Zielona Góra (German: Grünberg), is the capital city of the Lubuskie voidodeship, in western Poland. It is famous as the wine capital of Poland as well as the northernmost wine growing region in Europe. Each year, a film festival takes place in the summer and in the fall an important wine festival, Winobranie.

Understand

Zielona Góra is a city in the historical region of Lower Silesia, which has a quite long and unusual history for a Polish city. It has been a big wine producer for a long time, and cultivation of grapes date back to the medieval times. The decline of its wine production started with the arrival of the railway, (when it was part of Germany) and it became quite cheap for Silesia to import wines from other wine producing regions. The industry changed its profile to produce other alcohols, such as sparkling wines, brandies, and others. Wine production finally came to an end with the coming of the communist era. The growing city absorbed the countryside, and the quality of wine produced here became disastrous, so people started buying other products, especially Hungarian and Bulgarian wines. The main wine producer went bankrupt in early '90s. The tradition however is triumphing once again with growing number of small wine producers in the Zielona Góra region, the revival of the tradition is encouraged by the city and region authorities. The local products can be bought during the annual wine festival in September.

Today Zielona Góra is a vibrant city full of young people because of its university. The city is also home to a couple of hi-tech companies. Even though it is a Silesian city, it is now the capital of the Lubuskie region. The city is also known for its cabarets (comical groups).

Get in

By plane

• 1 Zielona Góra Airport (IEG  ^IATA) (40 km away from Zielona Góra). A national airport, with flights to Warsaw operated by the LOT Polish airlines. Flights occur every day except on Sundays. Negotiations are being held to introduce some international flights within the European Union. (updated Oct 2019)

By train

The Polish State Railways has train connections from Szczecin, Warsaw, Gdańsk, Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, and many other cities. However, there is no direct train connection from Berlin, Germany.

The 2 Zielona Góra Train Station is situated east of the city centre, it is just a 10-minute walk from the old town. You can also take the bus or taxi to reach every place in the city. The taxi meter starts at PLN 6.00 with increments of PLN 1.20.

By train from Berlin

First, you have to travel to a city in the border with Poland.

From the cheapest to the most expensive, the options are:

• Take the RegionalExpress to Frankfurt (Oder). It leaves from Berlin Ostbf. Price (April 2011): €9.20
• Take the Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn to Kostrzyn. It leaves from Berlin Lichtenberg. Price (February 2016): €11.80
• Take the EuroCity to Rzepin. It leaves from Berlin Ostbf. Price (April 2011): €23

Then take a train to Zielona Gora. Always check the time table in advance. Train osobowy is the cheapest, REGIO is slightly more expensive.

By car

You can easily get to Zielona Góra by car from Wrocław, Poznań and Szczecin. You can get there easily from Germany as well, via well-developed crossings at the border in Świecko, Gubin, Słubice, Gubinek, Łęknica, etc.

Zielona Góra has a good road infrastructure. Parking in the city centre can be a problem sometimes, since there are few parking places to satisfy the demand.

By bus

The 3 Zielona Góra Bus Station is located very near to the train station north of the city centre. There are many domestic connections, sometimes faster and cheaper than the train.

There are also international connections (see also Poland::By bus).

Get around

By bus

There are over 30 lines that connect different points in the city and surroundings. Except for a few lines, the frequency is not good. Some buses run until around 23:00, most until around 22:00 and buses like number 12 until around 16:00. Some buses do not run on weekends (e.g., bus number 5, which goes to Auchan). There are three lines of night buses. The N2, for example, runs at around 5:30 on Sunday morning (very inconvenient if you go out on Saturday night!). There are two free lines that run daily: lines 55 and 77, going to Auchan and Tesco, respectively.

Tickets (as of June 2017) for a journey within the city cost PLN 3.00 (reduced ticket costs PLN 1.50), no matter how far you travel. If you are going to travel outside the city, you need to buy a more expensive ticket (podmiejski). There are discounts for students, children and senior citizens. All buses are equipped with ticket vending machines, which work only with coins. You must validate your ticket.

A 24 hour ticket for journeys within Zielona Góra costs PLN 12.00, while the reduced ticket costs PLN 6.00.

See the website of the municipal bus company for more information and time tables.

By taxi

There are lots of taxis in Zielona Góra, they are easy to find and quite cheap. Always remember to choose the taxis belonging to one of the "corporations" i.e. one of the taxi companies, they are easy to identify as they are colourful with lots of adverts and always a specific phone number on the roof of the cab.

