Pomerania (Pomorskie): Gdańsk, Baltic Sea and Kashubia

Poland

Region

The Pomeranian Voivodeship (Pomorskie) stretches from Gdańsk Bay to the shifting dunes of Łeba and from the Vistula Delta to the forests of Kashubia.

by Felix Gillen

The Pomeranian Voivodeship (Pomorskie) stretches from Gdańsk Bay to the shifting dunes of Łeba and from the Vistula Delta to the forests of Kashubia. Spanning 18,324 square kilometers, it is home to approximately 2.36 million people, its capital and largest city being Danzig (Gdańsk). The current voivodeship was established with the administrative reform in 1999. Along the coast are the Tri-City of Danzig, Sopot, and Gdingen (Gdynia), the narrow Hel Peninsula, and the seaside resort of Łeba. In the hinterland lie the Kashubian Lakes, where Kashubian is an official language in four municipalities, and in the south, Malbork Castle on the Nogat river.

The heart of the region is the Tri-City (Trójmiasto). Gdańsk, with its reconstructed Main Town, Westerplatte, and Solidarność Centre, tells tales of Hanseatic and contemporary history. Sopot is the classic seaside resort with Europe's longest wooden pier, while Gdynia was established as a modern port city after 1920, its modernist centre having been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2026. A commuter rail connects all three cities. To the north, the 34-kilometre-long Hel Peninsula stretches into the Baltic Sea, featuring seaside resorts like Jastarnia and Jurata. Further west lies Łeba, the starting point for the up to 42-metre-high moving dunes of the Słowiński National Park. The region also boasts a second national park, the Tuchola Forest (Bory Tucholskie). Inland lies Kashubian Switzerland, the highest part of the Kashubian Lakeland, featuring around 250 lakes and the approximately 330-metre-high Tower Mountain (Wieżyca), topped with an observation tower. Its only town, Kartuzy, is named after a former Carthusian monastery. Southeast of Gdańsk, the Marienburg (Malbork), Europe's largest brick building and a UNESCO World Heritage site, is well worth a day trip.

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Danzig (Gdańsk)

Danzig (Gdańsk) is located on Gdańsk Bay, where the Motława River flows into the Baltic Sea, west of the Vistula estuary.

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Yarl / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

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Łeba and Słowiński National Park

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Marienburg (Malbork)

Marienburg (Malbork), located on the Nogat, a distributary of the Vistula, is considered Europe's largest brick building: over 30 million bricks were used across approximately 21 hectares.

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Sopot

Sopot is located between Danzig (Gdańsk) and Gdingen (Gdynia) on the Bay of Gdańsk, has around 32,000 inhabitants, and together with its two neighboring cities forms the Tricity.

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Hel Peninsula

The Hel Peninsula (Mierzeja Helska) extends 34 kilometers into the Baltic Sea, partially separating the Bay of Gdansk from the open sea. It is only 200 meters to three kilometers wide, narrowest at Władysławowo and Kuźnica. Dune chains up to 25 meters high protect the spit from the surf; on one side lies a beach on the Baltic Sea, on the other the calmer waters of the bay. Small towns line the road and railway: Chałupy and Kuźnica near the mainland, then Jastarnia and the seaside resort of Jurata, where the Polish president has his summer residence, and finally the port town of Hel at the tip. A cycle path runs the entire length of the peninsula. In summer, Hel is a popular destination for beach holidays and kitesurfing; outside the season, the spit becomes very quiet.

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Modernist Centre of Gdingen (Gdynia)

Gdynia developed from a village after 1920 into a Polish Baltic Sea port, gaining city status in 1926. Its early modernist center, built from 1926 to 1939, has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since July 27, 2026.

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Museum

Sailing ship Dar Pomorza

The sailing ship Dar Pomorza, located in Gdynia since 1982, can be visited as a branch of the National Maritime Museum. The warship ORP Błyskawica is also a museum ship.

