Free tour

Free Walking Tour Nowa Huta: Ideal Communist City

Duration: 2h and 30min
Languages: English, Spanish
Quality Verified Registered on July 05, 2017

We are Walkative! Our goal is to promote our cities across Poland, Germany, France, Ukraine and Israel and cooperate in promoting our partners across all of Europe - no matter what your budget is! Since 2007 we have guided more than 3 million people. We provide tours in English, Spanish, Polish and German mostly.

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  • Free booking and cancellation
    Free payment tour, no set price, booking and cancellation are free

Tour description

Nowa Huta is an example of a rare kind: an ideal communist "Stalin City", built from scratch to not only provide housing for steelworkers but also show the world "how it's done in socialism". Established in 1949 as a separate entity, despite being merged with Kraków soon after, still feels like a different city. Its wide avenues with lots of greenery, parks, classical-looking architecture seem like a great place to live. And indeed they are.

Yet, its backstory is direr: a city built next to a humongous steel mill ("Huta" in Polish) was to be a statement in times of Stalinist terror showing the world the power of Soviet engineering. Built with tremendous cost, both in resources and human lives, the city, unlike its several counterparts (Eisenhüttenstadt, Poruba, or Donauváros) is living through a revival. New people settle down, utilizing the practical design and admiring the totalitarian, yet interesting and somewhat appealing architecture. Who knows, the place might end up on a Unesco list someday!

On this tour, we will show you the totalitarian architecture of the Plac Centralny (Central Square), we will walk along the Aleja Róż (Avenue of Roses), where one certain Vladimir Lenin once stood and we will examine how the society of this strange place formed, developed and finally led to the downfall of communism, of which it was the product of. 
Homo sovieticus turned against its masters and brought freedom to Poland and Europe.

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  • Meeting point:
    Ronald Reagan Plaza, plac Centralny I...
    Ronald Reagan Plaza, plac Centralny Imienia Ronalda Reagana, 31-974 Kraków, Poland
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    Look for the guide with the yellow umbrella in the middle of the Plac Centralny

How much does this tour cost?

Free tours do not have a set price, instead, each person gives the guru at the end of the tour the amount that he or she considers appropriate (these usually range from €10 to $50 depending on satisfaction with the tour).

Tour opinions

8 ratings
5.0
By category
Professionalism
5.0
Fun
4.88
Expression
4.88
Quality
4.88
Route
4.63
Generic
5 stars
8
4 stars
0
3 stars
0
2 stars
0
1 star
0
NISSIM 22 Oct 2022
Haifa

Verified booking
Travelled alone - Oct 2022
A very interesting tour. Georg provided excellent & proffesional guidance, demonstrated extensive knowledge and combined humor. Highly recommend the guided tour, especially for history buffs. Excellent! 🙏
Natàlia 08 Sep 2022
Vinyols i els Arcs

Verified booking
Travelled in couple - Sep 2022
Se nota que le gusta su trabajo. Habla perfectamente español y es muy encantador y profesional. Recomendado al 100%!
Wes ... 27 Aug 2022
Byron Center

Verified booking
Travelled alone - Aug 2022
Tomasz was awesome. Very enthusiastic and full of stories.
Show 8 reviews

Who is this tour for?

Accessibility
Suitable for people with reduced mobility.
Groups
Does not accept large group reservations.
Pets
Suitable for carrying pets.

What should you know?

Minimum of attendees
A minimum of 4 people is required for the tour.
Additional costs:
The tour does not require the payment of entrance fees or additional expenses.
Free cancellation
If you will not be able to attend the tour, please cancel your booking, otherwise the guide will be waiting for you.
When do you want to go?
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