Complete guide to Gdansk, Poland

Visiting Gdansk? This complete guide to Gdansk will help whether you’re spending 48 hours in Gdansk or have longer in the city

Gdansk, on the Baltic coast in Northern Poland, is a Polish city often overlooked by British tourists, although it’s still one of the most visited cities in the country. Visiting Gdansk shouldn’t be discounted when you’re thinking about Poland, though, as it’s such a good city, and this guide should help to explain why.

Spending 48 hours in the city is a great way to get a taster, and if you have even longer to explore, I hope you find this complete guide to Gdansk useful. If you’re planning on visiting Gdansk, and you really should, this complete guide to Gdansk will give you the information you need to make the most of your time in the city, whether you’re there for a short 48 hour trip (my speciality usually) or a longer visit like we had. Happy reading and enjoy visiting Gdansk, do let me know how you get on in the comments.

What is Gdansk known for?

The city is steeped in history, it’s the city where World War 2 started and it’s also the birthplace of the Solidarity movement, with plenty to see and learn about both across Gdansk. Gdansk is also part of a ‘tricity’ with nearby Sopot and Gdynia, both of which are easy day trips from Gdansk. Add that to the fact it’s an easy to navigate, fairly compact, pretty city, and fairly cheap to exist in, why would you not want to visit Gdansk?

Travel to Gdansk

Flying from the UK to Gdansk is pretty easy, with direct flights from most UK airports taking just a couple of hours, and if you’re adding Gdansk onto a multi city trip there’s easy, cheap and frequent transport from other major cities in both Poland and nearby countries. Visiting Gdansk really is a no brainer, in my opinion.

Gdansk Travel Essentials – Currency, Language & Transport

No complete guide to Gdansk would be, well, complete, without the useful information in this section!

Poland uses the zloty as their currency. We drew out some cash at the airport but it turned out we could use cards absolutely everywhere other than on the bus to Stuttgart. I’d recommend keeping £50 or so worth of emergency cash on you if you’re planning on using buses.

I always travel with my Monzo card which is fee free abroad, and you can sign up to Monzo here. If you use my link, we each get a mystery reward of £10, £20 or £50. Alternatively if you’d prefer to use your normal bank account, consider Currensea, which links to your usual account. You use your Currensea card to pay with, it’s fee free, and it takes the money straight out of your normal account, no need to move funds, which my partner finds easier. You can sign up for a Currensea card here and if you use my link, once you’ve spent £100 abroad we each get £10. (I am only recommending accounts I use myself. Referral rewards are correct at the time of writing. If you choose to sign up with my link for either of these, thank you! You can of course sign up for these accounts without my referral link)

Never, ever travel without insurance, it’s not worth the risk of having a lost suitcase to deal with or a medical bill to pay. SafetyWing offers travel medical insurance, which you can buy after your trip has already started if you’re reading this and realise you forgot to sort your insurance before your trip! From a few pounds a day, their Nomad Insurance Essential covers travel delays, lost luggage and trip interruption, as well as medical treatment and hospitalisation. With zero excess and the ability to extend the policy if your trip plans change, SafetyWing is super flexible, something I really value. You can find out more about SafetyWing here.

Gdansk is obviously a Polish city and so the main language spoke is Polish, but we were able to communicate in English everywhere we needed to. We shouldn’t expect other countries to speak English to us, of course, but it’s always really appreciated when they do.

Tipping isn’t expected but is appreciated, rounding taxi fares up to the nearest 10%, adding a couple of zloty onto your bar bill and up to 20% on a food bill for good service is a good idea.

We got a taxi from the airport using the FreeNow app, which cost under £10. We could have chosen to get a bus instead but as we landed late in the evening, we felt a taxi was easier. Gdansk uses Uber and Bolt as well as FreeNow as it’s taxi apps and we found all three to be quick and reliable.

We only used the public buses once but we saw them around all the time, and when we did use them we were impressed as they were on time and fast.

Where to stay in Gdansk

Air b n b and hotels are both popular options in Gdansk. We always use booking.com for hotel bookings as I find their selection of hotels, and their filters, the most useful, especially if you’re searching for hotels closest to a certain location or hotels with facilities like a gym.

