Market Square, the shops are all the most gorgeous shapes and colours. We truly spent ages walking around taking photos of everything.

In the north of the city is the University of Wrocław which has its own museum you can visit for a fee. Again even if you don’t visit the museum you should definitely visit the outside as it’s beautiful. Nearby is the Baroque garden of Ossolineum which is a great little garden to sit in and take a break. You’ll also find the Turecki Market in the area which is a great indoor market. Here you’ll find fresh fruit, veggies, nuts and baked goods as well as some pre made food too.

Speaking of food, while you’re wandering around the old town, keep an eye out for some delicious Polish food. Our favourites were pork schnitzel, meat pierogi and Paczki (Polish Donuts). They sell these at quite a few small little window shops around the old town and they’re super delicious!

After exploring the old town, we decided to do the loop walk around the city. South of the city is a green belt with lovely parks alongside Fosa Miejska, which is the remnants of the city moat. Head down Świdnicka until you get to the parks, then walk along the water in either direction. On the east side of the park you’ll find Juliusz Słowacki Park which has the amazing ivy covered National Museum in Wrocław. From here you can head up to the Oder river which you can walk along until you get to the Sand Bridge.

There are six main islands you can get to from this bridge: Piasek, Młyńska, Daliowa, Tamka, Słodowa and Bielarska Island. These islands hold a mix of churches, sculptures, playgrounds, parks and one has a riverboat restaurant. Off Piasek Island you’ll also find the Most Tumski bridge, which has a famous view across it back to the mainland. The curve of the bridge combined with the spires of the Collegiate Church of the Holy Cross and St. Bartholomew and the Wrocław Cathedral is spectacular. Just behind those cathedrals is the Botanical Garden of the University of Wrocław, which you can visit for a fee.

One of the coolest things about Wrocław and one of the most fun things to do in the city, is go gnome hunting!

In 2001, to commemorate the Orange Alternative, a Polish anti-communist movement, a dwarf statue was placed on Świdnicka Street. This can still be found there today. In 2005, five more smaller gnomes were placed around the city by a university graduate. Since then more gnomes have popped up all over the city doing a huge variety of things like using a computer, playing instruments and reading. It’s also quite common to find themed ones, such as a gnome holding a pretzel next to a pretzel store, or a whole orchestra of gnomes outside the Philharmonic Concert Hall. As of 2024, there are over 800 gnomes around the city!

It really could take hours to go around and see how many you can find! That, combined with a wander through the beautiful streets of old town, the city loop walk and exploring the islands really is a wonderful way to spend your full day in Wrocław on a budget.

For our second day in Wrocław on a budget, we headed to Szczytnicki Park. This is a large park east of the old town that covers 10 square kilometres of land. It dates back to 1783, when a Prussian general bought the land and established it as a park. Today it is serviced by both buses and trams, so it is super easy to get to from the old town in only 15 – 20 minutes.

In the park you’ll find many attractions to keep you entertained. In the north of the park there are playgrounds and a couple of landmarks to look out for. Crossing the main road to the south of the park, there’s the famous Japanese garden. This pretty garden takes up a little section of the park but does unfortunately charge a fee to enter. It costs 30PLN and is open April 1st to October 31st from 9am to 7pm. If you do decide to visit you’ll see the arched Most Taiko Bashi bridge and the beautiful Yumedono Bashi Brücke bridge.

However, if you don’t decide to go to the Japanese Garden, don’t worry there’s still lots to see. Right nearby is Centennial Hall, built by German architect Max berg, who’s house is still in the north of the park. This hall is a cool looking circular building now used for events and exhibitions. It also contains a visitors centre and out the front is a 100m steel spire monument called Iglica.

As well as all of that, there’s just some great walking paths through the park that are worth exploring. There’s a river that runs through the park that’s great to sit by and watch the ducks. Also keep an eye out for other wildlife such as red squirrels, hedgehogs, deer, foxes and woodpeckers. Near the water is a fascinating church called the St. John of Nepomunk Church that’s definitely worth visiting. It’s a wooden church from the 15th and 16th centuries that was relocated to Wrocław in 1913. You can enter for free on Sundays between 11am and 3pm, otherwise it’s just great to look at from the outside.

Out favourite part of the park was the Wrocław Multimedia Fountain which is just outside Centennial Hall. The fountain opened in 2009 and is one of the largest in Europe, with 300 water jets and even three fire jets. There are daytime shows on the hour every hour between 10am to 5pm with music and water which are great. From 6pm until 9pm, with the final one being at 9:40pm, these shows also include light illuminations. On Friday and Saturday evenings there are special shows that include all of that as well as projections on a screen too. You can check what songs are played as well as the run times of all the shows on their website.

There’s a little café in Szczytnicki Park but you could also bring your own food to sit and relax in the shade. Overall, it’s just a wonderful place to spend a few hours in Wrocław on a budget!

As you can see, it is easy to see Wrocław on a budget. The old town is gorgeous with beautiful coloured buildings surrounding market square. There’s also the incredible town hall and heaps of amazing churches you can visit. After exploring old town you could walk around it and visit the great islands north of the old town. There’s also some relaxing green spaces such as the green belt and Juliusz Słowacki Park.

Speaking of parks, Szczytnicki Park is a great place to visit where you can see the Japanese garden and Centennial Hall. There’s also the famous Wrocław Multimedia Fountain that has water and light shows to music that’s great fun to watch. Overall, there is so much free stuff to do in Wrocław for a weekend and you really will have an amazing time exploring this beautiful Polish city.

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