If this is your first time in Wrocław, prepare to get starry-eyed – this dame has it all, from high breeding and good looks, to cultural clout and an up-for-anything attitude. Reared at the crossroads of Europe and endowed with equal parts Austrian Hapsburg charm, Prussian pride, Polish playfulness and Bohemian rhapsody, it’s easy to see why every duke, emperor and chancellor in the land was ready to wage a war or two just to share a table with this Lower Silesian lady. Situated sublimely on the Odra River, Wrocław easily holds its own with the likes of not-distant neighbours Vienna, Kraków and Prague in terms of postcard panoramas and cultural offerings. Here you’ll find more bridges than anywhere in Central Europe, a market square second only to Kraków’s in size, an entire Cathedral Island of awe-inspiring architecture, and a one-of-a-kind UNESCO-laureled engineering marvel, not to mention a full calendar of festivals and events and 119,000 university students pushing the local nightlife to unhinged heights. Having successfully stewarded the Euro 2012 football championships and presided as 2016’s ‘European Capital of Culture,’ more and more people are discovering that Wrocław is the most exciting destination in Poland.
City Essentials