After a few bad experiences I can’t recommend hotels.com, but they do also have Gdansk hotels if hotels.com is your preference.

We chose to stay centrally in Gdansk, staying just along the road from the Amber Museum. We knew we wanted an air b n b as J would need to do some freelance work, so a separate room as a workspace was a must for us on this trip. Being able to travel light and wash clothes was also useful.

Gdansk is a really compact city for the most part, so the majority of things we wanted to see took less than half an hour to get to from our accommodation. Staying outside of the city centre would have been fine, but if you’re trying to cut costs or don’t have a lot of time in the city, a central location is recommended.

We went back to our apartment a few times each day as J was poorly and it was very cold, so being central worked best for us on this trip. Even now I’ve researched and written this complete guide to Gdansk post, I’d make the same decision about where to stay.

Top Attractions in Gdansk – Neptune’s Fountain, Artus Court & More

If you’ve only got a short time in Gdansk, it’s your first visit or you want to hit all the main sites quickly, you’ll want to read this section, which covers the must visit places in Gdansk.

Neptunes Fountain & Long Market (Dlugi Targ)

One of the prettiest streets in Gdansk, Długa Street/Długi Targ is full of pretty pastel houses and, most importantly, Neptune’s Fountain. The fountain, one of Gdansk’s most popular photography spots, was finished in 1633, damaged during World War 2, and then restored into the beautiful fountain it is now. It’s likely to be busy but not so busy you shouldn’t go.

Mariacka Street

Mariacka Street is a charming, cobbled road leading to St Mary’s Basilica. The 16th century gothic buildings have perrons (terraces) characteristic of Gdansk, and they are beautiful. If you can see the street at dusk, it’s even more beautiful.

Main Town Hall

This mid 15th century building is absolutely beautiful, and well worth visiting just to admire the gothic and renaissance building itself. In the summer you can climb the tower for city views, and the Museum of Gdansk is inside if that’s something you’d like to see.

Gdansk Crane (Żuraw) and the National Maritime Museum

The Gdansk Crane, outside the National Maritime Museum, used to be the city gate as well as a port crane. You can go inside the crane and find out it’s history.

The National Maritime Museum can be visited seperetely or as well as the crane, and if you’re interested in maritime history you’ll really enjoy a visit.

Amber Museum

Gdansk is famous for it’s Amber production and the Amber Museum covers where amber comes from, and how it’s made into different items. You can buy yourself something amber to take home from many of the city’s shops, but the museum will have a better selection.

How much will I spend in Gdansk?

We spent a week in Gdansk, staying in a central location, so we walked to the majority of places. We also made the most of free days at some of the museums, you can find out which day a museum is free on their website. We ate out for most meals, choosing food from a bakery or similar for the meals we ate at our apartment. We went out for a drink twice, we got trains to Sopot and Gdynia and taxis to and from the Zoo. We also ate a lot of desserts. Overall, we spent £400, and we didn’t scrimp on spending. For two people, for a week, I’d recommend budgeting £500 so you don’t need to keep an eye on what you’re paying for, and if you want to eat out or go for drinks more maybe add another £100 to that. For a 48 hour trip, £250 should be more than enough for two people, and a solo traveler should be fine with £150. Hopefully this complete guide to Gdansk will help keep costs down when visiting Gdansk too, helping you to plan your week (or your 48 hours in Gdansk) and prioritise the things you really want to do.

Gdansk must try foods

A big part of a trip for us is eating good food and visiting Gdansk was no exception. When in Poland you must try Pierogi, and we’d researched the best place to go to try it. J had found Pierogarnia Mandu, and we had a delicious meal there, trying three or four different flavours of pierogi, some fried and some baked, and a lovely couple of sweet pierogi flavours for dessert. The portions of three or five pierogi sounded small to us but weren’t, so if you’re ordering lots, bear this in mind. They’d probably box up any leftovers for you to take back to your accommodation if you asked them nicely, the staff were really friendly.

