This post contains affiliate links to things like tours and hotels. These help me earn a small commission at no additional charge to you. Every affiliate link is marked with a *.

Polish Vodka Museum Tour & Tasting

I chose to do a museum tour with a vodka tasting. The museum tour starts with a short movie in a small vintage movie theatre, with interviews of people who worked at the factory while it was still a place of production. After this introduction we learned about the history of Polish vodka, how vodka is produced, as well as traditions and customs associated with vodka and how those changed over the centuries.

How Vodka is made

Traditionally vodka is made from grains, like wheat, barley or rye. In the museum these different kinds of grains are showcased in an interactive way. Additionally potatoes and corn are also showcased as they are newer bases for vodka production.

The chosen base ingredient is milled, ground (grains) or blended (potatoes, corn) with warm water in order to break down the material into a mash. This mash is set aside so the ingredients are broken down into starches (dissolved into the water or swimming on top) and solids (sinking to the bottom).

The mash is heated up, then it is strained out so get rid of the remaining solids, as only the liquified starch-sugar water is needed for the rest of the process. The solids are often used for animal feed, since they contain high amounts of fibre, protein and fat (basically everything that wasn’t dissolved).

Once strained the liquid is them mixed with yeast and more water and sealed into containers to ferment. Fermentation takes about two weeks as the yeast “feeds” on the natural sugars. During the process ethanol is produced as a by-product. Ethanol is a kind of “simple alcohol”

Once the liquid is fermented it is heated to 80-90° Celsius. Since alcohol boils at a lower temperature than water and thus turns into vapour earlier only the alcohol rises into a condenser (third picture above) where it cools down again and then drips into a new container, while the water remains. The first drops of condensated liquid are full of toxins and get thrown out immediately. However, the remaining liquid still contains impurities. This is why (often) several rounds of distillation take place before the vodka is ready to be bottled.

The vodka most of us know is not “pure” alcohol from this process. When the distillation process is done the won liquid has an alcohol content of about 90%. This is diluted with water (and sometimes flavoured) until it reaches an alcohol content of around 40%.

After the “how vodka is made” section of the museum is a maze of illuminated shelves, showcasing a colourful collection of different vodka bottles from around the country and from different decades.

Vodka Tasting

The vodka tasting at the “Vodka Academy” at the end of the Polish Vodka Museum includes three different vodkas, indistinguishable by looks, but very different in smell and taste.

The first one was an Ostoya wheat vodka. It was slightly sweet and way smoother than I expected.

The second vodka was a Luksusowa potato vodka. It was a bit earthier than the Osotya, but not bitter.

The third and last vodka was a Wyborowa rye vodka. I would describe the taste as “crisp and spicy”, this one had more of the burn of a strong alcohol, but it didn’t bite like some cheap stuff does.

How to book a Tour of the Polish Vodka Museum & Tasting

The only way to see this museum is with a tour. The cheapest tour is the “Basic” one, for 70zł per person, includes the ticket to the museum, a guided tour and the above mentioned vodka tasting. For a little more you can add a Premium Vodka to your tasting. The spots are limited as the groups consist only of 25 people and different languages are offered at different times. Booking a ticket in advance is advised. You can book here*.

The basic tickets are not available on Fridays and Saturdays, so if you plan to visit during a long weekend in Warsaw, Sunday is your best option.

Der Beitrag Polish Vodka Museum & Tasting erschien zuerst auf Kaya Wanderlust.

This post contains affiliate links to things like tours and hotels. These help me earn a small commission at no additional charge to you. Every affiliate link is marked with a *.

Overview of a long weekend in Warsaw

• Where to stay in Warsaw
• What to do in Warsaw
• Must try food and drinks in Warsaw
• TLDR, show me a map with everything important

Where to stay for a long weekend in Warsaw

Warsaw has many neighbourhoods to choose from, here are my three recommendations:

Warsaw Centrum* (Śródmieście) is the most central neighbourhood (as the name suggests) of Warsaw and has many hotels, restaurants and many of the main attractions of the city. Since it is the central neighbourhood it’s also quite busy and therefore loud.

The Old Town* (Stare Miasto) of Warsaw has many historic buildings (rebuilt) and boasts a charming atmosphere, however there are fewer hotels and they tend to be more expensive. In the old town you have most of the other main attractions that aren’t found in Centrum.

Wola* is the financial center of Warsaw, it’s streets lined with old decrepit houses and modern glass and steel skyscrapers. Here you can find interesting museums, a good selection of (mostly international) restaurants and modern coffee shops. This neighbourhood has international chain hotels, but also more budget friendly options. You’ll be further away from “main” attractions and museums, but it’s also quieter than the centre.

