Flight time
2h 30m
Best season
May–September
Budget
Budget
Best for
History, architecture, Baltic coast
Overview
Why Gdańsk for a city break?
Gdańsk is one of the most historically significant cities in Europe — the city where the Second World War began (the first shots fired at the Westerplatte peninsula on 1 September 1939), the birthplace of Solidarity (the trade union movement that began the collapse of European communism), and a Hanseatic port city of extraordinary Dutch-Gothic architecture, almost entirely rebuilt stone by stone after being 90% destroyed in 1945. The Long Lane (Ulica Długa) and Long Market (Długi Targ) together form one of the most beautiful urban streetscapes in central Europe — a disciplined, harmonious row of 17th-century merchant houses in amber, crimson and ochre, miraculously restored to their original appearance.
Direct flights from London, Edinburgh, Bristol, Manchester and other UK airports take around two and a half hours with Ryanair, Wizz Air and LOT Polish Airlines. Gdańsk Airport is 12km from the city (SKM commuter train, 25 minutes, about £1). The Gdańsk TriCity — Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot — is one of the finest urban areas in Poland: three cities on the Baltic within 30 minutes of each other by frequent commuter train. Sopot's long wooden pier (the longest in the Baltic) and its wide sandy beach are 20 minutes from Gdańsk's old town. Go in May, June or September for warm weather, manageable crowds and the best prices.
Where to stay & explore
Gdańsk’s best neighbourhoods
Old Town (Główne Miasto)
The main historic quarter — Ulica Długa (the Long Lane), the Long Market, the Artus Court, Neptune Fountain and the Crane Gate on the waterfront. The rebuilt Hanseatic architecture is densest and most impressive here. The Mariacka Street (amber jewellery shops in restored Gothic merchants' houses) is the most photogenic lane in the city.
Wrzeszcz & Oliwa
Gdańsk's leafy western districts — the Oliwa Park with the Gothic cathedral and its famous Baroque organ (concerts on summer afternoons), the Art Nouveau architecture of Wrzeszcz, and the more local, less touristy atmosphere of western Gdańsk. The Oliwa Park deer enclosure is a favourite with families.
Sopot
The Baltic resort town 20 minutes from Gdańsk by SKM train — the longest wooden pier in the Baltic (511m), the Monte Cassino pedestrian strip, wide sandy beaches, a casino and a relaxed, affluent atmosphere that is entirely different from historic Gdańsk. Best combined with Gdańsk rather than as a standalone destination.
Things to do
What to see in Gdańsk
1
European Solidarity Centre
One of the finest museums in Europe and the best reason to visit Gdańsk — the European Solidarity Centre occupies a building clad in rusting Corten steel designed to echo the hull of a ship, next to the original Gdańsk Shipyard Gate where Lech Wałęsa and the striking workers negotiated with the Communist government in 1980. The permanent exhibition documents the Solidarity movement from its origins in the 1970s workers' strikes through the August 1980 agreements, the martial law crackdown of 1981, the underground years and the eventual Round Table Agreements of 1989 that began the democratic transition of central and eastern Europe. The original 21 Demands postcard from 1980 is here. The exhibition design is outstanding. Allow two hours minimum; three is better.
2
Ulica Długa & the Long Market
The Long Lane and Long Market together form Gdańsk's architectural spine — a pedestrianised street and square of extraordinary rebuilt 17th-century Flemish and Dutch-Gothic merchant houses, climaxing at the Golden Gate (west) and Green Gate (east). The Neptune Fountain at the centre of the Long Market has stood here since 1633. The Artus Court (a medieval merchant's meeting hall with an extraordinary Renaissance interior, the finest room in Gdańsk) is on the Long Market; the view of the entire composition from the top of the St Mary's Church tower is the definitive Gdańsk panorama. Ulica Mariacka, running south from the Long Market, is lined with amber jewellery traders in Gothic arcaded houses and is the most photographed lane in the city.
3
St Mary's Church
The largest brick church in the world — the Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is a Gothic structure of almost incomprehensible scale (105m long, 66m wide, 77m tower), built in brick between 1343 and 1502. The interior holds one of the finest late-Gothic altarpieces in Poland (the Last Judgement by Hans Memling, painted 1467–71, originally commissioned for a Florentine banker and intercepted by Gdańsk privateers en route). The 405-step climb to the tower top rewards with the defining view of the Gdańsk skyline and the rebuilt cityscape in its context. The astronomical clock (15th century, one of the most complex medieval timepieces in existence) is in the north transept.
