Trip Report: Winter in Wroclaw
To continue our festive Christmas trip, we travelled to Winter Wonderland in Wroclaw! While Wroclaw is not the largest city, the Christmas markets are fabulous and well worth a visit!
Logistics
I would hurry to read our overall travel planning post here to get some tips! Sofitel Wroclaw Old Town is literally in the heart of the old town so we were steps away from the main square, thus the main Christmas market. Whilst the hotel had a great location, the decor was very different. The hotel is located inside an office building and I am not sure if there was anyone else besides us in the building!
Wroclaw Activities
Whilst TripAdvisor contains a Top 10 list, there wasn’t too much that we desperately wanted to see in the city. After all, we primarily wanted to see the excellent Christmas markets!
Surrounding the old town’s church, there are many stalls and festivities! Each section of the old town plaza has it’s own little mini building full of mulled wine and other foods! Compared to Warsaw and Krakow, this market is definitely better than anything we have seen whilst in Poland!
As noted on TripAdvisor, the Walkative walking tours are number one in Poland. For our walking tour, head over to this post!
Food and Drink
Because of First Day of Christmas (25 December) and Second Day of Christmas (26 December), most family run restaurants or great foodie options weren’t open until the 27 December - if we were lucky! Several restaurants opened early on 26 December, but they were all in the main square and mostly kebab shops!
However, this did not stop me from compiling a list of what I researched and either tried or wish we could have tried!
Second Christmas Day
On the second day of Christmas, we learned it is a real holiday and explored the winter wonderland in Wroclaw!
Ghost Town
Similar to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, once we arrived at the Wroclaw train station, we were beginning to question our decision to come here! The surroundings were very dark and dreary and it just did not seem that great…
Furthermore, as we rode in our Uber to the hotel, Wroclaw was exactly like Warsaw with everything closed! Even our hotel was empty and we had to wait on the receptionist to come back down. We would be in for a treat!
R&R
Because it was nearly lunch time, we decided to see the town and grab some grub. Unfortunately, the entire town had a 2pm open notice. From the Christmas markets to any restaurant that I researched, everything appeared to have literally just opened or delayed their opening to 2pm. Thankfully, we weren’t as hungry and settled for easy KFC.
While most people consider R&R to be rest and relaxation, on this trip, I feel like it was more one person rested while the other researched or did some other type of relaxing. It was nice to just avoid the bitter cold!
Wroclaw Christmas Markets
After much convincing MF, we ventured to the Wroclaw Christmas Markets that were just outside our hotel. Whilst Wroclaw is not the largest city, it helps being so close to the city center. The markets are superb - probably the best in Poland! From the tantalizing smells wafting from the stalls selling fries, grilled cheese, pizzas, and bratwursts to the beautiful decorations adorning the stands, we could not pick our favorite side!
There are three main areas, in my opinion, that surround the main cathedral. We spent most of the evening walking in the circle, but our favorite was definitely the side of the cathedral with the food! We had so many tasty treats - from fries to chocolate covered strawberries! For our dinner, I enjoyed a really thin crust pizza which was topped with cheese and pepperoni. By far, Mary Frances enjoyed the grilled cheese the most as we somehow kept going back to that one!
For ornament shopping, Mary Frances wasn’t entirely pleased with the selection. At this rate, she knows what she expects and wants from Christmas markets. Thus, if the market doesn’t have her style, she won’t buy the standard glass bulb that either has a pretty picture or the city name. Although I see nothing wrong with that!
Our Final Day in Wroclaw
For our final day in Wroclaw, we would finally learn about the city history and soak in the Christmas markets one last time.
Charlotte - My favorite Parisian Polish cafe
Because restaurants are FINALLY opening after their Christmas break, I knew I had to take advantage of one thing - my favorite Parisian Polish cafe “chain” in Poland - Charlotte! Thankfully, it was a short 5-10 minute walk from our hotel and I was unsurprisingly the first person there!
The hip decor, along with the tasty fresh French pastries, make for an awesome start to the day! I ordered my usual and favorite dish, a black Americano and a pastry basket with white chocolate and strawberry jam. So yummy! I wish London had a place like this!
Walking Tour
Similar to the other Polish cities, we went on a highly rated free walking tour with Walkative Wroclaw. The meeting point is right by the church and cannot miss it! For this tiny city, I would highly recommend it! Read about our experience here!