What to see during a long weekend in Warsaw

No visit to Warsaw is complete without stopping by several of the cities historical locations and museums. There are many more museums than I have listed here, but these were my top priorities.

In May of every year there is a night-of-museums where over 200 places can be visited for free. On top of that several of the museums offer free admission on specific days of the week, I listed them under the museum descriptions.

Maria Skłodowska-Curie Museum

When in Warsaw one of the places to visit that you can’t miss is the Marie Curie Museum, dedicated to her life and work, in Marie Curies childhood home.

A few facts about Marie Skłodowska-Curie (her full name):

• She was born in Warsaw
• She was the first woman to win a Nobel prize
• She was the first person to win two Nobel prizes
• She remains to this day the only person to win a Nobel prize in two different fields: Physics and Chemistry
• Her husband, Pierre Curie, was a co-winner of her first Nobel Prize, making them the first-ever married couple to win one together
• She coined the term “radioactivity” as we use it today
• She worked on her first projects with her husband in a workshop with just the most basic stuff
• They discovered a new element in said workshop!
• The Curie family has received four Nobel prizes for five people (the most Nobel prizes in one family ever)

Admission to the museum is free on Tuesdays.

Money and Treasury Museum

The NBP Money Centre covers the history, cultural importance in different cultures and production of money. It’s a very interactive museum for all ages with many multimedial exhibits. There is a gold bar you can touch, a wall that shows exchange rates live, holograms of rare money bills, a life size safe you can enter, a see-through ATM that shows the inner workings of it and so much more.

Free admission every day of the week!

Warsaw Gasworks Museum

Whether you are interested in gas production and industry or just history, the Warsaw Gasworks Museum or Muzeum Gazowni Warszawskiej is a must-visit while in the city. The museum was established within the former Wola Gas Factory. The original factory had been built from 1886–1888, but most of it was destroyed during WWII. Today some parts of it have been rebuilt, others still stand with the signs of destruction.

The museum has several exhibitions: One showcasing the production and purification of gas, another on the distribution and use of gas in the city and yet another on the use of gas in private homes and household objects. Within the exhibitions there are interactive displays, old photography and newspaper articles, as well as original machinery, gas lamps, gas counters and many more.

Free admission on Fridays.

Warsaw Fotoplastikon

The Fotoplastikon Warszawski is a small museum that has been in operation since 1905. Inside the darkened rooms sits a version of a Kaiserpanorama machine, a twentyfouragon with viewpoints and seats in front of it. Once activated you can see 24 slides of old pictures and their descriptions from Warsaw in years gone by as the inside of the Panorama Machine turns around it’s own axis.

Places like this were popular before movie theatres became more widespread. Today they are a piece of history themselves, together with the slices of history you can see through them.

Free admission on Thursdays.

Museum of Life in the Polish People’s Republic

The museum of “Life in the Polish People’s Republic” shows the everyday life of people in Poland and specifically Warsaw from 1947 to 1989. The exhibits include everyday household objects, sport equipment, children’s toys, clothes, photographs, newspaper articles and even some recovered short films transport you back to this time. You can take pictures in an old government office and an old cafe, which is operated as a museum cafe today.

There is also a whole apartment dating back to this era on display in the museum, complete with a guide which sized family got which size of apartment

Warsaw Railway Museum

The correct translation of this museums name “Stacja Muzeum” would be “Station Museum”, which is fitting as well since it’s located in the former Warsaw Main Railway Station. There are two parts to the museum: the exhibits inside the old station building and repair sheds and the open air area that covers many of the old train tracks.

The museum exhibit includes train conductor uniforms and ticket through the ages, railway models from the first horse drawn carriages on tracks to the most modern ones, old switch signals and station signal boxes that were operated manually.

Outside you can see 50 or so different trains, carriages and locomotives. From ancient steam engines to diesel and electrical engines, a tank train, old trams and newer trains, it’s fascinating to see them from the outside and inside!

Admission is free on Mondays.

Warsaw Uprising Museum

The Warsaw (Up-) Rising Musum is, unsurprisingly, named after the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.

When you walk in you are greeted by brick walls, inlaid with pictures and artifacts from WWII, as well as bunker fragments. In different rooms you will learn about the live of children during the war, a printing press used by the resistance against the regime, which is still in operation today, as well as many other specific topics.

One wing of the museum is dedicated to the many roles of women during the war, within the resistance and with the reconstruction of the country and city after the end of the war.

In the central part of the museum an air force plane is suspended from the ceiling and the lights are dim. To the sound of air raid alarms you can see interviews with British and other air force pilots from the allies, recounting the nights before and after the uprising. How they were told they most likely wouldn’t come back and how many didn’t. They talk about the intel they had from the resistance on the ground and how little they knew of each other, despite their uniting goal: To free Poland from German occupation.

Visit for free on Mondays!

