AllWays Traveller Features
Upper Silesia : a hidden gem of a Polish region
Opole, on the Oder River, the historical capital of Polan's Upper Silesia region.
One can get there in just under an hour by train from Wrocław, the capital of Lower Silesia.
This makes Opole an excellent twin city option with its larger neighbour.
Opole today is a vibrant city that embraces its Polish, German and Czech cultural influences, gained over the centuries, and with its Old Town district centred around the historic Market Square and University Hill particularly interesting.
Within the city Opole Zoo offers the chance to appreciate its animals in a natural environment.
Just beyond the city the Open-Air Museum of Rural Architecture and Niemodlin Castle deserve a visit.
Going the extra mile brings real reward
The Upper Silesian capital of Opole deserves to be discovered
Ann and I have been visiting Poland annually for the last three years with our first trip to Warsaw, its capital, followed by a short break in Szczecin.
We were looking forward to visiting Wrocław. When it was then suggested we might consider adding a couple of days to the trip to take in Opole.
If we knew very little about Wrocław, the capital of Polish region of Lower Silesia, we knew even less about Opole, the historic capital of Upper Silesia.
This was incentive enough, particularly as Opole is under an hour from Wrocław via a comfortable train journey.
The overnight stay was in the excellent DeSilva Premium hotel (see below).
With every city break we take, Ann and I employ a tour guide, and doing so in Opole comes even more highly recommended.
It makes the difference between an enjoyable stay and a truly memorable on.
Particularly when the guide is Agnieszka Kreduszyńska-Kamionka.
During our one and a half days with Agnieszka, who is a wonderful ambassador for her city, we were able to do and see all we possibly could in the time we had.
We also got so much more from the visit by talking to Agnieszka about the history of the city and region and indeed family life here now and during the turbulent and traumatic times in Poland's more recent history.
She was our translator when meeting people and (as journalists) got answers to the many questions we asked.
Agnieszka Kreduszyńska-Kamionka at
Working to a well-planned itinerary we were able to stroll the historic Old Town and Market Square, get to the wonderful Opole Zoo and have a porcelain painting workshop that is far more interesting than it may sound.
On our second day we also made short excursion to the Open-Air Museum of Rural Architecture and Niemodlin Castle, both so memorable in their different ways.
Catching the evening train back to Wrocław, we were so pleased we had gone the extra mile to enjoy a short stay in a city of real charm and character.
https://www.opole.pl/dla-turysty/atrakcja/muzeum-wsi-opolskiej and https://muzeumwsiopolskiej.pl/
The frustration, as always, is that there was undoubtedly more to be enjoyed in and around Opole had we more time at our disposal.
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