My husband and I will be in Wroclaw in May 2022 for several nights . We’ve been to Warsaw, Krakow, and Gdansk and have always used Rick Steves’ recommendations for private walking tours. I don’t think he’s written about Wroclaw. Does anyone have a guide they would recommend? Would really appreciate it. Thank you!
Posted by
Bay Area, California
1430 posts
You don't need a person to guide you. Wroclaw is quite compact and very safe.
I used this free guide that was distributed everywhere. It's very informative:
Posted by
Washington DC
27107 posts
I have found In Your Pocket helpful, too, but when I was in Wroclaw in 2018, there was a company offering quite a few different "free" (tip expected) walking tours. I usually avoid those, but I didn't encounter any fee-based public tours to take instead. I took three of the tours. The guides were personable and seemed well-informed, but they were not historians. I am not equating the (enjoyable) tours I took with a private tour conducted by a licensed guide.
In your shoes I'd start by stopping in at the tourist office; it may be able to connect you with a licensed guide (if a guide-licensing procedure exists in Wroclaw). If that doesn't work and you're willing to take a bit of pot luck, you could show up for one of the "free" tours and--if you're satisfied with the guide--talk to him or her about a private tour later.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thank you very much. We’ll stop by the tourist office. We did that in Nuernberg and it worked out well. We love to get a great walking tour our first day somewhere, then we know where we want to go back to for more in-depth exploration the following days. We’ve used the In Your Pocket tour guides, but in our opinion nothing beats a knowledgeable human guide who knows the nooks and crannies and tells the stories.
Posted by
43 posts
Hi Kelly! We will be in Wrocław in June! I was wondering, if you have a moment and have advice, I asked a question (see forum) about parking near our hotel. And if you happen to have a hotel recommendation, our reservation is not written in stone. I'd love to hear any advice you might have from your trip planning.
I have signed up for the free walking tour of bridges and islands. To me, that seemed like a good one to do. You might consider adding on a free tour to subsidize your private one. Not sure they will go to the islands or not.
Have a good journey!
Posted by
near San Francisco
4603 posts
These are the free (tip-based) tours I used in Wrocław:
https://freewalkingtour.com/find-a-tour/wroclaw-poland
This is their basic Old Town walking tour, which I preferred of the two I took:
https://freewalkingtour.com/tours/old-town-wroclaw/
I also took the Islands & Bridges tour, which was a bit underwhelming for me:
https://freewalkingtour.com/tours/islands-bridges-of-wroclaw/
There is also the touristy Dwarfs & Communist Wrocław tour, which I've read is more Dwarves than Communism. It wasn't offered the days I was there:
https://freewalkingtour.com/tours/dwarfs-communist-wroclaw/
You can get an app or a map at the TI to find the dwarves, or just happen upon them as I did.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thank you both for your great replies! Sadly, because of the situation in the Ukraine when we were making our arrangements, we decided not to include Wrocław on this trip.
Posted by
near San Francisco
4603 posts
Oh drat, well hopefully you'll be able to go another time!
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thank you! This time we’re going to Weimar/Erfurt, Bremen, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Strasbourg, and Lyon. Five weeks. Rick Steves books all the way! Hope you too have a wonderful trip.
Posted by
Wroclaw, Poland
2 posts
Hi there,
Hopefully it is not too late for May to respond here :)
On this blog about Wroclaw (www.wroclawguide.com) you can find both guided tours with some more details, but there are also free self-guided tours, especially the one about old German signs is quite unique:
Guided Tours and Free Self-Guided Tours in Wroclaw
Enjoy Wroclaw, the city is amazing!
Mirek