We like street food and I’m a fussy eater, so we love a good food hall, which generally means I have some sort of chip or potato based dish and J can have something more interesting. Gdansk has a few food halls and the two we visited we can recommend, Slony Spichlerz and Montownia Food Hall. Across the two we had pasta, pizza, pierogi, chicken as well as a few other things, AND some really good cocktails. The atmosphere at both was fantastic. One even let people bring their dogs, a real positive for us as we love dogs.

I’m a sucker for a dessert, and we like to go to somewhere really highly rated in each city we’re in. As well as the ice cream tour we did, we went to Eklerownia as we’d read that their eclairs were amazing. We were not disappointed.

There were far too many delicious sounding choices for us to pick just one each, so we went for a tasting platter which gave us six mini eclairs. We took four home in a takeout box and ate them later in the day so we could enjoy them more, and they were just as good when we ate the last one the next morning.

My favourite was the lavender, I really like lavender flavour anything, and the pistachio and salted caramel were also special enough to be worth a mention. Every eclair we tried was nice, I would eat them all again for sure. Definitely head to Eklerownia if you fancy a coffee and a sweet treat, but be aware it’s quite small so you may not be able to sit inside if they’re busy. They’ll happily box up any eclairs or other treats for you to take away, so if you can’t choose just one, you can have the joy of something delicious later in the day too.

Poland is known for Milk Bars-traditional, basic restaurants that sell cheap but good quality food. Bar Turystyczny is a highly reviewed Milk Bar in Gdansk. Pyra Bar has a potato themed menu I really enjoyed, and Dobra Pączkarnia does the best Polish Doughnuts.

Best Viewpoints in Gdansk City Centre

If you enjoy getting up high in a city for those amazing views, visiting Gdansk will not disappoint. The solidarity museum has a brilliant view from their top floor including an outside rooftop, which is very very cold in November but still worth seeing. The Gdansk wheel, the Ambersky, offers beautiful views over the river and across the city, although if you’re wanting to take photographs be aware that the glass casing is sometimes scratched and a bit grubby. You can find the wheel on Granary Island and tickets for the 15 minute trip are 35 zloty per person, around £7.

My favourite Gdansk viewpoint was the top of the tower at St Mary’s Church, which costs 8 Zloty, £1.50, to climb. There are A LOT of steps, most of them narrow, and at the top I genuinely needed my inhaler, but the views were worth the workout. There’s a different staircase to get back down so you don’t have to try and pass people climbing tiny steps, but you should still take it steady climbing up. Definitely allow fifteen minutes to have a look around the church too, it’s absolutely spectacular.

Other Gdansk viewpoints not tried and tested by us are the Prison Tower at the Amber Museum, Panorama Restaurant, City Hall and St Catherine’s Church Clock Tower Museum and the Archeological Museum. With more time or energy we would’ve tried more of them out for this complete guide to Gdansk but for now, please let me know if you visit any of these viewpoints.

The best day trips when you’re visiting Gdansk

Whilst visiting Gdansk you’ll find a lot to do in the city, but if you have more time or fancy something different there are a few easy day trips you can take from Gdansk.

Sopot and Gdynia

Sopot and Gdynia, both part of the Tricity, are a 30 minute or 45 minute train journey from Gdansk. They’re super affordable, costing less than 10 zloty each way, about £2, for a ticket, and trains are regular and on time. I’m planning posts about spending a day in Sopot and spending a day in Gdynia, coming soon. We enjoyed both, but I’d suggest Sopot over Gdynia if you’re short on time as it felt like there was more to do there. Neither of them felt like a difficult trip as day trips often can, so I’d recommend both of them if you’re visiting Gdansk for long enough.

Stutthof Concentration Camp

An interesting, but definitely hard hitting day trip from Gdansk is to Stutthof, a concentration camp about an hour and a half out of the city by bus. The buses aren’t that regular so make sure you check out times online before you set off on the trip, and you have to pay in cash on the bus, although you can buy a ticket for the outbound journey at Gdansk station if you prefer. Stuffhof is free to visit but you need to pay for an audioguide if you want one. There’s also a twenty minute film, played once an hour, at the museum, which you need to pay for if you’d like to see it. Tickets can sometimes be bought from the cinema room but when we were there we weren’t able to do that, and we missed the last showing because we’d not bought tickets from the main visitors centre, so I would recommend getting your tickets from there instead.

