I’ve wanted to visit Wrocław, Poland ever since I saw a photo in a magazine some years ago of its colorful buildings. Is it the prettiest city in Poland? Are there other towns or cities in Poland that are just as pretty or prettier that you would recommend to tourists?

45 comments

  1. I think Gdańsk has similar architecture in some places. Gdańsk generally is very beautiful

  2. Gdańsk, Poznań, Toruń, Kraków, I’d say are worth it.

  3. Wrocław is a great city to visit. Tons of stuff to do and wander around the city. From architecture to art and history

    City Center, The main train station, University with its Aula Leopoldina, Main Cathedral, Panorama Raclawicka, Botanical Gardens. Tons of museums, parks and places you can enjoy.

  5. I live in Wrocław and I recommend you to visit it. It is a very beautiful city. We have a pretty market square, sentenial hall (unesco monument) Ostrów Tumski and many many more. The city was massively damaged during World War II, so not every street has the charming atmosphere of the old town. It’s a little bit eclectic, but still pretty and interesting. And yes, we have a lot of tourists, especially from Germany, but aren’t they in every beautiful city in Europe?

  6. Despite being Polish, I still haven’t seen every Polish city, but I will advise you. Wrocław is definitely one of those Polish cities that gives the greatest sense of being Western. Well-kept old town, lots of monuments, lots of museums, good food and lots of modern touches.

    Krakow is also beautiful, but it is definitely a much more Polish city. The old town is also well-kept, but the surrounding areas can be very dirty and scratched by Polish standards. It also has its charm, because this neglect is fortunately not related to the presence of drug addicts and rubbish, but only to the damaged facade, but it is there and not everyone will like it.

    Lublin was surprising for me. Supposedly poor eastern Poland, but the center is beautiful. In places, the city reminded me of the best elements of Wrocław, Warsaw and Krakow, and in addition, there are also historic towns worth seeing in the vicinity of Lublin.

  7. You could also try Zamość in South-West Poland it’s not so popular, but its old town is beautiful and Przemyśl also in southern Poland, but there right now are so many Ukrainians escaping the Russian War in Ukraine. (also I reccomend Gdańsk, Kraków etc)

  8. As a Pole, Przemyśl was a pleasent surprise. Not as a big city centre as in Wroclaw or Krakow, but if it’s on the way, it’s worth to take a stroll.

  10. You should definitely check out Gdansk https://youtu.be/ir5KVFlDEts
    I like Wroclaw but I think Gdansk has invested a lot over the las few years into becoming a very tourist friendly city. It also has a lot of trees around and as a city is surrounded by a landscape part. The whole region has about 200m range of heights above the sea level which makes its topography really cool. And you can get here from Wroclaw for about 80PLN via Ryanair 🙂

  11. Wro rules, but I gotta tell you that every building in that photo except the 2nd from the right is a recreation. The rynek (market square) was 90% destroyed during the war.

  12. In my opinion the best cities are Krakow, Wrocław and Gdańsk.

  14. Definitely check Zamość! It has literally the same colourful buildings like in the picture. It’s small tho so next stop I suggest Lublin which is like an hour away from Zamość and it’s much bigger.

  15. Brzeg my born city. its also in silesia between opole and wroclaw. it has a beautiful garden in the city center and pretty nice architechture because italian architects came to build the city infrastracture in the 16 century. Its the Neapel of poland. you can buy pizza there and italian ice. there is also the piast castle you can visit. i recomend it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brzeg

  18. Wrocław is not prettiest, the list of required renovation is multibillion dollar long.

    It was a city completely destroyed 80 years ago. It lost many many beautiful buildings.. Many more are in ruin. If you compare Wrocław to Dresden, you see the difference.

    ​

    But, Wrocław has something special I like about the city, you feel really good here. Staying and living in this city feels really good.

    If you seek for pretty cities I’d visit Kraków, Toruń, Gdańsk.

  19. That’s typical “Starówka” ( “Stare miasto” / “Old City” ) architecture, commonly preserved in and near Rynek (Town Square / Market Square, the terms overlap) . They tend to be colorful, but usually tend towards pastels rather than the saturated colors you saw in Wrocław.

