Cruise Port Stop Guide: Gdańsk, Poland

To say that Gdańsk has a rich and turbulent history would be a bit of an understatement. Established over a thousand years ago with records referring to it as a settlement from as early as 997 AD. Due to it’s position on the coast of the Baltic Sea, it became a vital port and trading hub for the Hanseatic League in the Middle Ages. It was the wealthiest city in Poland during the 16th and 17th centuries.

In the last 1,000 years, the city has been independent for 700 years but due to its strategic location, it has often also been a contested and foreign ruled territory. Throughout its history, Gdańsk has been part of Poland, Prussia, and Germany, and has also existed as the Free City of Danzig under the League of Nations.

Gdańsk continues to have an outsized role in modern day history as with the Germans invading Poland at Westerplatte in 1939 which was the symbolic start of World War II. And then in the 1980’s, the anti-communist Solidarity movement emerged from Gdańsk’s shipyards, contributing to the fall of communism in Eastern Europe.

But Gdańsk cannot or should not be defined only by its past, it is a vibrant city that blends its storied past with modern culture. I found it to be quite charming with colorful facades and beautiful architecture.

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LOGISTICS

MONEY MATTERS

Credit cards were widely accepted (other than the bus). I had read that in Poland, tipping is seen as a gesture of appreciation rather than a requirement, and has become more common especially in touristy areas. Rounding taxi fares up to the nearest 10%, adding a couple of zloty onto your bar bill, up to 20% on a food bill for good service, small daily tip for hotel housekeepers of 5- 15 ZŁ, 1-2 zloty/piece of luggage from bell persons(luggage attendants), around 10% for a great tour guide.

COMMUNICATION

English is spoken in touristic parts of Poland

PORT INFO

Trójmiasto (TRI-CITY)

This was an interesting stop as the first decision would be where to spend our day as the boat docked in Gdynia (guh-DIN-yah) which along with Sopot and Gdansk (guh-DAYNSK) makes up the Trójmiasto (Tri-city) area (as seen in the map below)

Gdynia is the youngest of the three cities as it was established in 1926 and is a developing harbor city with a long and accessible coastline. Sopot is the smallest of the three and is best know as a resort town with sandy beaches along its shore. Gdańsk is the largest of the trio with a long and quite storied history.

_{BEAUTIFUL TIP: Reminder that arrival times for port days are estimates for when the ship will be docked and may not be when the port has given approval to the ship to allow passengers to get off. IF the activity start time is close to arrival times, I will always reach out the activity/tour provider and find out exactly what their policy is if I am not able to be there on time. I have found that many operators are flexible especially if the majority/all of the participants are from the cruise ship but some may not be able to accommodate late arrivals with no refund given. Whilst both scenarios are valid business practices, don’t make the mistake of finding out it’s the latter when you aren’t able to join!}

CRUISE TERMINAL LOGISTICS

We ultimately decided to focus our port day in Gdańsk with its historical importance. It is located about 20 kilometers (12 miles) away from Gdynia with the following options to get from our ship to the city.

• Train: Take the SKM (Fast City Rail) from Central Station (Gdynia Główna). The ride to Main Station (Gdańsk Główny) takes about 30 minutes and costs around 10 ZŁ. BUT you also need to include time to get from the port to the Central station and from Main Station to the Old town which can bring the travel time to 60-75 mins and costs up depending if you walk or use other transportation. Note that you must pay cash for the bus that takes you from the cruise port to Gdynia Główna
• Ride Services/Taxi/Private Transfer: Taxis are available at the port. A one-way trip to Gdańsk takes about 30-40 minutes and costs approximately 120-150 ZŁ. FYI: I downloaded the BOLT app so we opted to share an XL Bolt with three others into town that costs 120 ZŁ/$30.04 and the Bolt for our return trip to port was 75.08ZŁ/$18.81 to maximize our time.
• Cruise Ship Excursion/Transport Option: When I sailed with MSC, they had this option – I think it was 25 Euros(?)

Bolt / Uber / Taxi

I used Bolt when we were in town.

