5 days around Grańsk

I must admit that Gdańsk was not on my radar until a friend mentioned it to me. What a great idea they had! This trip was a mix of city, beach, forest, and a pinch of history, which is exactly how I like to travel. As it’s tradition now, the weather was not the best when we traveled, so this itinerary is doable even if it rains some of the days. Check out this 5 days in Gdańsk itinerary to get some inspiration for your trip! We took Gdańsk as our base and then did day trips.

Day 1 – From Warsaw to Gdańsk, with a forest stop

We arrived to Warsaw in the early afternoon and rented a car. The trip from Warsaw to Gdańsk takes around 4 h, depending on traffic conditions. The roads are smooth and well-maintained, especially the highways, so driving is not a problem. This may not be the case for smaller roads, so be prepared for some bumps if going into the countryside.

Kampinoski Park Narodowy

Despite the long drive, we decided to stop at Kampinoski Park Narodowy on the way to Gdańsk. It’s a peaceful place not far from the capital, with well-marked trails through forests. It’s a good spot for a quiet walk and a breath of fresh air before a long drive. Beware, because there’s ticks in the forest. So make sure you’re wearing long pants, avoid getting into the grass, and check yourself and your travel companions after the hike. I found a tick crawling on me after a short hike, so they are not uncommon. We did the hike starting in Ścieżka edukacyjna acconding to Google Maps. It’s a short, 1.5 km hike, that constitutes a great stop if you’re driving through the main road of the forest. There was a pleasant picnic area, and several informative panels (although only in Polish). There were seven stops along the path, which was very easy to follow. The one I enjoy the most was the river where the beavers had built a dam. We didn’t get to see the beavers, but the dam was very impressive!

We continued towards Gdańsk, where we had booked an AirBnB not too far from the city center.

Day 2 – Hel Peninsula and Sopot

Boat to Hel

Although we had seriously considered going to Hel by car so that we could say that we were on a highway to Hel (get ready for the corny jokes here), we had read online that the traffic could be intense to reach the peninsula. Instead, we drove to Gdynia, from where you can catch a ferry to Hel. We parked in front of the ship departure area with the company Zegluga. There were plenty of parking spots nearby the port area, both street parking (paid) and in a garage. In summer, Zegluga offers 3 round trips per day to Hel and back, although whether a boat departs depends on the amount of people. Ask the company to make sure your preferred ferry departs. The ferry is scenic, and takes 1:10 h to reach Hel.

Hel itself is a nice touristy town. There are many souvenir stores and restaurants in town, and a maritime museum. We noticed that despite being highly touristy, most employees only spoke Polish, so I assumed that Hel is more famous for local tourism. In town, one can also visit the Fokarium, a seal sanctuary where you see seals that were hurt and are rehabilitated.

Going to the beach in Hel

Because my friends and I like to walk, we took one of the routes coming from the town to cross the peninsula and to end up on the opposite side beach, nearby the Latarnia Morska Gora Szwedow, an old lighthouse of which only the skeleton is preserved. The hike there is very easy, there is a wide road that leads you there, and there’s also hiking indications every few hundred meters, in form of a tank drawn on the tree. Since we started our hike at a rather unconventional location, we didn’t realize that there are actually two different routes represented with blue or brown tanks. Along the route you can also see several bunkers from WWII in the forest. The forest itself is quite interesting, with a very sandy soil.

While somewhat unexpected, the beaches in Hel are really awesome – they have a fine white sand, and they get into blue-green clear waters. Except for the weather and absence of palm trees, you could even think you’re in a Caribbean island! While we were there it started raining, so multiple carts appeared, offering a transfer to tourists from the beach to town – if you don’t want to walk, you’re well-covered there. We, on the other hand, decided that we still wanted to see the Lighthouse of Hel, which can be reached through the forest trails, and where you get great views of the peninsula. There’s also a waffle place right in front of the lighthouse, in case you’re hungry from all the walking.

Sopot

We took the ferry back and on our way back we stopped in Sopot, known for its long sandy beach and vibrant promenade. The weather didn’t do justice to the city, which was very vibrant and crowded despite the rain. We stopped at the Skwer Kuracyjny, a beautiful square, in which an event of athletics was taking place. After watching athletes jumping (really impressive how high they get!), we continued our stroll to the wooden pier, which with its 500 m is the longest in Europe. You need to get a 10 zt ticket if you want to walk through it. We walked around and enjoyed the views of the different boats parked in the pier. You can also have a nice view of the Sofitel Grand Hotel. We grabbed dinner here before heading back.

