Before I start, I feel like I need to explain the title of this post as Mum didn’t get it until Dad explained to her. Many of us have heard or used the phrase “It’s Baltic” to describe how cold it is outside, but not Mum! I guess it’s an English thing to be fair, but anyway, those of you who know your geography will be aware that Gdańsk is a port city on the Baltic coast of Poland and even though we were visiting in October, it was still warm and sunny there, so “not so Baltic”… I had to dig out my sunglasses 😎
After a very early flight we landed at Gdańsk airport – I was an excited for our adventure but was beary sleepy 💤 as we had to get up at 3.30am! The airport actually serves the Trójmiasto (Tri-Cities) area of Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot, all lying within about a 15-mile stretch along the west side of Gdansk Bay. Of the three, Gdańsk is the biggest and most historic, Gdynia is the newest and most modern, and Sopot is the smallest and most exclusive. We took a bus into the centre of Gdańsk and jumped off at the train station and headed off in the footsteps of the king. Sorry, let me explain… when the king of Poland travelled from Warsaw to Gdańsk, he would enter the city through the Brama Wyżynna (Upland Gate), continue through the Złota Brama (Golden Gate), and then head along ulica Długa (Long Street), which is exactly what we did. It’s really not that long a street by the way, even for a tiny little bear!
First things first we needed some Polish currency. Mum will never get Polish money in the UK as she says the exchange rate is better in Poland… she’d forgotten that Gdańsk is one of the biggest tourist destinations in Poland and we were in the middle of the very touristy Old Town, so it took us four different currency exchanges until she was happy with the exchange rate! Our advise is don’t just go to the first one, the further down the street you go, the better the rate. We carried on down the not so long street into Długi Targ (Long Market) where you’ll find lots of shops and restaurants, a quick visit to the Tourist Information centre to pick up a map (I’ll explain more later) and then through the Zielona Brama (Green Gate) which leads onto the Motlawa River Embankment.
The embankment is lined with restaurants, cafes, shops and moored boats and is a great place to take a stroll and see some of the city’s most iconic sights. There’s also lots of boutiques that sell amber – Gdańsk happens to be the centre for the world’s amber trade and it’s big business there. What is it you ask… well in simple terms it’s the surviving resin of ancient trees which over millions of years have been compressed into a lump of rock that once cleaned and crafted becomes a beautiful, sparkling gemstone.
OK, back to why we were here. As well as sampling the local food and drink, there were two main reasons we were here. The first was to find as many of the “Hevelions” (mini statues of Lions) that we could. This is one of the city’s newer tourist attractions and obviously inspired by the famous dwarfs from Wroclaw. The lion has been a symbol of Gdańsk since the medieval times and when you visit Gdańsk, you can see them everywhere. My mission was to get my photo taken with as many of the figurines as I could 📷📷📷
It was time to put our feet up now and we had a quick search online for a nice bar to go. It was a complete coincidence that the bar we found was called the same as Mum’s favourite bar in her home city. Cafe Lamus was a very cool place, dare I say hipster, so as you can imagine, I fit right in! The place has heavily patterned wallpaper and retro light fittings and a choice of bottled Polish beers which is excellent. The barman even took Mum into his other bar (on the corner of the street) before it even opened, just to pick us some different beers to try. Now that is service! If you’re in town, you need to try this place out. Mum also loved the fact the place was full of old books, which she kept sniffing! She loves the smell of old books! We spent the rest of the afternoon there before we went back to the hotel to check in… Mum was very tipsy by this point, that much so that she tried to pay for the hotel with her Wroclaw travel card 😂
If you’re visiting the city and looking for a hotel, we would recommend the Stay Inn Hotel on Ul. Piwna, which literally translates as Beer Street, the perfect place for my Dad to stay! The hotel could not be in a better location, right in the heart of the Old Town and just across from St. Mary’s Church, one of the most famous churches in Poland and said to be one of the largest brick churches in the world and able to hold over 20,000 people! Not only was the hotel in a great location, but it was modern and had a 24 hour reception. If we went back, we wouldn’t hesitate to book there again. It is noisy in that part of town and we didn’t sleep much the first night, but found the complimentary ear plugs for the next night!
The next day we were up early and went for breakfast. Mum had already decided that she wasn’t paying tourist prices at the restaurants so me and Dad got our first experience of a real Polish institution. A Bar Mleczny (literally “milk bar” in Polish) is a form of cafeteria. You can rest assured that the Polish milk bar will be a ubiquitous feature of any Polish city’s culinary scene. Ever since the days of communist rule, cheap and cheerful eats have been pouring out of the kitchens of these low-key joints. The locals love them, they’ll never break the bank and there’s some super-tasty treats on the menus. We fed and watered ourselves and set off for today’s main event.
When taking the train from Gdańsk to Sopot or Gdynia, you pass a big area with large blocks of flats. That’s Zaspa – one of the residential districts of the city and similar to what you see in cities in this part of Europe. But this is different… the majority of blocks is covered in huge murals, representing the best of what Gdansk street art can offer! It’s the biggest urban gallery in Poland and Mum was going to be busy taking photos for a while. It was absolutely amazing and a must see for anyone visiting the city. You can download a map that lists all the murals and where they are by following the link.
We had three amazing days in Gdańsk and simply could not leave without visiting the seaside. We went to Brzeźno beach, one of the busiest beaches which boasts a 130-metre pier and some fine restaurants. The golden sands would make a great day out in the summer and even in October, the beach was busy with people enjoying themselves. The beach was easily reachable by tram or bus from central Gdańsk. We had waffles whilst we were there and they were beary yummy!
On the last day, there was just time to find the last few of the Hevelions on the Lion Trail. One of them could be found on the Ołowianka Island over a footbridge, where we’d also get the chance to take a photo of the Gdańsk sign. The bridge raises every half hour to allow tall ships through and when we arrived it was just opening. Time for a quick coffee then… well it was 30 minutes until it closed again so you’d think so wouldn’t you… not if you go to Al Ponte Ristorante just next to the bridge, where the service is so slow we were lucky to not miss our flight home never-mind cross that bridge! The only slightly bad note on an absolutely awesome trip.