Arrival
Arriving by plane
Wroclaw airport is 30 minutes away from the city center by car. You can either take one of the official taxis waiting at the airport (expect to pay ~60 PLN) or use a ride hailing app (e.g. Freenow/Uber/Bolt). You can also take bus nr 106 to the main train station, but this might take up to 50 minutes. A popular way in Poland to search for public transportation connections is by using the Jak dojade app.
Arriving by train
There are multiple daily connection to Warsaw. Depending on the train, the journey takes 3.5 h – 6 h and you should expect to pay 60-200 PLN for the ticket (the pricing for the fastest train is dynamic, so you might want to buy your ticket a bit earlier on the official website, this is possible up to 30 days before the trip). There are also some international connections (for example, to Berlin).
Arriving by bus
There are multiple daily connections to Warsaw, Berlin and Prague (among others) operated by Flixbus.
Accommodation
The school venue is within a 25-minute walk from the Market Square, with plenty of hotels available.There are also a few nice hotels near the picturesque Botanical Garden of the University of Wrocław, which is within a 10-minute walk. Per-night price (with breakfast) should be in the range from PLN 200 to PLN 500.
Practicalities
Currency
Polish currency is called złoty, abbreviated PLN. 1 PLN is approximately 0.23 EUR or 0.26 USD. There are multiple currency exchanges offices near the Market Square and at the airport. ATMs are widely available, some of them, including the ones at the airport, might charge you a small additional fee that is clearly shown in the very beginning. Credit cards (Visa and Mastercard) are widely accepted, even in small shops. There is no need to carry cash (except for maybe tipping in restaurants).
Electricity
230 V, 50 Hz with either Schuko or Europlug.
Tap water
Should be safe to drink, but you can confirm that at your hotel.
Tipping
There are no strict rules concerning tipping, but 10% is considered appropriate in a restaurant. There is no need to tip in a café/bar.
Safety
The streets of Wrocław are very safe. You should however exercise standard caution, as you would do in any large city especially around the very crowded area near the Market Square. In the case of an emergency, dial the all-purpose emergency number 112.
Language
Most young people speak English to some degree. All shops/restaurants in the city center should have someone with decent English (or German).
Transport
If you are staying in the city center then everything is within a walking distance. Public transportation is reasonably well developed, and we recommend using the trams to get around. You can buy the ticket on board from a vending machine (it is 4,60 PLN for a single trip). Keep in mind that you need a contactless card and the machine doesn’t print anything, it just sends the information that you have bought the ticket to a central database. During a ticket inspection, you must bring your contactless card close to the inspector’s device.
A popular way to search for connections is by using the Jak dojade app.
Taxi
We recommend booking your taxi online (through your favorite app) or through your hotel, as to avoid any misunderstandings.