Because of the stressful secondary school enrolment period, our holiday this year had to be cut very short. But, so as not to spend time at home and wonder if the amount of points that our daughter earned are enough for her to go to her dream school, we went on a short trip. We managed to see a lot of diverse attractions. There was something for the body and something for the mind, some history, a little ecology, some physical effort, a lot of fun and time spent together. One of the most interesting stops was Hydropolis – the water museum in Wroclaw.

The museum is housed in a XIX century, antique container of fresh water for Wroclaw. The container fulfilled its role till 2011, and now it is the Center of Ecology Education - Hydropolis.

The name of the museum sounds boring. It brings to mind posters, dusty exhibits, felt slippers and a woman that stands in the corner of the room and makes sure that nobody is touching the exhibits. In Hydropolis you will be nicely surprised. There are no slippers, no dust and... you can touch everything. This place was created for tourists, so they can roll, touch, press, play and check how everything works. For me, as a mom of a curious 8-year-old boy, that was a relief. Finally, I didn't have to run behind my son and all the time say "don't touch".

The exhibition starts with a movie in an unusually round hall with a pond. Be careful not to drop your bag or backpack in it. The exhibition consists of nine areas where you can look at the water from another perspective. You can find there a lot of information about the oceans and the most mysterious and inaccessible depths where scary creatures live. You can see the bathyscaphe, visit the Titanic and find sunken wrecks.

The Ocean of Life is the exhibition where you can see water as a source of evolution and observe the interesting water ecosystem. Here, in the kids area, the youngest can play a simple computer game in which they look after a swimming dolphin or take care of the cleanliness of a reef. In the next part we can determine what is more relaxing: the ocean and the sound of waves crashing into the shore or the sound of a wet rainforest. In the relaxation area we can lie down and rest – of course if we're not the mom of a curious-about-the-world, 8-year-old boy, for whom 5 seconds rest is enough.

In the next room we can find out how much water we have inside us, what are the functions of the water inside us, how fast we lose it and how much this depends on temperature, and also its role in different cultures and religions. The next exhibitions show us water inventions, the most important ships in human history and also how important water is in the city system. We get to know the work of people that are responsible for the fresh water in our taps and making sure that rapid rains, or long-standing lack of rain, doesn't cause a hydrological disaster in the city. My son really liked the last room. The three states of concentration, blizzards and making water particles are the most interesting elements from the last part of the exhibition.

We explored for about two hours, but you can stay there for longer. We bought tickets (during the holiday) just before the entrance to the museum. You can use also their website and buy them earlier for a particular hour. If you don't want to do it, at least make sure there are tickets available for the time you want to go. You can't eat in the exhibitions. Before and after exploring you can go to the café in the museum or to the second café in the next building. In the museum there is a cloakroom, clean toilets and a souvenir shop.

Exploring Hydropolis was a great time, especially since the weather was more like autumn than warm and sunny summer. The content and attractions were adjusted to tourists of all ages and I guarantee that everyone will find something interesting. The exhibition is interactive, modern and prepared with great attention to detail.

I recommend it!

Read also:
Gdańsk also for children – exhibition People-Ships-Ports
Whale Park in Rewal
Environs of Szklarska Poręba – Glass Factory Julia