Prices: Taxi from the railway station to the University (4.5 km i.e. 3m) 11-13zł. Of course it is dearer at night or on the weekends.

See

Old city centre

• 1 City Hall. Dating back to the 15th century. 
• 2 Co-Cathedral of St. Jadwiga of Silesia (Konkatedra pw. św. Jadwigi), Mickiewicza 14, ☏ +48 68 320 24 70. 
• 3 Palm House (Palmiarnia), Wrocławska 12. Tu-Th, Su: 10:00—22:00. F-Sa: 10:00—23:00. Closed on M. A greenhouse with a restaurant. 
• Wine Park. On a hill in the city centre with a nice view over the whole western part of the city. 
• 4 Chapel in the Vineyards (Kaplica na Winnicy), Aliny. 12th century 
• 5 Regional Museum (Muzeum Ziemi Lubuskiej), al. Niepodległości 15, ☏ +48 68 327 23 45. W-F: 11:00—17:00. Sa: 10:00—15:00. Su: 10:00—16:00. Hosting the Wine Museum and the Museum of Torture. 
• 6 Botanical Garden (Ogród Botaniczny), Botaniczna 50A, ☏ +48 601 902 290. Daily 09:00-19:00. Opened in 2007. (updated Jun 2017)

Do

• 1 Zielona Góra Philharmonic (Filharmonia Zielonogórska im. Tadeusza Bairda), Plac Powstańców Wielkopolskich 10, ☏ +48 68 325 65 14. Music hall in the centre of Zielona Góra with many concerts. It is possible to buy tickets online. 
• Falubaz Zielona Góra, ‎ul. Wrocławska 69. If you're interested in the sport of Speedway (a type of motorcycle racing) then you can check out of one the best clubs in Poland. Matches usually on Sundays. (updated Mar 2019)

Buy

Change your money at one of the many foreign exchange spots in the city or in the supermarkets Auchan and Tesco. It is better not to withdraw money from your bank account via ATMs as they will probably charge you a high commission. Also, do bargain with the teller at the foreign exchange - you may get a better rate.

Eat

As Zielona Góra is a city with university and full of young people, it is (should be) quite easy to find a place to eat.

There are a variety of choices from cheap takeaways to luxurious restaurants. The majority of the restaurants are located in the city centre, specifically in the old town. A good choice in Zielona Góra are the pizzerias, easy to find and cheap.

• 1 Bar Mleczny Turysta (Milk bar), Bolesława Chrobrego 2 (In front of the train station), ☏ +48 68 327 23 00. M-F: 9:00—20:00. Sa-Su: 10:00—18:00. Particularly popular and inexpensive. (updated Jun 2017)
• 2 Jazzgot, al. Niepodległości 25, ☏ +48 600 217 021. M-Sa: 7:30—0:00. Su: 9:00—0:00. (updated Jun 2017)
• 3 Pierogarnia Po Byku, al. Wojska Polskiego 2, ☏ +48 783 333 033. Daily 11:00—23:00. F, Sa until 0:00. Su from 12:00. For Polish dumplings. (updated Jun 2017)
• 4 Pizzeria Gioconda, ul. Mariacka 5-7, ☏ +48 68 324 65 65. Daily 9:30—22:00. F, Sa until 23:00. Su from 10:30. (updated Jun 2017)
• 5 Palmiarnia, ul. Wrocławska 12a, ☏ +48 68 478 45 50. 12:00-21:00 Tu-F, 12:00-19:00 Sa, 12:00-20:00 Su. Biggest restaurant in the city situated on top of a vineyard hill. It's inside the city's famous "Palm House" glasshouse with tropical trees inside. (updated Jun 2018)

Drink

As a wine centre, wine should be worth trying. However, local beers seem to be more popular.

Sleep

There are a few of hotels in and around the city center.

• 1 Qubus Hotel, ul. Ceglana 14a, ☏ +48 68 329 31 00, zielonagora@qubushotel.com. Hotel with 56 rooms of which 33 single, 3 double and 20 twin rooms. 
• 2 Ruben Hotel, al. Konstytucji 3 Maja 1A, ☏ +48 68 456 70 70. 
• 3 Grono Hostel, Ogrodowa 50, ☏ +48 737 403 063, kontakt@hostelgrono.pl. Clean hostel in a residential neighborhood south of the centre. Offers rooms for 2, 3, 4 and 5 people. Paid parking. starting at 40 zł/person. (updated Jun 2017)