Warm and Cozy Lunch
After a nearly freezing cold walking tour (I always forget to bundle up for them!), we needed to find warmth and food in a city that arguably was still closed for Christmas. We began our search on one side of town, wandered to a few of my recommendations, discovered they were still closed, and eventually ended back at the main square because we figured those places would crater to dumb tourists like us - turns out we were right!
Located next to the church, Pod Papugami was very fancy compared to most of our meals on this trip! The inside was beautifully decorated and the staff were dressed to the nines in their suits and everything. Whoops! Unlike most of our meals, MF and I had the complete opposite tastes! I ordered a very healthy and tasty goat cheese salad with beetroots and other mix-ins while MF had the chicken fingers and fries. Once the waiter brought it over, they initially thought the chicken fingers were for me! Both hit the spot and we were very warm at the end!
Lazy Afternoon
Because a lot of places were apparently still closed, we knew we would have trouble finding activities. Thus, we kept it very simple - shopping and more food! MF was enthralled by a style of pottery unique to this area - Boleslawiec. Hailing from a small town near Wroclaw, the beautiful designs are designed on all pieces and still done by hand! Thus, MF had a very difficult decision so we obviously had to stew on it for awhile.
While MF took her merry time deciding on which piece of pottery, I knew what I wanted for today - chocolate covered strawberries. And grilled cheese. And more wandering through the market. As we debated and strolled through the market, we also found a lovely star ornament for our tree! Finally, after a few laps, MF decided on her pottery so we went there.
Travel Tip: There are plenty of knock off and authentic Boleslawiec pottery shops! We went to shops that had a history and were on the main tourist street!
Travel Tip: For lazy afternoons, I would highly recommend Vinyl and Literak! Very cool and close to the main square.
Piergoi are Terrific
For our last Polish meal, we wanted to go out in Polish style by eating only the finest pierogis! Because of our unsuccessful lunch walk where most of our places were closed, MF researched about 3 different restaurants all well known for pierogis. Always have a backup plan, because we only found 1 place open - Pierogarnia Stay Mlyn!
Arriving at the perfect time ahead of the crowd, we grabbed a seat and debated what type of piergoi to get! This place had so many different types, between regular, baked, and fried, and flavors! We were surprised and confused! Eventually, we chose an oven baked pieorgoi with bacon and onion and MF’s personal favorite of a cheese and potato ruskie.
We really enjoyed our meal because these are the perfect sharing size so you can try all sorts! However, because it is carb heavy, I wouldn’t order too many! I would highly recommend Pierogarnia Stay Mlyn because the prices weren’t too bad and the piergois are very tasty!
One Last Time
Upon our final stroll through the Christmas market, we were very sentimental. Not only was this the last market of 2019, we weren’t sure if we would come back to European Christmas markets in 2020 or in the near future. Thus, we had to go out with a bang!
Obviously, for us, going out with a bang meant ordering all of our favorite tasty treats! In no particular order, we had chocolate covered strawberries, bananas, mulled wine, hot chocolate, chimney cakes, and grilled cheese. While we were extremely full, the market treats were fantastic!
As we enjoyed our feast, the markets were full of people and charm! The decorations are wonderful and continue the Christmas spirit!
Onto Malta
From our city center hotel, the drive to the airport is only 15 minutes. Because our flight was at 7:50 and we didn’t want to get there super early, I googled the departing flights and found we were the only flight to leave in the 7am range. Thus, we decided to arrive at 6:45 as we bet that security would be easy!
As expected, there was no one at the airport and had a breeze through security! Because I was hungry and wanted a coffee, we also made a quick pit stop to the lounge! It was fantastic! Plus, I knew the flight on the other side was going to be warm and sunny so I was very excited!! To send us off, it began to snow! Finally, we experienced a white Christmas on the tarmac about to leave for warm Malta!
The UnChartered Summary
Wroclaw has a wonderful charm as you wander through the Old Town and beyond. From small boutique restaurants to typical pierogis, you can't go wrong!
- To describe Wroclaw, it is perfect for a Christmas market visit. You can see the entire city in 1 day, enjoy the fine cuisine (if it is open!), then enjoy the wonderful markets!
- Compared to the other Polish Christmas markets, we have declared Wroclaw to be the winner! The markets have a healthy mix of great food and fun trinkets!
- The city is perfectly small and has terrific food - we can easily find our way as we can’t get lost and there are plenty of foodie options!