Visiting Gdansk – best for shopping

I love shopping for souvenirs abroad, as well as for clothes when I have the luggage space, and anything for my sweet tooth as well. Gdansk has a ridiculous sweet shop right in the centre, Sweet Factory, with pick and mix across most of it’s walls. As an ADHDer who loves the dopamine hit of a pick and mix I was in heaven, so if you love sweets too don’t miss a visit there. Forum, a large shopping centre, has a wide selection of shops and a decent sized food court so I spent a couple of hours there buying some clothes from brands I wouldn’t see at home, and a gorgeous jumper as a Christmas present for J.

If you’re staying in an air b n b in Gdansk and planning to cook sometimes, be aware that we didn’t see many supermarkets around. We did use an Aldi, along the road from the Amber Museum, but we didn’t find any other options for a decent sized shop. Small corner shops were easier to find so I could stock up on Cheese flavoured Lays (Lays are my holiday essential) and things like juice and snacks. Forum also had a good sized supermarket on the bottom floor, which I wish I’d found before our last full day in the city.

Unlike some cities, Gdansk wasn’t chock full of shops but I liked that about the city. You can shop if you want to, at Forum, but the town centre was less about shopping, more about eating places and beautiful cobbled streets. A real win for me.

The best places in Gdansk for history

Gdansk is well known for being the city where World War Two started and chances are if you’re visiting Gdansk, it’s at least partly down to the history of the city. There’s so many different museums covering something for everyone but if you have a big interest in history, there’s a few museums you shouldn’t miss.

1) Westerplatte

Westerplatte is the site where the German Warship Schleswig-Holstein began shelling Poland at 4:48 am on 1st September 1939 and this battle lasted for seven days. Westerplatte now has a memorial, Guardhouse Number 1, you can go and see. Boats will take you along the river to get there, you can use a taxi or public transport too but the boat is, I’m told, the better way to get there.

Big thanks to Katy at The Lilac Scrapbook for the Westerplatte photo, we didn’t manage to make it there on this trip-she confirmed we missed out and you definitely should make the trip.

2) The Shipyards and the Solidarity Museum

A ten to fifteen minute walk along the Motlawa river from the old town will take you to Gdansk’s shipyards, famous for being the place the Polish trade union Solidarity was formed in 1980. There are plaques all around explaining why different buildings are important, in both Polish and English, but if you want to know more about Solidarity and how they contributed to communism being abolished Eastern Europe, the Solidarity Museum is at the entrance to the shipyards. Entry is £6 per adult and the museum is closed on Tuesdays. A big chunk of my career history is working for trade unions and so I loved the museum, I would highly recommend you visit, and you’ll want to give yourself two or three hours to see the museum properly.

Our visit to the Shipyards, on a drizzly, rainy and later snowy day, was as part of a tour and our guide pointed out the WL4 Art Space, an art gallery near to the entrance, the many robots created by a local sculptor and a number of bars dotted around the shipyard, which is an area that’s being developed into a place people want to come and spend time, not just a working area. We ended our visit with coffee and juice at Plenum, a fantastic cafe and co-working space with brilliant views over the shipyards. Whilst we were there in November, a visit to the shipyards in the summer is bound to be a different experience, and I’d still recommend going even in bad weather. Visiting the shipyards will show you a different side of Gdansk for sure.

3) War Museum

Gdansk’s war museum isn’t fun, obviously, but it’s really interesting finding out how the war impacted Gdansk, especially as in the UK we only really learn about how it impacted us. We spent about three hours exploring the museum, with the help of their audio guide and it was well worth the time. Entrance is free on Tuesdays, or 29 Zloty, around £6, the rest of the time. The museum is closed on Mondays.

4) Post Office Museum

The museum tells the story of how heroic postal workers defended their building from the German invasion on 1st September 1939. You can find out about what happened and how brave they were by visiting, and even if you don’t have time to go inside, you should see the memorial sculpture outside.