Day 3 – Gdańsk Old Town

City center

Finally, time to explore Gdańsk properly. We walked through the street Szafarnia, from where we could see the buildings built along the promenade, which combined modernity with tradition, offering façades in a German style, with large glass windows. Next, we took the Olowianka street and explored the ship-museum Sołdek. We then continued through the Wartka street, the one running along the whole city center next to the Motława River. From there you can visit the Port Crane, which was activated by the force derived from the steps of people! Strolling through this street we arrived to Długi Targ, the main and very lively street, full of colorful buildings and restaurants. You can see the Neptune Fountain and the City Hall, which offers great views from the city.

Visiting churches

From there you can walk towards the St. Mary’s Church, a Roman Catholic church from 1502, which has an astronomical clock well worth the visit. From there, we walked to the St. Catherine’s Church, another Catholic church, which had a fire in 2006 that destroyed quite some parts of it. It has a small crypt with several skeletons displayed. Right behind this church there is the St. Bridget’s Church. I totally recommend a visit there – it costs only 6 zt, and you can see an amber altar. The altar is a relatively recent construction, and it’s spectacular. The level of detail of the wheat and grapes the artists made is outstanding. There is also a small crypt going down the staircase, with multiple skulls embedded in a wall with a reminder – memento mori.

The WWII museum

After tasting a great variety of pierogy at Stary Mlyn, I headed to spend the afternoon at the Museum of the Second World War. It does a fantastic job at explaining the terrible events that lead to and happened during WWII. It is a modern and very well curated, with many exhibits.

We ended up the day going up the Amber Sky, the ferry wheel from which you can observe Gdańsk.

Day 4 – Słowiński Park Narodowy

Moving sand dunes

We hit the road again to visit Słowiński National Park, known for its moving sand dunes. We drove towards Łeba, approximately a 1:30 h drive. From there there is a 6 km walk to the Łącka Dune, which is estimated to take 1,5 h. However, there are also small cars that can bring you to the destination, for 23,1 zt one-way. As it was extremely windy, we opted for taking one of those, which reduced the ride to only 15 min.

Before arriving, my expectations were low, I have to admit, but I found the dunes absolutely incredible. There is a rather wide path that people can take to climb the dune or to go to the beach, and the rest of the path is closed to public, but you can still see it. This makes the landscape that you’re observing untouched, which is a wonderful sight. The dunes had two colors, a softer and looser white sand, and a harder brown sand, which likely still had water from the previous day rain. The strong wind only helped to the landscape: it was covering our trails almost immediately, and gave an eerie feeling to the whole scene. I was afraid the wind would blow all the sand into my face, but surprisingly, most of it was moving closer to the ground.

Kluki open air museum

After checking this part, we drove towards the opposite side of the park, to visit the open air museum in Kluki. Too bad that we didn’t realize that the museum was closed on Mondays, because when we arrived, there was obviously no one. We still walked around the museum, and got to see the houses from the outside, as well as read some history on some panels available on the street, but obviously all the exhibitions were closed for the day. A bit disappointed in ourselves, we drove on the same road towards a viewing tower, located nearby the lake. The wind was so strong that we could hear it making music with the tower. Going up however was surprisingly stable, so we never lost confidence in the tower.

Czołpino Lighthouse

Our final point was the Czołpino Lighthouse, located a short drive away from Kluki. Remember to keep your park tickets through the day, as we were asked for them in the parking lot. The parking was paid, 20 zt. The walk towards the lighthouse was around 1 km, with most of it being stairs. There are a lot of stairs. They are easy stairs – they have a longer step every few regular steps for you to rest, but nonetheless, there’s many. Once we arrived to the tower, we went up to take in the landscape, which was not very impressive, but you could see all the stairs you just climber up from there.

Day 5 – Malbork Castle and return to Warsaw

Malbork Castle

Last day in Poland! On our way back to Warsaw, we stopped at Malbork Castle. It’s huge! It is the largest caslte in the world when considering surface area, and also a UNESCO site. It is well-restored, and genuinely impressive. We initially planned to stop for only 15-20 min, but ended up taking almost an hour to walk around. If you want to enter, the visit will be even longer. There is a parking lot nearby the castle, which is paid 24/7.

Warsaw in one afternoon

Afterwards, it was a long drive back to Warsaw, where we arrived in the afternoon. We walked through the Old Town, taking a peak to the Royal Castle and several churches. We also visited the Ogród Krasinskish, a nice English-style garden, and Saxon Gardens, behind which there was the eternal fire. After a short walk, we reached the Vistula Boulevards. It’s a nice walk along the river, with which you can go back to the city center. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to visit more of the city before our flight back, but it’s well worth it!

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