Polish Vodka Museum

The Polish Vodka Museum is located in the Koneser vodka factory complex in the Praga district of Warsaw. Between WWI and WWII two of the most famous Polish vodkas were distilled here: Wyborowa and Luksusowa.

I chose to do a museum tour with a vodka tasting. It starts with a short movie in a small vintage movie theatre, with interviews of people who worked at the factory while it was still a place of production. After the introduction we learned about the history of Polish vodka, how vodka is produced, as well as traditions and customs associated with vodka and how those changed over the centuries.

At the end of the museum is a colourful collection of different vodka bottles from around the country. The tasting part takes places in their “Vodka Academy”, where we tried a rye, a wheat and a potato vodka and compared them to each other.

The only way to see this museum is with a tour. More on the Polish Vodka Museum & Tasting here.

Royal Castle Warsaw

Despite what you might think the Royal Castle of Warsaw is not a historical site like many other castles. It was completely destroyed during WWII and rebuilt with money directly from the Polish populous. People went around the country with big boxes to ask for money, one of these boxes is now displayed in the courtyard of the castle.

Today it still shines in splendor, with many portraits and historical recreations of furniture and wall decorations. Three rooms that stood out to me are the throne room with many recreated silver phoenixes on blood red velvet, the main bedroom with a tiny but over the top green velvet bed-sofa and the small octagon golden chamber, used by the king(s) to meet in small circles or one on one with important people.

Admission to the castle is free to visit on Wednesdays, Thursdays and every day in November.

Castle Square

The Castle Square (plac Zamkowy) is a historic square (only in name, it’s more of a triangle) in front of the Royal Castle Warsaw. It is often used as a meeting point for tours of the city. The square (triangle) is surrounded by historic townhouses, which makes it a great (and much used) location for taking pictures. The first picture of this post and the first in the next gallery were taken there.

Palace of Culture and Science

The Pałacu Kultury i Nauki is probably the most recognisable building in all of Warsaw. It was built by Russian workers and opened in 1955 as a “gift of the Soviet people for the Poles” by Joseph Stalin. In 1956 two television stations were established in the building, increasing the range of transmission to 100km from the palace. Later that same year the name “Józef Stalin” was removed from official documents concerning the building, but the people never forgot.

At a height of 114m and the 30th floor you have a panoramic view of the city from the observation deck of the building. Just make sure to go on a weekday, the crowds are suffocating.

“Free” walking tours

With Walkative you can take a free walking tour of the city. I put free in quotation marks, since you don’t have to pay, but it is highly encouraged to pay something at the end of the tour. I did enjoy the tour, but it would’ve been better if that had been better communicated beforehand. After the tour our guide gave us a map with more recommendations on what to do and must try foods during a long weekend in Warsaw.

To see the most places for free Friday to Monday in November is the best time to go!

Audio Tour – Download and DIY

In Warsaw is where I tried WeGoTrip* the first time. They offer Audio Guides and Tours you can purchase for a small price in their App, then go on a tour by yourself, following the story of the tour. Or you can get more information about a place that usually doesn’t offer an audio guide.

Must try food during a long weekend in Warsaw

Food is always an essential part of me while travelling. I always try traditional foods, because food can really connect you with a culture and the people of a country. But new food and drink creations can also tell you a lot about the country you’re in as well. During a long weekend you don’t have many opportunities for bigger meals, so it’s important to choose what to eat.

Pierogi

When in Poland, you have to eat Pierogi. And don’t just try one kind! If you don’t like one filling you might still like another one.

At Zapiecek you can try a mixed plate with many different kinds of Pierogi, as well as a home made blackcurrant lemonade. I haven’t figured out why, but Warsaw is obsessed with blackcurrant. They are in jam, on buns, in chocolate truffles, in juice, everywhere.

If you want a less touristy and more local experience go to Wałek Warszawski. Here you feel a little like you are in a cantina and you will be surrounded by office – and construction-workers who turned in for lunch. You can pick from a small laminated menu and get delicious Pierogi for an unbeatable price.

Hot Chocolate Specialties at Chocolate Cafe E.Wedel

E. Wedel is a Polish chocolate brand dating all the way back to 1851! They operate chocolate focused cafés all over the country and you can find their products in most grocery shops.

At the Café you can try three of their hot chocolates on one plate (dark, milk and white chocolate) or indulge in one of their many chocolate-themed drinks or desserts. This time I went for an orange-dark-chocolate hot-chocolate. Delicious!

Lemon Tart at Ministry of Coffee

If you think you already ate the best lemon tart in the world, but it wasn’t here: No, you haven’t.

This small treat packs a punch, the lemon cream and lemon jam are the perfect amount of sweet and sour. The crust is sweet and crumbly. A perfect dessert if I’ve ever seen one.

