Two Days in Enchanting Gdansk
Outshined by the larger southern Polish cities, charming Gdansk lies on the Baltic Sea. The city is a hidden gem full of colorful buildings, tasty food, and many treats!
Logistics:
Because we only were in Gdansk for two days (really, 24 hours), we wanted to be in the Old Town with access to the main sites.
By Public Transportation
From the airport, there are both trains and buses to the city center. Each of them are extremely cheap and timetables are found here.
By Taxi
Because Uber is so cheap, we called Ubers to get to and from the airport for less than 7GBP. Not only was it cheap, it saved us the over an hour long commute by bus or train and gave us an extra hour in the city!
Lodging
Because we visited for 2 days, we wanted a close, central hotel in Old Town and found a perfect place at Hampton by Hilton! We absolutely loved our stay as we had a room overlooking the beautiful cathedral. Our room also had a comfy bed with heated tiles in the bathroom. Plus, the continental breakfast was the best we have had in quite some time! We especially loved the cheap price.
Travel Tip: I relied on booking.com because most hotels are listed on this site. Plus, it offers better cancellation and good discounts. I then went to Hilton's website to book an even better direct deal!
Food & Drinks
Because we were here for less than two days, we had to try all the best restaurants while we had time! However, this is a perfect city to wander and just pick whatever looks best as you walk by. I did find this handy guide via a good travel blog if you need more suggestions.
Top Recommendation:
Pierogarnia Mandu Centrum: Located just outside Old Town, Pierogarnia is worth the flight to Gdansk! Mixing the old Polish pierogoi tradition with modern flavors, this restaurant will not disappoint! While we went on an uncrowded Monday for lunch, I can easily see how this place gets crazy busy. Because we were not hungry on our last morning, we split the beef and pork mix pierogis and they were amazing! While my memory has faded on the Christmas pierogis, I believe these were the best ones we have had! The meat filling was not dry and extremely tasty! I highly recommend!
Lunch & Dinner
Restaurant Pueblo: On our only night in Gdansk, we were walking to Pierogarnia when we walked past Pueblo. Immediately, we decided that meat and potatoes did not sound good for two meals in a row so we went for Mexican! Because we weren’t that hungry, we both ordered our own main. I had a tasty steak tacos while MF had the quesadilla. My steak tacos were nice although light on the steak and had more salad. MF learned that Polish quesadillas are not the same as Tex-Mex… either way, it was a different meal! If you’re American, I would skip. If missing Mexican, it is a good replacement!
Bar Mleczny Stagiewna: Famous for Soviet-era “milk bars,” we had to try more milk bars since most of them were closed during our Christmas tour. Because they are essentially a cafeteria, the food is presented to us and then we chose what looked best because we could not read the Polish descriptions. In the end, I had a surprisingly tasty homemade chicken breast with potatoes and green beans while MF had a potato stuffed with meat. Because it only cost 7GBP, we enjoyed it even more!
Click here for our Gdansk Google map pinsfor all of our hard research of the top food and drink spots!
Activities
Because we went to Gdansk on the fly, we did not plan for many activities. I used this recommendation from Crazy Tourist to double check that we saw most of the main sites!
- Walkative Walking Tour: Click here for my review of this great walking tour!
- Long Market: Starting at the top of Old Town and ending at the river, the Long Market is a perfect stroll!
- Town Hall: Standing on the Long Market, one cannot miss the picturesque Town Hall built in the 16th century in the classic Polish style.
- Gdansk Crane: On the river, one may miss the ancient shipping crane. Perfect for photos, the crane still stands because it represents the former shipping might of the city.
- Jelitkowo: This beach has a clean ribbon of fine sand backed by a chain of parks and curving for several kilometres up the coast to the west.
Fixed Costs:
- Taxi from Airport: 33PLN/£6.6GBP
- Hampton by Hilton Old Town: £52GBP per night
- Flight from Cyprus: €85
- Walking Tour: 100PLN/£20GBP
Onto Gdansk
Because we were flying from the Mediterranean Sea to the Baltic Sea, our flight from Paphos, Cyprus, was a long one, especially on a budget airline! Nevertheless, we were excited, yet scared to be heading to the great North and leaving sunny paradise behind us.
Once we arrived in Poland, we breezed through security and customs and were immediately outside the door. Boy, I was not prepared in my chaos and workout gear! It would be a cold trip, but thankfully we cheated and called an Uber to city center. After a brief confusion on the Hampton entrance, we collapsed in our super nice room.
Photo Mission
Despite our late arrival, I knew from pictures that Gdansk is a beautiful city so I had to capture some pictures! Because I was half asleep, half zombie, I did not prepare for where to take pictures so I merely wandered through the city, completely lost. It was magical.
Not only did I have the entire city to myself, the buildings are gorgeous. Although I loved Krakow and Wroclaw, this city might be my favorite solely based on first impressions. We picked a good layover city!!
Riverside Stroll
After a long walking tour and a tasty meal at Bar Mleczny Stagiewna, we strolled through the city once more. One of our favorite activities here is just walking because the city is beautiful and the natural light provides an ever changing backdrop! At sunset, the light hits the riverside at a beautiful angle with the orange rays hitting the water and city.
Travel Tip: Click here for our great walking tour by Walkative!
On the river, there are a few bridges to reach the other side. Each of the bridges has a timer that we couldn’t solve so we were limited to one side of the river. It worked out in the end because we were ready for dinner!
Sunset in the City
Because we have seen Mediterranean sunsets for nearly two months, we were spoiled with spectacular views. However, we were truly spoiled in Gdansk! Over the Long Market, the sunset’s orange and pink glows were radiating! It was truly magical! When we booked our flight at the last minute to Gdansk, we had no idea that we would love this little Polish city this much!
The Other Riverside
Because we terribly mistimed the bridges last night, our first goal on our last Gdansk morning was to reach the other side. Undettered, we finally reached the other side and captured some great pictures! Not to mention more sunshine! The other side of town is just as pretty!
On our way to lunch at Pierogarnia Mandu Centrum, we stumbled upon a different side of Gdansk because we left the Old Town. Once we ate possibly our favorite meal (and favorite piergois), we loved walking through the market and small creeks.
The UnChartered Summary
When we booked Gdansk, we had no idea how much we would love this city. Throughout our many walks through Old Town and the riverside, we kept saying to each other that we were so glad we kicked off our return to the continent here.
- Perfect for a weekend getaway, Gdansk offers great restaurants, bars, and plenty of views. While you can make it a long weekend, we certainly thought we could have done it in a classic weekend away from London.
- Eat at Pierogarnia Mandu Centrum!!! Because we were full of meat and potatoes, we decided to not eat there for dinner. If we had, we definitely would have returned for lunch! It is so tasty!
- Stay at Hampton by Hilton Old Town. We were extremely impressed by the hotel, including the heated bathroom tiles! Plus it is in the middle of this picturesque city!
- Slow down your travel and enjoy walking through Gdansk. It will be worthwhile!