We have two optional Cultural Day tours. You can register for one or both.

Our first optional Cultural Day tour is Saturday, Sept. 28. The cost is $39 per person. We can accommodate up to 15 persons on one bus.

If more than 15 prople register for the tour, we will put #16 and above on a waiting list (if a ticketed person cannot show up), or we will put them on another bus, or refund their money if another bus is not available.

We will either be picked up at our hotel at 10:45, or we will walk 13 minutes — see map above — to the normal tour start outside the Restauracja Piwnica Świdnicka at Rynek Ratusz 1A. The English-language licensed guide tour will begin at 11 am. From the tour company:

We start our tour from the Old Town. We will see the Old University of Wrocław and the Jewish Quarter with the beautiful White Stork Synagogue. Your local licensed guide will tell you lots of exciting stories about these places. We will stop wherever you like and you can take photos and drink coffee or local beer. The Jewish Quarter is a place where you will find plenty of regional cafes and beer gardens. Historic tenement houses, romantic courtyards and old temples of four denominations, time stopped here for a long time.

We continue the trip, approaching the medieval Cathedral Island, the oldest part of Wroclaw. On the way, we pass the former Market Hall full of regional products. We stop for a moment at the largest church in Wrocław - the Wrocław Cathedral.

We continue the trip along the Promenade on the Odra River. There are plenty of ships ready to sail on the Oder, and there are many cafes and places to rest on the waterfront. We pass the monumental Imperial Bridge.

We reach the Centennial Hall - it is a unique facility included on the UNESCO heritage list. The areas around the Centennial Hall are teeming with life - we are going to the Pergola. Here we will have a 10-minute session of the Multimedia Fountain, water, light and sound! Beautiful spectacle! There is time for a break and to take photos.

We end the trip in the Old Town at 1:00 pm. It was a beautiful journey around Wroclaw, full of interesting stories, legends and funny anecdotes.

LUNCH AFTERWARDS

After the tour, you can have lunch on your own in the Old Town area where there are many restaurants.

Click the button to register:

The gondola cruise may be affected by the Sept. 18-19 flooding in Wrocław. We will check with the tour company during our Conference — closer to the tour date — to find out whether we're still going. If not, ILDA will refund your tour registration.

Our second optional Cultural Day tour is $45 per person. We have reserved 15 persons on the gondola. It holds 32 so if we get more than 15 registrations we will hopefully be able to accommodate you as long as space is still available from the tour company. (If we cannot accommodate you, your registration fee will be refunded.)

This starts from the same place as the earlier bus tour, the Restauracja Piwnica Świdnicka which is a 13 minute walk from our hotel (see map above). It runs from 2:30 pm to 4 pm. From the tour company:

Meet your personal guide at the Market Square in Wrocław. Then take a walk with him to the passenger ship pier on the Odra River. The ship marina is located at Cathedral Island and is approximately 20-30 minutes from the Market Square.

The guide will buy tickets for the cruise and you will board the small gondola "Gucio". A 50-minute cruise along the Oder canals around the Old Town awaits you.

The gondola is covered. There are wooden benches on the deck. There is no bar on board with drinks and snacks. We sit wherever there are free seats - next to the guide.

The cruise starts near Cathedral Island - first we admire the wonderful Gothic architecture of the cathedral island. In the distance you can see the mighty towers of the Wrocław Cathedral. We sail under the Peace Bridge next to the National Museum. At the Imperial Bridge we turn around and sail towards the Old Town. On the left you can see the Old Town Promenade and people relaxing in numerous cafes.

The guide talks about the monuments we pass. It also tells about ships on the Oder, in the past and today. About the life of people on the river. It's full of funny anecdotes and stories.

We enter the Old Town - we sail under the Sand Bridge and towards the University of Wrocław. You can see this beautiful building from afar! Next to it there is the mighty University Bridge and the "Marina" yacht marina. Here we turn back towards Cathedral Island. The guide tells about the last great flood in Wrocław in 1997. The entire city was flooded with a huge wave.

We sail past numerous restaurants on the waterfront. On request, you can disembark here and end the cruise to have a beer. We sail further - under the famous historic Lovers' Bridge (Tumski Bridge). It is one of the most beautiful bridges in Wrocław.

Finally, we reach the passenger ship marina in Cathedral Island. What a cruise it was! The guide says goodbye to the group... Ahoy! See you next time in Wrocław!

After the cruise, if you wish, stay on the waterfront on the boulevard. There are many cafes and bars here and beautiful views of the Odra River.

After the tour, the return to the hotel is on your own. You can Uber/taxi which is a 6 minute drive, or walk which is about 20 minutes; see walking map below.

Click the button to register:

The videos below give you a quick overview of an ILDA Conference. The first one, from Christopher Short, shows lasers during the 2018 Lase-Off in Montréal, hosted by LaserTech Canada.

The second video shows meetings and seminars in the day, and the Lase-Off and the ILDA Awards in the evenings. Thanks to KVANT, host of the 2017 ILDA Conference, for producing the video.