Nights out when you’re visiting Gdansk

Gdansk isn’t known as a party city and you’re not going to find a huge choice of pubs and clubs with late opening to dance the night away here, but you can head out for a few drinks if you want to. People who’d like a proper night out would be best going to Sopot, which is known in the local area as the place for a good night out. Visiting Gdansk doesn’t have to mean being in bed for 9pm though, there are a few places for drinks in the city.

We weren’t well when we were in Gdansk so didn’t do a big night out, but highly recommended bars are Bunkier, a club with 6 different floors, Flisak 76 for good cocktails, Pułapka for craft beer, Pub Red Light is a microbrewery with cocktails, Ink Above has a well reviewed rooftop bar and Jozef K is known for having a quirky interior and huge selection of drinks. We also really enjoyed having a couple of cocktails and playing games at Game Over, and one evening we booked a cocktail experience at Eliksir, which we enjoyed.

2-Day Gdańsk Itinerary — Best Way to Spend a Weekend

If you only have two days in Gdansk, you’ll need to be strategic. Hopefully this complete guide to Gdansk has helped you out a lot, but I’ve put together this suggested itinerary for spending 48 hours in Gdansk to make planning much easier.

Day One

Start your morning with delicious Polish doughnuts from  Dobra Pączkarnia for breakfast. Team these with coffee (Gdansk has many highly rated options, take your pick!) and find a bench to take in the city whilst you eat.

Visit the Museum of the Second World War and spend 3 or 4 hours learning more about the city’s history. It’s one of the best war museums I’ve been to and should not be missed.

For lunch, get Pierogi. My recommendation is Pierogarnia Mandu but Gdansk has lots of Pierogi places to choose from.

Once you’ve eaten, you’ll want to do some of the main sights. Start with Dlugi Targ and have a look at Neptune’s Fountain, then wander down Mariacka Street, stopping for eclairs at Eklerownia. If it’s too busy to sit in, take them home for later. Head to St Mary’s Church and climb the tower for amazing city views, then wander Gdansk’s pretty streets and just explore, seeing what you come across.

For tea, try one of Gdansk’s street food halls, and then head out for drinks around Gdansk Old Town.

Day Two

For your second day in the city, choose a cafe for traditional Polish breakfast food, likely an open sandwich with cheese, cold cuts and tomatoes, or scrambled eggs with bacon. You’ll be doing a bit more walking today so you’ll need a good feed.

After breakfast, walk along the river to the Shipyards. Look at the cranes, the galleries in the shipyards and just take in the whole area. Whilst you’re there, check out the Solidarity Museum, which will take around 3 hours to see properly. It’s a really good one.

Wander back towards the old town and choose a milk bar for lunch. Enjoy the variety of cheap, traditional food you’ll find there.

You’ll likely need something lighter in the afternoon and Gdansk’s cat cafe is great, with very friendly kitties. Gdansk’s Zoo is also good, and you’ll be able to see all of it with half a day. Or, street art hunting around Zaspa, if that’s your thing, is a great way to spend a few hours.

For tea, Pyra Bar is a must. Enjoy something potato themed for a full stomach. Then make sure you find a souvenir shop before you leave the city!

3-Day Gdańsk Itinerary — Ideal for a short break

If you have 3 days in Gdansk, I’d still recommend the 2 day itinerary I’ve added above. I think it hits the most important part of Gdansk itself, although you may have more wandering time if you’re not flying out on day 2.

Day 3

For your third day, consider getting out of Gdansk. You could do both Gdynia and Sopot in a day if you’re smart with your planning, or if you want some more history, Stuffhof is, in my opinion, a must visit.

If you’d rather stay in Gdansk, the Amber Museum, Westerplatte and the Post Office Museum would be my day 3 picks.

Should you visit Gdansk?

You should absolutely visit Gdansk! I really enjoyed my time exploring the city, and I hope this post covers most of the things you’ll need to know before visiting Gdansk. It’s got good food, lots of history, shopping…everything you need from a city break.

I’ve written a separate post about street art in Gdansk, too-it’s not something the city is really known for, but there’s still plenty to be found if that’s your thing.

Whether you’re there for a week and need this complete guide to Gdansk or you’re just spending 48 hours in Gdansk, I know you’ll have a brilliant time. Please do let me know if my post has helped with your planning and I can’t wait to hear what you got up to on your trip.