TOP ATTRACTIONS/POINTS OF INTEREST

Długi Targ (Long Market) + Old Town

Bazylika Mariacka (St. Mary’s Church)

Within Gdańsk: 1.2 kilometers / 17-21 min walk from Main Station (Gdańsk Główny) Also known as the Crown of Gdańsk, it is one of the world’s largest brick churches and is large enough to accommodate a staggering 25.000 people! To put that into perspective, the National Cathedral in Washington DC can seat 4,000! Besides being able to admire the beautiful Gothic architecture (more exterior and interior) there are many other noteworthy things to see:

• Art works such as the Gdańsk Pietà or the (still in process of being finished!) Amber Altar
• The massive astronomical clock standing 46 feet (14 meters) high . A unique feature for this clock is that each day, at 11:57 to be precise, a procession of wooden figures of the apostles goes past, followed by death, culminating in Adam and Eve tolling the noon hour which we were not able to see.
• The 256 feet (78 meters) tower -climbing the 405 steps leads to what I have been told is one of the best views of the city! Unfortunately we had come when storms and fog had rolled in as seen in the photos above
  • Beautiful tip: visiting the church is not allowed during Holy Mass but the tower and viewpoint remain accessible unless there’s bad weather (we started the day in sunshine and ended in clouds and rainstorms!)

Muzeum II Wojny Światowej (Museum of the Second World War)

Within Gdańsk: 1.2 kilometers / 18-22 min walk from Main Station (Gdańsk Główny) I will admit that I could spend days on end in museums but I have talked with others that don’t typically venture to them but agreed that this should be high on your list to visit. Plan for at least 2.5–4 hours to fully engage with the exhibits. Here’s my post on the exhibits and my experience

Motława River + The Crane

Westerplatte

Europejskie Centrum Solidarności (European Solidarity Center)

OTHER ATTRACTIONS/POINTS OF INTERESTS

Muzeum Bursztynu. Oddział Muzeum Gdańska (Amber Museum)

Muzeum Gdańska – Ratusz Głównego Miasta (Museum of Gdańsk – Main Town Hall)

Within town: 1.3 kilometers / 18-22 min walk from Main Station (Gdańsk Główny) Gothic-Renaissance town Hall with highlight being tower’s observation deck for view over Gdańsk

Gdańsk Shipyard

Within town: 2.1 kilometers / 29-38 min walk from Main Station (Gdańsk Główny) Historic shipyard known for the 1980 Solidarity trade union movement with tours of landmarks today

Narodowe Muzeum Morskie w Gdańsku (National Maritime Museum)

Within Gdańsk: 1.7 kilometers / 24-31 min walk from Main Station (Gdańsk Główny) Dockyard setting for reconstructed 17th-century granaries, housing modern national maritime museum.

Muzeum Narodowe w Gdańsku. Oddział Sztuki Dawnej (National Art Museum)

Within town: 1.5 kilometers / 23-30 min walk from Main Station (Gdańsk Główny) Fine art showcase best known for its massive, 15th-century Last Judgment triptych by Hans Memling.t for how the town became the vibrant cultural hub it is today. Through its exhibits, visitors can learn about the early settlers and Akureyri’s evolution over time.

Stutthof Concentration Camp / Museum

Outside of Gdańsk: 55 kilometers First concentration camp in Poland and

EAT/DRINK

Ice cream

(top left photo): IYKYK but for those new here, I eat a LOT of ice cream/gelato and always try to check out a local shop when I travel. And this would be the start of one of the weirdest trends for the trip; my inability to get a triple scoop cone – it was hard enough convincing the worker that I did indeed want two scoops for myself that I considered this to be a win! I can’t remember where we went for this….nor can I say with certainty now what flavors I had

Dobra Paczkarnia

(bottom left photo): A donut shop that been recommended for me to check out – pictured is the snickers donut I tried.

Pierogarnia U Dzika

(right photo): Luckily, my friend KK, is also of the mindset that we should eat a local specialty when traveling and we thought what would be more fitting for Poland than pierogis? We split an order of the traditional boiled dumplings and a baked variety.

RELATED GDAŃSK POSTS

MSC POESIA

How I spent my port day whilst on my Baltics Jewels cruise

Muzeum II Wojny Światowej (Museum of the Second World War)

Read my Guide to this museum and its exhibits and what my visit was like here

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