Zielona Gora 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 90's. The tradition however is triumphing once again with growing number of small wine producers in the Zielona Gora 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 Gora 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).
There is an international airport in Zielona Gora, there are daily flights to Warsaw with LOT. The negotiations are held to introduce some international flights within the European Union.
The Polish State Railways [http://www.pkp.pl] has train connections from Szczecin, Warsaw, Gda?sk, Krakow as well as Wroclaw and Poznan, etc.
The railway station is situed east of the city centre, it is just 10 minutes walk from the old town. You can also take the bus or taxi to reach every place in the city.
Lots of domestic connections, sometimes faster than the train, always cheaper. Many international connections (see Poland::By bus).
Tickets 2z? no matter how far you travel. There are discounts for students, children and pensioners.
Website of the municipal bus company: [http://www.mzk.zgora.pl]
There are lots of taxis in Zielona Gora, 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 (4.5km i.e. 3m) 11-13z?. Of course it is dearer at night or on the weekends.
As Zielona Gora is a city with university and full of young people it is quite easy to find a nice place to eat. There a variety of choices from cheap takeaways to luxurious restaurants. The majority of the restaurants are located in the city centre, esp. in the old town. A good choice in Zielona Gora are the pizzerias, easy to find and cheap.