Gdańsk

[solemnmusic]

We’ve booked to go to Gdańsk for five days, never been before and we just wanted to see something new basically. No children going. I’ve googled but not come up with much. We will go to Stutthof, the concentration camp one day.

Anyone been to Gdańsk and have tips of things to do, or any nice restaurants? We will be staying very central.

Noone?

gedansk is beautiful
have smalec rye bread on the market.
take a boat along the coast.
enjoy the beach of sopot.
visit hel (just so you can say you've been to hel(l)) and the giant sand dunes

enjoy

2 great museums....second world war museum and the museum of European solidarity (or something similarly sounding!!).

Our hotel had bikes so we cycled to the coast.

Can't remember much else (was a few years ago) but I do remember being pleasantly surprised about how nice it was.

Thank you, will google all those things!

Go on Reddit and ask on the Poland board. You’re bound to get some good advice.
I went years ago (90s) and we visited Sopot (old world beach resort with a really long wooden pier and some great turn of the century villas).
Malbork (excuse spelling). A huge medieval castle built by the Teutonic Knights. This is a bus or train journey away.
I believe there’s an excellent second world war museum (Danzig, pre war name, was the location of the start of the second world war.
Solidarity museum at the dockyards.
The centre is architecturally gorgeous, reminiscent of Amsterdam or Bruges but most of it was rebuilt after the war (90% of the city was bombed to smithereens).
Cathedral at Oliwa, beautiful and a chance to hear the huge organ play if you’re into that kind of thing.
Hel peninsular, not been but apparently very picturesque.
Torun 2 hours away but again heard reports that it has very well preserved medieval centre and the gingerbread is delicious.
No doubt people who’ve been recently will have a lot more up to date info.

The roads to freedom museum is small but very interesting.
You can do a tour of the shipyards where Lek Walensa started the strike that ended with the downfall of the iron curtain
A boat to Westerplatz where the first shots of WW2 were fired.
Interesting small shops in the centre - buy colourful tights, gloves and hats if that's your thing.
Visit the coast at Sopot - the trains are frequent and cheap.

Cycling sounds great, will check that out! We cycle everywhere where I live, but not something I would have thought of.

Lots of great tips, will write down. Thank you!

Thank you! I think we will go to the coast then.

Half day / day trip to Malbork (AKA Marienberg).

We went last April, weather wise it was mad, surprise snow storms and glorious sunshine and freezing rain, all with little warning.
The WW2 museum was great, but huge and even history enthusiast DH was done before the end.
There's a great shopping centre (Forum) with the best Spar I've ever been in.
Pankeyk (sp) has an incredible selection of sweet and savoury pancakes.
The Sweet Factory Store is a huge pick and mix shop (£££££££)
Alternative, but DH went to a gun range and shot a huge variety of guns for around £60.
We went out to Gdynia on a cold miserable day but the harbour area was like being in a different world, or a Bond movie.
Mostly just wandered about! We got caught up in two parades, one naval and one pope related. We were ill the whole time and I'm desperate to go back and finish what we missed.

Marienburg not berg.

There are great biking trails along the Baltic coast. The Euro elo 9 and eurovelo 10 run near Gdansk.

I will check out Gdynia, thanks!

Lots of amber shops I think as it’s found on the coast in big quantities.
Olsztyn is also the ‘capital’ of the polish Lake District. I’m pretty sure there’s lots of scope for paddle boarding etc. I think it’s about 1:30 away. Big tourist attraction.
I’d love to go back. When we went it was just after the country had ditched the commies so the tourist industry was very much in its infancy. Some of the detail on the buildings is amazing considering much of it is at the most 70 years old.
Loads of Germans when we went as the city was formerly German up to ‘45.

Gdańsk is part of the three-city area made up of Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia. All easy to get to on public transport. Sopot is a beautiful seaside resort with a long pier, sandy beaches and great food/ drinks. Gdynia has a more relaxed, neighbourhood feel and of course the harbour.
Gdansk has the old town, the museums and culture. Take time to explore all three.
I would say the museum of solidarity and the museum of 2nd world war are a must - they are very modern, entertaining and my husband still talks about them 2 years since our trip and wants to go back. They are world class and difficult to explain how good both are. They can both be done in one day, walking distance from each other and are free on certain days of the week so even if you decide to leave after an hour you won’t feel like you’ve wasted your money.

I also second going to Hel peninsula for a day and taking a surfing lesson or cycling along the coast. Google images from Hel it’s beautiful.

Thanks for the correction @GrumpyPanda the Marienbergs are further west.

Ok thank you everyone. We’re here and have so far been down by the harbour, Museum of second World War (it was great!), Focus the shopping centre, the old town and streets around there. So many tourists though, it’s absolutely packed everywhere. Thinking of going to that pier.

The cycle route from Gdansk to Gydnia is great and goes mainly on the coast and through Sopot - definitely worth doing to escape the crowds for a while!

Cycle along the seafront (or easy quick train ride) to Sopot is nice. You can start cycle from Brzezno if you just want to stick to the coast. Bar Przystan on the beach in Sopot is a nice place to stop for fish and chips.

Favourite bar is Jozef K, although to be honest can’t go wrong with many places round there, just have a stroll round. Flisak 76 & Mala Sztuka for cocktails.

Mandu for pierogi. Pueblo for surprisingly good (not authentic of course) Mexican food and big cocktails.

For Polish food NOVA in Sopot near the station is the best place in 3city imo. Sliwka w Kompot in Sopot good as well. Swojski Smak in Gdansk.

100czia and Ulica Elektrykow are interesting - basically bars/food courts in the old dockyards, pretty cool for an evening, especially as it gets dark with all the cranes. although will get packed with young partiers as night goes on.

I found the solidarity museum better than the ww2 one