4
Westerplatte
The peninsula 7km north of Gdańsk's old town where the Second World War began — at 4:45am on 1 September 1939, the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on the Polish Military Transit Depot at Westerplatte. The 182 Polish defenders held out for seven days against several thousand German troops in one of the first acts of Polish resistance of the war. The ruins of the barracks and fortifications remain, preserved as they were left in 1939, surrounded by forest. The monument is sober and powerful. Accessible by boat from Gdańsk waterfront (scenic, 30 minutes) or bus.
Food & drink
Where to eat in Gdańsk
Restauracja Kubicki
Traditional Polish / waterfront
The oldest restaurant in Gdańsk, open since 1918 — on the waterfront near the Crane Gate, Kubicki serves traditional Polish and Gdańsk regional cooking: żurek (sour rye soup with egg and sausage), pierogi, bigos (hunter's stew), Baltic herring in multiple preparations and the excellent Baltic cod. The setting in a vaulted cellar with original fittings is faultless. Book ahead for dinner.
Pierogarnia Mandu
Pierogi / Old Town
The best pierogi restaurant in Gdańsk — handmade dumplings in every regional Polish variation: ruskie (potato and cheese), z kapustą i grzybami (cabbage and mushroom), z mięsem (meat), z łososiem (salmon, very Gdańsk), and the dessert versions with sweet cheese and strawberry. Good Polish craft beer and flavoured vodka. Relaxed, affordable, always busy. No reservations.
Brovarnia
Craft beer & Polish / Old Town
Gdańsk's most popular craft brewery restaurant — in a beautifully restored historic building adjacent to the old town, serving house-brewed Gdańsk ales and lagers alongside Polish gastropub food: schnitzel, pierogi, Baltic fish. The beer garden in summer is excellent. The best place in Gdańsk to drink local craft beer in a setting that does justice to the city's brewing heritage.
Itinerary
3 days in Gdańsk — a suggested itinerary
Day 1
Long Market, St Mary's, Solidarity Centre
Arrive at Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport — SKM train from the airport to Gdańsk Główny (25 minutes, 5.20 PLN, about £1). Check in to a hotel near the old town (the Hilton Gdańsk on the waterfront or one of the old-town boutique hotels are all excellent). Morning: Ulica Długa and the Long Market — the Golden Gate, the Neptune Fountain, the Artus Court (30 minutes), the view from St Mary's Church tower (405 steps, non-negotiable). Lunch at Pierogarnia Mandu — pierogi of every kind. Afternoon: walk Ulica Mariacka (the amber lane), the Crane Gate on the waterfront, the Motława river walk. The European Solidarity Centre before 5pm — allow two hours. Dinner at Kubicki on the waterfront — the żurek, the cod, the bigos.
Day 2
Westerplatte, Sopot beach, Baltic evening
Boat from Gdańsk waterfront to Westerplatte (30 minutes, departures from Green Gate pier) — the WWII fortifications, the 1939 barracks ruins, the monument. Return by bus (bus 106 from Westerplatte to city centre). Lunch in the old town. Afternoon: SKM train to Sopot (20 minutes, 5 PLN) — walk the pier (511m into the Baltic), swim if it's warm enough, walk Monte Cassino pedestrian street. The Sopot lighthouse gives good views. Return to Gdańsk by 7pm. Evening: Brovarnia for house-brewed Gdańsk beer and dinner, then a walk along the illuminated Long Market and waterfront.
Day 3
Oliwa Cathedral, the Triity, slow morning in the old town
SKM train to Gdańsk Oliwa (15 minutes) — the Oliwa Park with the Gothic-Baroque Oliwa Cathedral (organ concerts at 11am and noon daily in summer; the 8,000-pipe organ is one of the finest Baroque organs in Europe), the park's deer enclosure, the palm house. Back to the old town by 11am: the Archaeological Museum Gdańsk (in the Great Mill, a 14th-century Teutonic Knights mill), the second-hand amber market near the Green Gate, a final coffee in one of the Long Market cafés. Afternoon train to Gdynia if time allows (15 minutes by SKM — the finest Art Deco city in Poland, completely different in character from Gdańsk). Airport by evening.
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