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Published: July 13th 2016
Go to Gdansk - NOW! You won't regret it!! We certainly didn't. I have to admit though, I couldn't imagine what there could be to see and do there, because my judgement was clouded by 1980s newsreels of shipyards, striking dockers and Lech Wałęsa. It turned out to be a beautiful place with a fascinating history.
We stayed at Hostel 22 which isn't too long a taxi journey from the bus or train stations. It is a lovely hotel, and not really a hostel despite the name. There are two slight negative points though. The murals on the walls of the bedrooms may give you nightmares! Ours was decorated with a picture of a fish market but I kept thinking the man in it was about to slap me in the face with a wet fish! There is also a building site next door but hopefully they will finish what they are doing very soon because this hotel really should not lose out on any business because of it. Location-wise it's great as it's just a short stroll from almost everything you might want to see in Gdansk.
Very close to the hotel was the metallic war memorial located
War Memorial
This is close to the post office where the first shots of World War II were fired.just outside the old post office. This is, apparently, where the first shots of World War II were fired. The now restored post office contains a
museum but it never seemed to be open as we passed by. Directly opposite the hotel was another opportunity we failed to take advantage of -
Bunkier Club . This six-storey, re-enforced concrete cube was built as an
air-raid shelter, bunker and anti-aircraft battery by the Germans during the war. Nowadays it houses a nightclub, bar and restaurant. If you so desire, you can sit in an electric chair to while away the hours!!
About 20 minutes walk away is the current star of Gdansk's show, the
European Centre for Solidarity. Outside is a huge memorial to the shipworkers and dockers who died in the struggles of the early 80s. Inside it looks like a giant library and the self-guided audio-visual tour of the museum is something which you simply cannot miss. You will be taken through the complete story of
Lech Wałęsa (link provided with further information for any younger readers!!) and his
Solidarność movement which ultimately saw the end of communist rule in Poland. If I was going to design a museum from
scratch, this is what it would look like. It was innovative in its design and crammed with snippets of information which supplemented my limited knowledge of those horrific, heroic events. A lift takes you all the way up to the roof so you can get a view over the famous shipyards. Nearby is the current headquarters of Solidarność and it too is open to the public. Whilst it isn't an interactive display, it is full of memorable flags, banners and posters, plus the stories of other lesser-known heroes of the workers' revolution.
The old town of Gdansk is a joy in its own right. Wandering around the streets by day or night provides a visual feast of architectural delight. Don't miss the island on the river which used to house hundreds of granaries. A massive restoration project is underway which should reap benefits some years into the future. On the opposite side of the river we dined in style at the
Ritz . This wonderful restaurant is owned and run by Basia Ritz, a winner of Poland's version of Masterchef. The food was exquisite and not at a ridiculous price either. Because of the building works on the island,
getting there is not as easy as it should be, but it is definitely worth the effort. I'm not sure we could so easily afford to eat in such a glitzy celebrity restaurant as this in any other city in the world. Back in the old town we found a wonderful brewpub,
Browar Piwna, which served homebrew along with hearty Polish meals. A visit is highly recommended!
From Gdansk it's an easy train ride out to the seaside at Sopot. The main attraction there is the old wooden pier which, for a small price, you can stroll along and admire the views of the coast. It is currently the longest wooden pier in Europe at over 500m in length. A pier has been there since 1827 and you can feel the history beneath your feet as you tread the boardwalks. Public toilets are in short supply though, so we walked into the Sofitel looking like we owned the place. Nobody batted an eyelid and we were soon able to sit outside in the sunshine and enjoy an ice cream before heading back to Gdansk.
Two nights in the city was never going to be enough. There is a new
World War 2 museum being built which will attract us back for sure. There is also a water bus which takes you out to Westerplatte at the mouth of the river. The timetable isn't exactly substantial and when we discovered whereto jump on, we also discovered we had just missed a boat and that there wasn't another one for a few hours. Oh well, the joy of travel eh!!
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Menna Jones
non-member comment
Totally agree
Great blog Russ. Luckily for us we had two more days and managed to visit a few other places nearby as well. As you said , definitely worth a visit.