    Here’s a few examples:

    * Gliwice: https://www.google.com/maps/@50.294186,18.6654028,3a,75y,40.5h,100.57t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sjcNg2GMOlLhes6GkOPInXQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

    * Poznań: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Restauracja/@52.4084148,16.9342528,3a,75y,55h,92.44t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sbeQBi0xFq1YN4CMim3F_Aw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x47045b40a82528a7:0xcc3cdae9d127e4b4!8m2!3d52.4085606!4d16.9340092

    * Kraków: https://www.google.com/maps/@50.0621553,19.938516,3a,75y,136.65h,93.53t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sIqTVN2a44uvCbL43cGefpQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

    * Opole: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Registry+Office/@50.6684904,17.922909,3a,75y,200.4h,91.68t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sZ5Pmk3sCsci00ht-TGQ1mQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x47105303ff47e375:0xeab3ba9b4d2a1d2!2sRynek,+46-020+Opole!3b1!8m2!3d50.6689103!4d17.9225046!3m4!1s0x4710530406f53765:0xdbaa3b6e1120be9!8m2!3d50.6688351!4d17.922146?hl=en

    * Warszawa: https://www.google.com/maps/@52.2501014,21.0118867,3a,60y,177.84h,89.14t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1stbvaEsLw6G1swEjDdOQkkg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en

    * Toruń: https://www.google.com/maps/@53.0106686,18.6037248,3a,75y,2.68h,91.58t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sH40E8S9BmlUpt9V3SP6Vuw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

  21. Zamość has a great but small old town, while Gdańsk has a very pretty and large old town. Check them out!

  22. IMHO, Gdansk centre is the most beautiful. Krakow is a close second, followed by Wroclaw then Warsaw. However, many medium-sized towns have beautiful centres (rynek), even though the rest of the town may be rather boring or straight out of the 70s. Sanok near Slovakia and Rzeszow near Ukraine are also very nice.

  24. I was in Wrocław 4 years ago and visited again last weekend. It just keeps getting better and better.

  26. Maybe I’m biased bc I had the time of my life there, but I find Kraków to be the prettiest city in the world.

  27. Cracow, Gdansk (my city, and check cliffs between Sopot and Gdynia, beautiful), Wroclaw, Kazimierz Dolny – they are cities “to go” but check Torun, Olsztyn and especially Bydgoszcz – that “island” on Vistula just kick ass…

  29. If u want see some unconventional beautiful city maybe visit Łódź

  31. I really like Wrocław a lot, while my hometown is Warsaw.
    However, I’d also say that Toruń is pretty amazing.
    Toruń has it’s Old Town on the UNESCO list and it’s there a for a good reason!

    Historical fun fact: It’s very likely that the settlement of Warsaw was organized by Toruń. We know that initially in the Medieval times the legal disputes in Warsaw were solved by the court in Toruń.

  32. Gdańsk and Kraków are beautiful cities too in my personal opinion

  34. All Polish Old Towns are beautyful. Wrocław and Kraków are the prettiest IMO.

  35. Zamość or Szczebrzeszyn, both are cool.

    Zamość is known for it’s history

    also, i live not so far from Szczebrzeszyn so…

  36. You must take into consideration that most bigger towns and cities took a load of damage during the war and that most of the historical buildings are the result of careful reconstruction.

    Many 19th century houses like the ones on the picture still stand, however the revitalization 9 times out of 10 is limited to only key tourist-friendly locations, The further down the old streets you go, the worse the buildings get. If they were renovated post ww2 at all, they were made to fit the bill of socrealism and often shaved off any original decor and basically untouched since.

    Most of the housing and infrastructure is going to be soviet type blocks and buildings with brutalism being key aesthetic.

    Now, after 89 some places found a way to nicely integrate that infrastructure with both older and modern times, but mostly it fell victim to haha am capitalist now i do what i want and cheap which led to new building and renovation trends that made socrealism and brutalism beautiful in comparison

    …often those would be the places where you’d find the most random vibrant colors, but believe me, that’s not what you’re looking for

  37. Zamość is prettier. It’s literally build to look pretty. Some would also say that Toruń and Kraków are more beautiful. Some would say it’s Warsaw. Although both Warsaw and Wrocław share one thing… they’re completely leveled 80y ago. So they both look old but are mostly new, just built to look old.

  39. Zamosc is much smaller, and the other side of PL but it has even more colorful center if you after that.

  43. I think Cracow is unique and the prettiest. Wrocław and Gdańsk are okay but indeed they are influenced by German architecture.

  44. Wrocław is definitely one of the prettiest, and I hear Gdańsk is similarly pretty

    The Warsaw Old Town is worth visiting as well, Kraków is the historical tourist area, and Zakopane is great if you want more of a nature visit

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