Any food you like at FOOD TOWN at Factory Norblina

At this location it’s not about what you eat. This reclaimed and renovated old factory building has become a hotspot for young people to meet in central Warsaw. Here at the food market many food vendors and bars serve foods and drinks from all over the world.

Since it was so close to my hotel I went here twice for dinner during my long weekend in Warsaw, once I wanted to get a Philly Cheese Steak from a “USA themed” food stall, but was too late and they were out, so I got a Smash Burger instead. The second time I had fried shrimp from a “Greek themed” food stall. Both tasted great and were more affordable compared to eating at a restaurant.

I also tried a drink at one of the bars: A Lemon Spritz (like Aperol Spritz, but instead with lemon liquor and hibiscus tea and vodka).

Cocktails at a Speakeasy

Like many countries in Europe, the drinking culture in Poland is well established. As the home of Vodka Polish bars serve innovative cocktails with Vodkas as their base. But of course you can also find many other liqours. My favourite bar in Warsaw was the BackRoom Bar in the style of a speakeasy. A little hard to find, but that’s on purpose ^^

Map of a long weekend in Warsaw

How to read the map: Light blue dots are museums, yellow are bars and cafes, red are restaurants, dark blue are historic places and green are sights you can’t miss.

You can save the map to your Google Maps for your long weekend in Warsaw by clicking here.

Der Beitrag Long Weekend in Warsaw erschien zuerst auf Kaya Wanderlust.

Natasa is a very enthusiastic guide who combined her love for ice cream with journalistic insight into the city history of Gdańsk and all it has to do with ice cream.

An ice cream city tour of Gdańsk is the perfect choice for this hot summer day, but honestly, any weather is the perfect weather for ice cream!

If you want to book it for yourself you can do so here on AirBnB Experiences.

Der Beitrag Get the Scoop – Ice cream city tour Gdańsk erschien zuerst auf Kaya Wanderlust.

The best time to travel to Gdańsk, in my opinion, is just outside of the summer travel season, so either June or September. That means the weather is nice, most things are open and there aren’t too many people. In this blog post, I have compiled a detailed itinerary for 3 nights and 4 days in Gdańsk.

This post contains affiliate links to things like tours and hotels. These help me earn a small commission at no additional charge to you. Every affiliate link is marked with a *.

Overview for 4 days in Gdańsk

• Where to stay in Gdańsk
• Where and what to eat and drink in Gdańsk
• What to do in Gdańsk
• Free things to do in Gdańsk
• I don’t want to read, just show me a map for 4 days in Gdańsk

Where to stay in Gdańsk for 4 days / 3 nights

The city centre of Gdańsk is walkable, so if you stay close you can save on public transport. I stayed in an apartment block on Stolarska Street*, across from the Basilica of St. Bridget. I’d say that location is ideal if you don’t mind loud church bells ringing every waking hour of every day (in fairness, they don’t ring between 10 pm and 7 am). You can reach the inner city in minutes, I didn’t buy a public transport ticket at all. The apartment is also really good value for money.

Where to eat and drink during 4 days in Gdańsk

Pomelo Bistro Bar

To experience and enjoy Polish cuisine with a modern twist, breakfast and cocktails you should go to Pomelo Bistro Bar in Gdańsk.

Two current menu favourites are “Goose on Challah” and “Kartacz”.

Challah is an egg-yeast-rich bread of Jewish / Eastern European origin, quite similar to brioche. The bread is topped with blackberry jam, goose liver, different types of onion and pickles and greens. Now, if you’re not much of a liver fan, worry not: Goose liver (not foie gras!) still has that tangy innards taste, but less strong than beef liver and it balances nicely with the sweet-ish bread, jam and pickles.

Kartacz are meat-filled, traditional Polish potato dumplings. At Pomelo they’re filled with stewed beef cheek and served in roasted vegetable broth, with crunchy onions and radish salad. The beef cheek is so soft you’ll only need the spoon to eat the entire dish!

Ducha66

Ducha66 was a tip from Paulina to visit for breakfast; it turned out to be the best breakfast on the trip!

They serve Polish-European fusion dishes with locally sourced ingredients and Polish wines.

I recommend two dishes:

1. A sweet dish with sweet yeast-based bread, topped with hazelnut cream and fresh fruits.
2. A savoury dish which was like a breakfast sandwich but on a burger bun.

W4 Food Squat

Street art, sculptures, street food, food trucks, bars, reclaimed factory buildings and the European Solidarity Centre: The area of the former shipyard of Gdańsk has a lot to offer. The area north of the junction of the Motława and the Martwa Wisła branch of the Vistula River is part of a redevelopment project in Gdańsk.

