Tour of Gdansk, Poland

The centre of Gdansk is the Town Hall, that dominates the Long Market skyline. The spire, with a gilded statue of King Sigismund II Augustus of Poland on its pinnacle, was installed in 1561.

The City Hall (1379-1492), houses the Gdansk City Historical Museum. Visits MON 10.00-15.00 TUE-SAT 10.00-18.00 SUN 11.00-18.00. Entrance about, 8 zl, reduced 6 zl.

There are many beautiful interiors in the City Hall but the best known is the Red Room (Great Council Chamber), the White Room for audiences and the Treasury Room.

You have the option of going up the 80 meters high and narrow tower which is topped by golden figure of Zygmunt August (1561). From the top there is a splendid view to the Basilica and a panorama of the city.

Gdansk Map . Poland Map.

The Renaissance Green Gate at the east end of Dlugi Targ Street was built between 1568-71 by Regnier and Hans Kramer as the house for noble guests visiting Gdansk.

The most notable guest was Ludvika Maria Gonzaga, who lived here in 1646.

Now the building is a division of the National Museum and presents temporary exhibits.

Go inside to find out what is happening in the city. Maybe something that might interest you.

Go through the Green Gate to Dlugie Pobrzeze street and you will find a good promenade along the banks of the Motlawa river, full of restaurants, souvenir stands and important monuments.

Just north of the Green Gate, by the Motlawa River, is The Crane, a symbol of the city. This is the largest Medieval port crane in Europe. The present structure is from 1442. It was used to unload ships and was also a tower and city gate.

At first glance this fragile looking wooden structure does not seem capable of lifting almost 5 tons of goods. It used an extraordinary man-powered mechanism which boosted the power generated by the human body.

Go inside and have look. The Crane's interior is quite a surprising piece of construction. Open 10.30-18.30 Adult ticket about 6 zl, reduced 4 zl.

Just north of the Town Hall is St. Mary's Basilica, the largest brick built church in Europe, and the largest church in Poland.

The present Gothic structure was constructed on top of the original XII c. wooden church and was built between 1343-1502.

The huge spacious interior is amazing. Your attention is drawn to the stone baptistery (mid XVI c.), Gothic high altar (1511-16), Baroque ambone (1617), the thirteen metre high astronomical clock and the chapels of St. Baltazar and St. George.

It is also worth considering climbing the 400 stairs to the top of the tower for the fantastic panorama of the city.
Visit to the Basilica MON-SAT 09.00-18.00, SUN 13.00-18.00. Adult about 2 zl, reduced 1 zl .More Information.

Just north of the Golden Gate is the Late Renaissance Great Armoury, constructed between 1601-09 according to the plans of Antoni van Obbergen.

It was originally a place to store armour, and until the end of WW I, functioned as a military depot.

There is a mall inside which you can enter from Piwna street. Have a look at the facade of the Great Armoury, as it is an important example of Dutch Mannierism.

Sopot is a large health-spa and tourist resort destination, well known for the longest wooden pier in Europe, the Molo (at 515.5 meters), from which one can see the Gulf of Gdansk. Sopot is situated about 7 miles northwest of Gdansk centre.

The city is also famous for its Sopot International Song Festival, the largest such event in Europe after the Eurovision Song Contest.

Regular inexpensive trains run between the towns.

Gdynia is an important seaport at Gdansk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea, about 13 miles northwest of Gdansk centre.

Gdynia is part of a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdansk and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the Tricity, with a population of over a million people.

Regular inexpensive trains run between the towns.

More Information.

For more information on Gdansk, visit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gdansk.