What to do with children in Wrocław?
Take them to places they will not find boring: to parks with interesting playgrounds, for a ride in a historic tram or to areas where dwarves can be found. The Africarium, the Zoo and Kolejkowo – one of the bigger train mock-ups – are available to children at any time of the year, and older kids should be satisfied with an adrenalin park on the Opatowicka Island.
Taking a child to the city centre
Kids may not be enchanted with the monuments of the Wrocław Old Town as much as adults will be, so it is a good idea to take them to the Staromiejski Park (Park Staromiejski) near the Wrocław Puppet Theatre (Wrocławski Teatr Lalek). It is a place where you can spread a blanket, admire birds in an aviary or have fun in a playground with a sandbox, a slide and climbing walls. Thanks to its soft surface, the playground is ideal for the youngest kids. In the spring-autumn period, a beautiful classic French carousel in the 19th-century style functions near the playground. The power-driven carousel is equipped with wooden horses and gondolas, and hand-painted images of Wrocław monuments make it even more attractive.
The carousel is open from April till October. When the weather is good, it is available from 11:00 am till 6:00 pm. The price of one around 3-minute ride is 2 PLN. If you wish to buy more rides, you can get a discount.
There is no public toilet in the park – you can visit one in the building of the Wrocław Puppet Theatre or in a restaurant.
In front of the entrance to the park on the side of the Puppet Theatre, a fountain with dwarves is a convenient place to cool down on hot summer days. We also recommend a visit to the ice-cream parlour at ul. Świdnicka.
An old tram and the Pergola
From May till the end of October, historic trams run from the Plac Teatralny square on every weekend from 12:00 am. Trams travel from the city centre to the Centennial Hall (Hala Stulecia) and backwards, and their route encompasses the biggest monuments of the Market Square and surrounding areas for one part of the day. We recommend a trip to the Centennial Hall, where the tram stays so long that you can sight-see the Pergola with a multimedia fountain. The fountain is open during the spring-autumn season, daytime shows are organised at full hours, and a music programme is presented with colour lights after dark. Entering the fountain is prohibited, but there are water jets and a special spot for children in front of the basin. In the summer season, snacks and drinks are sold around the Pergola.
Ticket prices for historic tram trips:
reduced-price tickets: a one-way trip – 2 PLN, a round trip – 3 PLN, full-price tickets: a one-way trip – 4 PLN, a round trip – 6 PLN, a guided trip: reduced price – 2 PLN, full price – 3 PLN.
Zoo, Africarium and Kolejkowo
Irrespective of weather and time of year, it is worth visiting a few places. The Africarium will satisfy even the most capricious children. It is the world’s only thematic oceanarium devoted exclusively to the fauna of Africa. Huge aquariums with hundreds of colourful fish, turtles, sharks and batoids look impressive. It is good to take a rest in front of penguin pools or wait for the time of feeding fur seals or piranhas.
Older kids and young people should also like the Hydropolis – a water knowledge centre. There they can sit in the capsule of the Trieste bathyscaphe, in which two bold people reached the bottom of the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench in 1960, see “monsters” living in seas and oceans, or make their own clouds.
Kolejkowo is one of the bigger train mock-ups in Poland. It is open every day, including holidays, from 10:00 am till 6:00 pm. The exhibition is divided into several parts. One of them is devoted to forestry and farming – it presents farm animals, with a magnificently reproduced agrotourist farm in the background. In the second part we can see Karpacz and the Śnieżka summit with a faithfully reproduced observatory. Then we come across the Wrocław Rynek with faithfully reproduced houses, the Świebodzki Railway Station (Dworzec Świebodzki) and panel blocks from ul. Żmigrodzka. In the central place, there is the Kolejkowo.pl station with a replica of the Szwajcarka mountain hostel.
Wyspa Słodowa and a cruise on the Oder
Playgrounds on the Słodowa Island (Wyspa Słodowa) are a real challenge for children. Kids of every age will find something for themselves there, including the wreck of a pirate ship, slides, ladders, scaffolds, ropes, or a fenced playground for the youngest kids with a sandbox and swings. A charge-free toilet is available in the spring-autumn season. In the summer season, open-air cinema shows (Friday, Saturdays) and activities and workshops for families (Sunday) are organised. If you decide to spend your time on the Oder, we also recommend a cruise on the river. An interesting solution for a larger group of people is a weekend water tram (30 minutes – 15 PLN per person – the route to be chosen by participants) or a passenger ship (50 minutes – 20 PLN), where the captain takes care of everything, and we can only admire beautiful views.
Adrenalin not only on the Opatowicka Island
The rope park was designed and built so as to fit ideally into the natural landscape of the Opatowicka Island (Wyspa Oparowicka). It offers 7 routes with obstacles, including one for children aged 3-5 and another for children aged 6-12. Each of them can contain around 20 kids. The rope park is open on weekends from 9:00 am till 7:00 pm in April, on weekends from 9:00 am till 7:00 pm and on weekdays from 10:00 am till 6:00 pm between May and September. The entrance to the Park and the ticket office is at ul. Braci Gierymskich.