At W4 Food Squat in the former shipyard, you can find several food courts with food trucks, bars operating out of old caravans and food stalls build into old shipping containers. As pictured above I had a smash burger at a food truck called Carmink as well as a portion of vegetable pakora from a shipping container food stall called Bombay. Delicious!

Pierogarnia Stary Młyn

While in Poland, you should try Poland’s national dish: Pierogi.

Traditionally Pierogi are made from unleavened dough, wrapped around a savoury or sweet filling and cooked in boiling water. Before visiting Poland I had no idea that pierogies aren’t always boiled, but sometimes also oven baked.

You can try different kinds of Pierogi at Pierogarnia Stary Młyn, both baked and more traditionally boiled. They have an offer of a mix plate for ~10€ where you can try three Pierogi in one meal. That is what I went for and tried the baked ones. I detailed the ingredients below. My favourite was the vegetarian one!

Bar Leon

Bar Leon serves modern Middle Eastern cuisine and cocktails. They’re situated on Wyspa Spichrzów (Granary island) across from Gdańsk old town and next to Ołowianka island. It’s the perfect dinner spot after a visit to the National Maritime Museum! My favourites on the menu were Baba Ghanoush and Feta in Kadayif pastry, a very thin pastry that reminded me more of fried noodles than dough.

Leń

Everywhere I go I have to find good coffee. Is that a sign of addiction? Possibly. But for now, I’m okay with that.

In Gdańsk, I found Leń, who made the best coffee in the city. Period.

And no, I was neither sponsored nor did I get anything for free, I just really liked their coffee.

Winston Bar

Like many countries in Europe, the drinking culture in Poland is well established. Polish people are known for consuming more strong liquor, namely vodka and less wine, like the French or beer, like the Germans. During my time in Poland, I went to several bars and Winston Bar was one of my favourites. It is located in the old town of Gdańsk and when you sit outside you can enjoy the views of the old town during sunset while sipping on delicious drinks.

The menu at Winston Bar changes seasonally. For summer 2023 they had a menu based on AI-generated art, accompanied by a social commentary on the same subject on the front page. I could go off on a tangent here, but I’ll reserve that for another day.

I tried two of these drinks, pictured second and third: Pop-Nut and Secret Garden.

White Russian with vodka, coffee liqueur and heavy cream. It’s a classic, it was well made and loved the chocolate sprinkles on top.

Pop-Nut with wild turkey bourbon, peanut butter, banana, banana beer and a marshmallow. Very interesting combo, the singed marshmallow on top lets it stand out, but too much banana for me. If you like bananas and bourbon, you will like this drink.

Secret Garden is made with vodka, Midori (a Japanese melon liqueur), choya, green tea and lemongrass. It was refreshing (as much as you can say that about an alcoholic drink) and so sweet you don’t really taste the alcohol.

What to do for 4 days in Gdańsk

During your time in Gdańsk, there are many cultural things you can do and see. I have compiled my must-see things here which you can manage without stress in 4 days.

Amber Museum

Amber has fascinated and intrigued humans since the Stone Age. The Amber Museum of Gdańsk captures this fascination on two floors of exhibitions, from the history of Amber to its discovery, scientific facts, uses over millennia, to jewellery and art.

“Geheimnisvoll am lichten Tag
Lässt sich Natur des Schleiers nicht berauben,
Und was sie deinem Geist nicht offenbaren mag,
Das zwingst du ihr nicht ab mit Hebel noch mit Schrauben.”

– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

This poem by the German poet Goethe is written on the title of the first edition book “Die Insekten im Bernstein” (insects in Amber) from 1830, which is on display at the amber museum in Gdańsk, near an exhibition of rare amber inclusions. Gdańsk, or Danzig as it was called back then, was German when this was published. The museum has several inclusions on display, from plants to insects and even a small lizard.

For me, it perfectly captures the wonders of nature through human eyes.

I love visiting museums when I travel and the amber museum was my favourite in Gdańsk!

Main Town Hall and Gdańsk Museum

While the Main Town Hall of Gdańsk is still in operation as a government building it also houses the History Museum of the City of Gdańsk.

Gdańsk has a complex history. During its existence as a recognized city, it has been Polish, German and under self-rule. In the middle ages, Gdańsk established itself as an important port, not only for trade but also for shipbuilding. In the middle 1300s, it joined the Hanse, a league of free German cities trading and helping each other with safety measures against pirates.

On the first of September 1939, it became the starting point of the Second World War. During the war, the city was severely damaged. Only in the 1950s and 1960s they managed to rebuild. After the war, the city became part of the Polish People’s Republic (Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL), which was considered a satellite state in the Soviet sphere of influence, although it wasn’t officially part of the Soviet Union.

In 1980, Gdańsk was the birthplace of the Solidarity movement (Solidarność), which ultimately was one of the forces that lead to the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, the fall of the Soviet Union and the establishment of the Republic of Poland as we know it today.

