Gdansk, Gdynia & Sopot

Overview goes here

I first visited Gdansk at the very tail end of 2008, mine and Asia's very first travel adventure together. This was well before this website existed, but happily we made a travel log at the time. In the interests of accuracy (and sentimentality), I've recreated that below (including Asia's Polish entries!).

Ok, so the reason we went to Gdansk was that all our holiday plans went to hell in the space of 5 minutes... Long story short, our trip to mazury got cancelled on the 28th of December, while we were travelling back from a day in warsaw...

Wszystko było zaplanowane. Alkohol wybrany. nic tylko wsiąść w autobus i jechać! Niestety (a może na szczęście) nie Mazury były nam pisane... Co zatem? Opcji było kilka:

Some of them included a train to Berlin, or flying to Prague, Stockholm or Rome. So, after a fair bit of discussion, and some fruitless searching, Asia suggested Gdansk. Brilliant.

Pojechać - żaden problem, pociągi z Warszawa jeżdzą co 2 godziny - co zobaczyć? wszystko co miniemy po drodze, ale gdzie spać - oto jest pytanie! Po nocnych poszukiwaniach, znaleźliśmy 3 prawdopodobnie wciaż dostępne hostele - pozostało nam czekać do rana, by sprawdzić to prawdopodobienstwo!

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After an early wake up, and an essential cup of coffee, Asia called all 3 hostels; 3rd time lucky! The Baltic hostel was to be our 5* palace for the next 3 nights...

Niewątpliwie! Szybko więc zaplanowaliśmy podróż pociąg do Warszawy - 11:30; pociąg do Gdańska - 15:00. U między czasie - lunch, ogromna kolejke do kas PKP (moja działka) i ostatnie zakupy (karta pamięci - ... - misja Antona). O 15 zasiedliśmy wygodnie w przedziale z zamiarem ujrzenia Gdańska o 20:00 tego samego dnia.

Or so we thought... After taking almost an hour to reach the outskirts of Warsaw, the train stopped dead. Great. But luckily, that's when we got to know our fellow passenger, Iwona.

Następne 5 godzin przegadaliśmy o Angli,Bieszczadach, Warszawie i fotografii - zagryzając to wyszystko Ukrainskimi cukierkami - mniam!

Chook-a-chook-a-chook-a-crash-bang-wallop! We'd arrived! As soon as we exited the train station (9:30pm), we realised we had a slight problem: the hostel "right next to the train station" was not, in fact, there. So after some serious searching (including INSIDE the train station, for some reason), Asia eventually did the logical thing: phoned the hostel, got directions, and promptly took us the wrong way.

So once again we back-tracked to the station, made our way over the main bridge, took the 3rd set of stairs, and started knocking on doors... of the wrong bloody building! We finally noticed some people leaving the building next door, and made our way inside.

W środku czekał na nas starszy pan w podejrzanie dobrym humore... niewątpliwie wskazującym na spoźycie. ...

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By this time we were famished, hence the decision to walk to the Old town. with Asia as my trusty guide, I had no doubt that it would be quite an adventure. As expected, we took the "scenic route", which was actually a pretty good way of getting to see the Old town from a different perspective. Gdansk is a beautiful, majestic old city, with an interesting mix of German and Polish architecture. We fell in Love. Eventually we stumbled upon ul. Dluga, and on it a nice looking restaurant.

  • Dinner:
  • Asia had Zurek (Soup in a crusty roll), followed by Apple Pie
  • Anton had Pork Ribs with cabbage, followed by Pancakes with Chocolate, nuts & fruit

Nie było łatwo. Wszędzie droga i ...

By the time we finished eating it was well after midnight, and we were stuffed and sleepy. Once we got outside though, the cold shocked us back to reality, and it was a mad rush to get back to the hostel before we froze to death!

Gdansk, Gdynia & Sopot Attractions

Brzezno Pier, Gdansk


Brzezno Pier may not be as long as Sopot Pier, but it's nearly as beautiful, it's quite conveniently located near the Eastern end of Gdansk's main beach and it's free!

The views from the pier up the coast are great, and when the weather is clear you can see the Hel peninsula across the bay too.


Gdansk Old Town


...


Sopot Pier


Sopot Pier is famous in Poland as one of the prettiest piers in town (or the country, if you want to be pedantic)

Located in Sopot, it's a short walk through the stunning town center, lined with cafes, pubs, shops, and attractions.

Unfortunately, as with many things these days, you'll need to pay to access the pier itself. It's worth it though, as it goes out several hundred meters into the bay, and affords a wonderful view back to the town and up and down the coast.

Fair warning - it gets very, very cold walking up and down the pier in the Winter.


Hel (the peninsula)


There are multiple ways to get to and from Hel, and a circular route using train and ferry gets you the best of all worlds to see as much of this beautiful part of Poland as possible.

We took a 2-hour train trip from Gdansk, through Sopot and Gdynia, and all up and along the coast to Hel. It's a great journey, though the train can be pretty crowded, meaning seating is a luxury. The final 1/2 hour along the peninsula affords awesome views across the bay.

Hel itself is not a big town, but it's got a lot of market stalls, pubs, and restaurants running along the beachfront. If you take the train, you can spend up to 3 hours wandering around Hel, which is plenty to see everything it has to offer, and stop for lunch.

From Hel, jump on the ferry back across the bay to Sopot. It's pretty affordable and takes about 30-40 minutes if I remember correctly. 

As an added bonus, the ferry drops you on Sopot pier, which in itself is quite a highlight of the area!


Beaches


Gdansk has excellent beaches, starting from the harbor and running almost uninterrupted West past Sopot and up towards Gdynia. If you have a few hours, walking up from Gdansk to Sopot is quite doable, and there are multiple beach bars and restaurants on the way up to help quench your inevitable thirst!

Additionally, there are other attractions on the beach such as the Pier, Paddleboard hire, etc., and the water, though cold, is clean and clear and great for swimming in. 

The beach is a popular attraction for Poles and can be quite busy. Early morning, and early evening are great times to be there if you want more space to yourself. Also, pack sunscreen, it gets really hot in the North of Poland in the Summer. 


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