Gdansk is a city on the Baltic coast of nothern Poland.
The city is said to take its name from the Gdania River which is the original name of the Motlawa River
Travelling to Gdansk
We flew to Gdansk in November from Leeds and Bradford Airport. The flights to Gdansk only cost us £39 return. We flew out on a Friday for a long weekend. Our main reason for visiting Gdansk was the Christmas Market. Fortunately as we live on around 20 minutes drive from the airport this was very convenient.
Accommodation
In advance we booked an apartment on Air b n b in the centre of Gdansk The apartment was very clean with contemporary furnishing and very stylish. The location was excellent as it was only a short walk to the river and shops, restaurants and bars. There are many nice apartments for rent in good locations and at a reasonable price. We paid £150 for 3 nights which was excellent value. The apartment had everything we needed with a fully equipped kitchen, lounge area, bathroom and good sized bathroom.
Nightlife
In Gdansk there are lots of bars and even an Irish Bar. The Irish bar is what you would expect which is full of people from the UK. Some of the bars are the same price as what you would pay in England. The Polish shot bar is very cheap. As the name suggests it mainly sells shots which people buy around 10 at a time but you can get larger and wine too. A glass of wine cost around £1.50 in the Polish shot bar in other bars cost around £6. The bar is very lively every night so it is well worth a visit if you are wanting to hit the bars.
Christmas Market
Whilst we were in Gdansk we went to the Christmas Market which was lovely. It was very cold but we had come prepared with warm clothes, gloves etc. At the Christmas market they sold the most amazing rum and apple mulled wine. Not only did it taste lovely but on a cold also warmed you up. We might have had quite a few on them whilst we were there purely to keep us warm lol.
Market Food
At the market there were a lot of stalls selling traditional Polish food, Pertogi (polish dumplings), various pastries (not sure what these were called), Placki Ziemniaczane (Potato pancakes), Zrazy (Beef rolls), various polish sausage etc. There were lots of stalls where you could sit down, eat and drink. There were also many stalls selling arts, crafts and Christmas decoration. It was a lovely market and well worth the visit.
Food and Drink
The Golden Gate leads to the Dlugi Targ the main walk through Gdansk. it is not very long approximately 500 metres long. Café, shops, bars and restaurants line the walk. The restaurants cater for all tastes of food from Italian, Indian, Polish, Spanish etc. This walk is very busy all day long with both tourists and locals. There are so many beautiful buildings in Gdansk.It has a wealth of history with many museums.
Motlawa River
Walking along the Motlawa river was lovely both day and night again lots of nice places to eat and drink. We stayed at one side of the river but crossed over to the other where there were some lovely shops and coffee places. The coffee shops sold amazing hot chocolate which was great on the cold mornings.
Whilst walking near the river we came across a man who had a spectacular motor bike. He had various props, items of clothing that you could put on and have a photo taken on his motorbike for a small fee. It was great fun doing this and having photo’s that bring a smile when you look at them.
Summary
Like most places we have visited there never seems enough time to see and do everything you want to. We were only in Gdansk for a few days but we definitely made the most of it. We would definitely recommend visiting Gdansk it is such a beautiful place
Images
Things to do
- Go to the Christmas Market
- Try the Rum and Apple Mulled Wine,
- Try some of the Polish traditional foods.
- Walk along the Motlawa river.
- Have something to eat or drink on the Dlugi Targ.
- Visit the Polish Shot Bar if you are out to sample the night life.
Top tips
- If going to Gdansk in the winter months ensure you have plenty of warm clothing.
- There are a lot of tourist type bars which do charge more than the bars aimed at the locals. Check out the local bars.
- The Christmas market in Gdansk was lovely and a good time to go for a fun and cheap long weekend. Christmas market starts late November. Dont forget to try the Rum and Apple mulled wine.
- We found that the Airbnb was very reasonable in price, centrally located, exceptionally clean, lovely décor and gave us lots of space for our stay.
- If you are flexible with your dates to travel Skyscanner can search the whole month and advise of cheapest time to travel.
- Check out other destination we have visited in Poland Wroclaw
- Check out government safety advice when visiting Gdansk https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/poland
Weather
| Temp – Celsius Rain – mm | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| High Temp | 1 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 18 | 21 | 21 | 16 | 11 | 4 | 1 |
| Low Temp | -4 | -4 | -3 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | -4 |
| Rainfall | 31 | 24 | 19 | 32 | 33 | 58 | 73 | 70 | 53 | 38 | 29 | 39 |
| Number of days | 9 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 |