The museum gives an interesting overview of the city’s history and development over the years. However the main attraction of this building is the ceiling in the old city hall, and for good reason:

From the clock tower of the city hall building you also have a great view over the city. Sadly, the tower was closed due to the weather conditions when I went there, maybe you’ll have more luck.

National Maritime Museum

The main exhibition of the National Maritime Museum is located in three historic granaries, which are located on Ołowianka island, only one bridge away from the old town centre.

Within the exhibition, you can find archaeological findings and historic artefacts, models of ships and submarines and even actual underwater robots and submersibles.

The ship you can see here, Sołdek, is also an exhibit you can visit. And although it is not accessible by wheelchair they have made it accessible with a “Sołdek box” inside the main museum. You can wheel into the box, wear virtual reality glasses and explore the ship that way!

Basilica of St. Bridget with the amber altar

Inside St. Bridget’s church (Brigittenkirche), you can find the amber altar. This 11-meter-high piece of religious artwork was made from thousands of pieces of amber.

The middle figure is a Polish patroness, the Holy Mother from Czestochowa, covered in amber. She is surrounded by golden-amber crowns and 28 rubies (symbolism for 28 shipyard workers, killed during a strike) with her dress and the eagle above her made with white amber.

The bronze figures in the back represent Saint Brigitte herself and Blessed Elizabeth Hesselblad, Reformer of the Order of Brigitte. In front of the altar are two life-size figures of Primas Stefan Wyszynski and the Polish Pope John Paul II.

Why was a church altar built to include people who died during a political movement? Because during the Solidarność movement, this was the meeting place and centre of action for the trade union. Its leader said that without the parish priest, the revolution wouldn’t have been possible.

Ice Cream City Tour

Have you ever been on a city tour based around ice cream? Get the Scoop and explore ice cream and history in Gdańsk.

Natasa is a very enthusiastic guide who combined her love for ice cream with journalistic insight into the city history of Gdańsk and all it has to do with ice cream.

You’ll meet in the heart of the old town where the tour starts. During the tour, you’ll have a scoop of ice cream of your choice at three different shops. Sometimes you can even try two flavours in one scoop!

This tour is the perfect choice for a hot summer day, but honestly, any weather is the perfect weather for ice cream!

Half-day trip to Sopot

While spending 4 days in Gdańsk you have just enough time to fit in a half-day trip to Sopot. Sopot is mainly a beach and tourist town, so expect that when you visit and just enjoy the beach around the Pier in Sopot, a good meal near the beach at Spoko Restaurant & Pub, a walk through the city and an on-site made ice cream at Kulki Anulki.

Free things to do for 4 days in Gdańsk

When you spend 4 days in Gdańsk it’s a good idea to do free things to help your budget. And fittingly there are many things to do and see for free in Gdańsk:

Near the Polish Post Office Museum, which in itself is a historic sight you can find the Defenders of the Polish Post Office statue, a depiction of the Greek goddess Nike who ascends on clouds towards victory with a dying Polish soldier handing her his rifle. Around the corner, a remembrance wall has been installed where the defenders of the Post Office were lined up to be shot by the German forces. Their handprints can be seen on the wall as well as the ones of a little girl who was in the Post Office at the time of the attack. People leave toys and stuffed animals for her here.

“Rozbitkowie / shipwrecked” are robot statues by Czeslaw Podlesny. These robots were built from scrap found around the abandoned shipyard of Gdańsk and now emerge from the watery depths of the river to walk on land.

Historical Zone Free City Of Gdańsk – The centre of the old town with many beautiful old (well, old looking, rebuilt) houses, gates and churches, like the Green Gate (Brama Zielona). It was originally built as a palace for Polish monarchs, but no Polish king ever stayed in the building.

Gdańsk Neon Sign – exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a huge metal and neon sign with the letters G-D-A-N-S-K right in front of the Polish Baltic Frédéric Chopin Philharmonic.

Mariacka – also known by its German name “Frauengasse”, is a cobblestone street in the old town of Gdańsk, lined with colourful and richly decorated townhouses, which give a great impression of Gdańsk at the height of its wealth. Today the street is closed to traffic and there are many street vendors and stores selling jewellery and crafts made from amber.

Discover Manhole Covers – Yes, really. Gdańsk has a few interesting manhole covers. Some are adorned with the city’s coat of arms, others show sights from around the city like Neptune’s Fountain.

Layup – UrbanArt Gallery is a street art gallery located in the former shipyard of Gdańsk. They present graffiti art inside an abandoned factory.

Basilica of St. Mary of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Gdańsk. Inside the Basilica of St. Mary, you can find the astronomical clock of Gdańsk, a very impressive gold and blue clad organ and from the Basilicas Tower, which you can climb for free, you have a great view over the city.

