Self-catering holiday homes: Gdansk

Gdansk

• Walking around the beautiful old town can easily take half a day; if you intend visiting some of the museums and merchants’ houses you will need much longer.
• There are many attractive restaurants, bars and shops - but if you shop in Gdynia you will probably get better value.
• Ul Mariacka is probably the prettiest street. At the end of the street is ancient St Mary’s Church – the largest brick-built church in the world.
• The museum in the Rathaus (town hall) is well worth visiting – it is not large but provides fascinating details of Gdansk’s history.
• If you are feeling energetic you can climb up the tower of the Rathaus; from here you will get a great view of the town and the river.
• The white building next to it, Artus’ Court, is also well worth a visit – it is the livery hall where the merchants met when Gdansk was a prosperous port serving much of central and Eastern Europe.
• The Solidarity museum is next to the Three Crosses Memorial outside one of the gates to the shipyard. This memorial is to the shipyard workers who were shot in the 1970s. The museum records the strike in the 1980s when Solidarity was founded – and when the communist government started to founder. A visit is strongly recommended – it’s about 25 minutes walk from the old town, through the New Town (which is also old). If you walk, then stop at St Brigitta’s church on the way – it was the church where the striking workers went to mass. The priest there was (and is) very political – inside the church the memorials give a summary of the history of Poland and some of the important battles in Poland’s history. If you drive to the Three Crosses Memorial there is normally easy parking just outside the shipyard gate.
• The medieval Great Crane by the waterfront is the symbol of Gdansk. You can go inside and see how it worked. It was used for loading grain for more than 500 years.
• If the weather is fine you can take a return boat ride from the waterfront near the Great Crane to Westerplatte, where the first shots of WWII were fired. The voyage through the shipyards is fascinating. Tickets are available from a booth on the waterfront.
• The Post Office in the New Town is also interesting – there was a historic and heroic 3 day battle there in the first days of WWII .
• Pod Losem (“under the sign of the salmon”) is probably the most famous restaurant in Gdansk and is good for special occasions. Wine (as in all restaurants in Poland) is expensive relative to vodka or beer. Many heads of state have eaten there. It is expensive by Polish standards and frequented mainly by tourists so can be quiet. The Gdanska restaurant is similarly traditional and very elaborately decorated with model sailing ships hanging from the ceilings, in Gdansk style.

Written by Anna Bannon - Owner of Property 15997 in Gdansk, Poland

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