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Michael Hardenfelt (E-mail: m@hardenfelt.pl) – Tourist guide in Warsaw and the rest of Poland. Phone: +48 600 43 53 83

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5 hours in Gdansk and Sopot

English speaking guide in Gdansk – an active day in Gdansk with Solidarity, the shipyard, the pedestrian street, Amber Street, the Cathedral, the canal and a trip to the resort town of Sopot.

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5 hours – price 1,400 zloty for the whole group + 12 zloty per person for a return ticket by local train to Sopot.

We will have time for a coffee break on the way.

Pick-up at your hotel. The order depends on where you live, but we reach the following landmarks:
1. Coal Market (Targ Węglowy)

Here we see the theatre, the Great Armoury, the Straw tower and the School of Architecture. We’ll also take a look at the old prison before walking through the city gate.

2. Long Street and Long Market (ulica Długa/ Długi Targ)

We see the magnificent townhouses that were rebuilt after the devastation of 1945. And then we arrive at the town hall, the fountain with Neptune and the old guild building.

Along the way, we talk about the role of Gdansk in the Middle Ages and Renaissance – a city with a certain independence that was also the centre of Poland’s huge grain trade.

We also look at the time under Germany and the time as an independent free city – during the Napoleonic Wars and again between WWI and WWII.

The main road in Gdansk old town
The rebuilt market street in Gdansk
3. Side streets

We leave the main street to see how the city was built up before WW2. At the same time, we see the back of the magnificent rebuilt Renaissance houses and hear the story behind the reconstruction.

4. Royal Palace – The Green Gate and the channel

Here I’m talking about the Castle and the World War II Museum, which can be seen in the background. I talk about the exhibition and the political discussions around the museum.

The green gate in Gdansk old town is an old - but never used for that purpose - royal castle
The Green Gate in Gdansk
The castle was transformed into a ruin during WWII
5. The marina

New luxury apartments and concrete buildings from the 1970s.

We’ll talk a bit about the construction of housing under communism. We can also see the latest stages of the reconstruction of Gdansk and some of the old warehouses.

6. The channel – where the right side of the canal is quite new.
The area has been constantly developed for the past 60 years
Gdansk Water front
7. The Old Crane, which was one of the largest cranes in Northern Europe in the Middle Ages.
8. The Amber Street

Here we talk about amber and the city’s status as an amber centre and admire the street where we still find surviving houses from before WW2. WW2.

Mariacka Street in Gdansk old town is considered to be the most beautiful street in town
Mariacka Street in Gdansk – the Amber Street
9. St Mary’s Church

We first talk about the role of the church in Poland, both over the last 100 years and the last 5-10 years.

Inside, we take a tour of the huge and magnificent church.

We stop at the memorial to those who died in the 2010 Smolensk plane crash that killed 96 people, including the President of Poland and the entire top administration.

We also look at an old painting titled “Judgement Day” and hear about its history. And then we look at the old astronomical clock and hear legends about it.

We end at a memorial to Paweł Adamowicz – the mayor of Gdansk who was stabbed to death in a public event in 2019

Day of Judgement
10. Market Hall in Gdansk
Market Hall in Gdansk old town from 1904 AD
The old Market Hall in Gdansk
11. The Old Mill
The Old mill has been transformed into a Museum of Amber
The Old mill is now an Amber museum. Click here to see the internet page
12. The Shipyard and Solidarity Museum

Here I talk about the 1970 strikes, the military intervention, the 1980 strikes, Solidarity, the threat of Soviet intervention, the state of emergency, Brezhnev, General Jaruzelski, the Pope, Reagan, Wałęsa and Gorbachev. Finally, we end with the Round Table negotiations and the collapse of communism in Central Europe.

We see the impressive Solidarity Centre and take the lift to the roof where we can look out over Gdansk and talk about what’s happening today in the old shipyard area.

Exivition, libriry, child's corner and meeting halls
The Solidarity Centre from inside
13. Local train to Sopot

In Sopot, we walk along the long pedestrian street, Monte Cassino, and end up at the longest wooden pier in Europe.

On the way, I’ll tell you about what you see and the city’s status as an exclusive holiday resort.

We end the trip at the pier. Here you can decide to stay in Sopot or walk with me back to the station and take the train back to Gdansk.

Sopot - Polish summer capital
This is where we meet all the rich, the young and the beautiful in the summer time

Alternative suggestion: In summer, instead of Sopot, we can take a water tram along the canal to Westerplatte, where World War II started in 1939. Here I talk about the background to the conflict and the importance of the defence of Westerplatte in Polish consciousness. Extra charge: 80 zloty per participant for a return ticket to the water tram.

Write to me at m@hardenfelt.pl to arrange a guided tour in Gdansk