Free entry to Museums

Some Museums in Gdańsk also offer free entry, but only on specific days of the week, so your visiting dates can seriously affect your budget. You can get free entry to these museums on the following days:

Monday (May-September)

• Main Town Hall and Gdańsk Museum
• Polish Post Office Museum
• Uphagen’s House
• Amber Museum

Tuesday (October – April)

• Main Town Hall and Gdańsk Museum
• Polish Post Office Museum
• Uphagen’s House
• Amber Museum

Wednesday

• National Maritime Museum (granaries on Ołowianka island and for the crane)

Friday

• National Museum in Gdańsk
• Abbot Palace (Museum of Modern Art)
• Ethnography Museum

Map for 4 days in Gdańsk

How to read the map for 4 days in Gdańsk: the blue are spots to visit I mentioned above, the orange are the restaurants, bars and cafes and the green spots are free things to do and see. You can open the menu on the top left and choose the layers of the map.

You can save the map by clicking here.

Der Beitrag 4 days in Gdańsk – Poland erschien zuerst auf Kaya Wanderlust.

The best time to travel to Szczecin, in my opinion, is in June or September, just outside of the summer travel season. The weather is nice, but there aren’t too many people yet. In this blog post, I have compiled a detailed itinerary for 2 nights and 3 days in Szczecin.

This post contains affiliate links to things like tours and hotels. These help me earn a small commission at no additional charge to you. Every affiliate link is marked with a *.

Overview for 3 days in Szczecin

• Where to stay in Szczecin
• What to do in Szczecin
• Where and what to eat and drink in Szczecin
• Tips for your Szczecin trip
• I don’t want to read, just show me a map for 3 days in Szczecin

Where to stay in Szczecin for 3 days

Szczecin is not walkable, since the interesting spots of the city are located in an area of 10 km2. It also doesn’t have a defined city centre. There is the “Old Town Centre” as well as the district “Centrum”, which are almost 2km apart. Public transport is well established though, with busses and trams that will take you across the city. I stayed in the Focus Hotel Szczecin and although the location is not ideal, the price-performance ratio is good. The room was clean, the breakfast was great and they offer a lunch bag you can take every morning before you head out to the city, as well as lemonade during the day.

What to do for 3 days in Szczecin

The cityscape of Szczecin is marked by socialist cement-block buildings and brutalist infrastructure, mixed with rebuilt churches and restored houses of rich traders. It gives the city a scrappy feeling, especially when you watch the city change every 5 minutes while looking out a bus- or tram window.

Castle of the Pomeranian Dukes in Szczecin

Entering Szczecin from the Oder River bridge you can see two buildings immediately, the red brick Cathedral and a white-beige castle in a Renaissance building style, both with green rooftops. The castle used to be the seat of the Dukes of Pomerania. The castle has five wings and two courtyards, which are undergoing renovations at the time of publishing this post and aren’t open to the public.

You can still visit the exhibition in the basement of the northern wing and climb the bell tower – I have a Reel up on my Instagram @kayawanderlust with the amazing view! Part of the view is also this post’s featured image and the first image of the gallery right below this text.

Szczecin in the PRL

Szczecin in the People’s Republic of Poland (PRL) is a private-curated museum that shows the everyday life of people in Szczecin from 1947 to 1989.

Children’s toys, a whole kitchen and a living room, an office and a grocery store from around the 1960s, the museum covers all aspects of life from this era.

They offer binders with explanations for the exhibits and stories from around the city. These are available in Polish, German and English.

In a room depicting a 1960s dressing room, they have clothes and accessories from the above-mentioned years you can take pictures in, which catapult you back in time.

The Dialogue Centre Upheavals

Under the Solidarity Plaza, in front of the Szczecin Philharmonic Hall, you can find the Dialogue Centre Upheavals. It is a branch of the National Museum in Szczecin, but it’s also a separate exhibition, closed in itself. You don’t need to visit one to understand the other.

The newest history of Szczecin and the surrounding region is displayed here with interactive multimedia exhibitions separated into different time periods and events. Special focus is put on revolution and social protests – hence the name “upheavals” – which lead to the independence of Poland in 1989.

They offer free entry on Saturdays.

Szczecin City Museum in the Old Town Hall

From starting as a Viking settlement, to being part of Pomerania Szczecin was ruled by the Duke of Pomerania. Over the centuries it was ruled by Poland, Denmark, the Holy Roman Empire, Saxony, then eventually became a part of Prussia-Germany until the End of WWII.

After the Second World War Szczecin became part of Poland in the East Block, with the socialist government leaving its mark on the previously destroyed city. After 1989 it slowly evolved into the modern city you can see today.

On the first floor of the old city hall, the museum focuses on the beginnings of the city, while the other floors display artefacts from the centuries the House of Pomerania (also called the Griffins) ruled the city.

To this day the city coat of arms is still the head of a Griffin in red, wearing a yellow crown.

Museum of Transport and Technology

A museum of old cars may not sound appealing to everyone at first, but I do recommend it. The Museum of Transport and Technology was my favourite museum in Szczecin. Inside an old tram depot, the exhibition consists of almost 100 beautifully restored old cars, busses, trams, motorcycles, bicycles and more! You can enter some of the bigger exhibits like buses and trams.

Next to the old modes of transport (there even is a tank outside) they have an exhibition on the Stoewer brothers and their companies story, from producing sewing machines in Stettin (Szczecin’s name when it was still part of Germany) to bicycles and finally cars. Complete with examples and old advertisements.

Some of the highlights include the micro-cars Smyk and Messerschmitt Kabinenroller, the only SUV version of Fiat 126p called “maluch” (tiny) in Polish and several fully functioning Stoewer cars like the Greif and the Arkona.

Where and what to eat and drink for 3 days in Szczecin

E. Wedel chocolate house

Next to the Dialogue Centre Upheavals, you can visit E. Wedel, a chocolate house from 1851!

It is located in one of the former Royal gates near the Karlowicz Philharmonic. Here you can taste three of their hot chocolates on one plate (dark, milk and white chocolate) or indulge in one of their many chocolate-themed desserts. Like a strawberry chocolate waffle or a chocolate coffee.

Before coming here I had no idea that Szczecin has a long-standing history in processing cacao beans and producing chocolate bars and other sweets.

From Albert Krey Kakao -, Schokoladen- and Zuckerwarenfabrik founded in 1890, to PPC “GRYF” S.A. from 1946 onwards, there has always been a chocolate factory in the city.

Browar Pod Zamkiem

At Browar Pod Zamkiem you can taste beer locally brewed in Szczecin. With machines from Munich, a complete production line for beer was set up in 2017. However, the restaurant remained the heart of the operation, now being supplied by the in-house brewery.

They serve good beer food, such as fried chicken, fish and chips or sweet potato fries with kimchi (delicious!). Next to beer, or instead of beer, you can also have soft drinks or cocktails. For example, the Negroni they have on the menu is made with a local, award-winning magnolia Gin.

From left to right the beers were:

• Dark Lager
• Light Cozlak
• Wheat Beer
• Light Lager
• Pils Beer

My favourite was the Cozlak, I didn’t enjoy the Pils.

With a Szczecin Tourist Card, you get a beer-tasting board for free with every order!

Paprykarz Fish Market

Paprykarz is a Szczecin famous spread, made from minced fish meat, rice, onion, tomato paste, vegetable oil, salt and spices, sold in metal cans, which had a long-standing history in the city. Today there are three producers who still make it.

This canned spread is what this seafood restaurant is named after and with every order, you get a starter of Paprykaz on bread (first picture). While the mix of ingredients might not be pleasing to every palate, their seafood is really good. I recommend the risotto with calamari, mussels, shrimp and scallops.

17 Schodów (steps) Cocktail Bar

If you’re looking for a great bar to spend an evening in, look no further than 17 Schodów Cocktail Bar in the old town centre of Szczecin. Next to some traditional cocktails like Penicillin and White Russian, they also serve their own creations like the Butterfly Effekt with honey vodka, butterfly pea tea, lemon cordial and a surprise or Rumlovers Capybara with bark-infused Lapacho tree rum, cocoa liqueur and lime.

Their menu changes every season, so if you go here in winter or next year you will have a completely different selection of drinks to choose from. The bar has an old-timey vibe and it felt like you took 17 steps into a century-long gone.

Tips for your 3 days in Szczecin trip

Visit Szczecin Card

When you plan to visit the museums from this blog post and more seriously consider buying the Visit Szczecin Card as it offers a 50% discount in all museums and more discounts in restaurants and stores all over the city! You can also use public transport within the city for free.

This is not sponsored by them, I just like to share budget hacks.

Street-art

Never before have I been in a city where street art (graffiti and sculptures) is embraced within the cityscape as much as it is in Szczecin. On tram stops, fences and bridge posts, there is street art everywhere. And since it has a designated space it isn’t destroyed by other sprayers or the public order office.

Map for 3 days in Szczecin

How to read the map for 3 days in Szczecin: the blue are spots to visit I mentioned above, the orange are the restaurants, bars and cafes and the green spots are free things to do and see. You can open the menu on the top left and choose the layers of the map.

You can save the map to your google maps by clicking here.

Der Beitrag 3 days in Szczecin – Poland erschien zuerst auf Kaya Wanderlust.