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Videos & Travel Reports

Das moderne Danzig | Ostseereport

Der NDR-Ostseereport zeigt Danzig zwischen Hansebauten und neuen Quartieren: auf dem früheren Werftgelände, wo die Junge Stadt entsteht, in der Graffiti-Szene und im Europäischen Zentrum der…

Round trips through this region

Poland's Classics by Train

Just under two weeks by train through Poland's major cities: from the capital Warsaw to Krakow, then on to Wrocław, to the brick city of Toruń, and finally to Gdańsk on the Baltic Sea. From Krakow, you can visit the Wieliczka Salt Mine and the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum as day trips; from Gdańsk, Sopot and Malbork Castle. PKP Intercity long-distance trains connect all stages directly, with the longest journeys lasting around three to three and a half hours. No car is needed for this route.

12 Days

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Baltic Coast and Masuria

This route follows the Polish Baltic coast from Szczecin via the seaside resorts of Świnoujście and Kołobrzeg to the moving dunes near Łeba and on to Gdańsk. From there, it continues via Malbork Castle into Warmia to Olsztyn and into the Masurian Lake District to Mikołajki and Giżycko. This is a car route: The stages are mostly 60 to 140 kilometres long, as the train only serves some of the places in Masuria. Beaches, dunes, Hanseatic towns, and lakes alternate.

11 Days

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Danzig (Gdańsk)

Danzig (Gdańsk) is located on Gdańsk Bay, where the Motława River flows into the Baltic Sea, west of the Vistula estuary. With nearly 490,000 inhabitants, the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship is Poland's sixth-largest city and forms the Tri-City (Trójmiasto) with Sopot and Gdingen (Gdynia). For centuries, Danzig was a Hanseatic city, prospering through grain trade and amber. In 1945, its center lay almost entirely in ruins, but it was rebuilt under Polish leadership. The heart is the Main Town (Główne Miasto) with Long Lane, Long Market, and Mariacka Street. To the north lies the Old Town, and east of the Motława are Granary Island and Langgarten. Further north, the shipyards dominate the landscape, where Solidarność originated in 1980. Outside the center are Langfuhr (Wrzeszcz) and Oliva (Oliwa). In Oliwa, you'll find the monastery founded around 1185 and the cathedral. A weekend is sufficient for the Old Town and the main museums. With two or three more days, you can visit Westerplatte and take the S-Bahn to Sopot or continue to the Hel Peninsula.

Sopot

Sopot is located between Danzig (Gdańsk) and Gdingen (Gdynia) on the Bay of Gdańsk, has around 32,000 inhabitants, and together with its two neighboring cities forms the Tricity. From a fishing village, it transformed into a seaside resort in the 19th century: in 1823, doctor Johann Georg Haffner opened the first bathing establishment with a spa facility. Between the World Wars, the casino and the Wagner festivals at the Forest Opera made the then Zoppot a sophisticated meeting point. Life revolves around the pedestrian-only Monte Cassino Street, which everyone simply calls Monciak, and the pier, considered Europe's longest wooden pier. Around the square by the Molo stand the Kurhaus (spa house), the lighthouse, and the Grand Hotel from the 1920s. A little inland, nestled in the forest, is the Forest Opera. In summer, the beach and Monciak fill up, and in the evenings, Sopot becomes the entertainment district of the Tricity. Outside of peak season, it's significantly quieter, and the pier is particularly worthwhile then, especially in clear weather.

Hel Peninsula

Marienburg (Malbork)

Marienburg (Malbork), located on the Nogat, a distributary of the Vistula, is considered Europe's largest brick building: over 30 million bricks were used across approximately 21 hectares. The Teutonic Order constructed the complex between about 1270 and 1300; from 1309, it was the Grand Master's seat. A UNESCO World Heritage site since 1997, it attracts around 500,000 visitors each year. The castle has three sections: the Upper Castle (with St. Mary's Church), the Middle Castle (Grand Master's Palace, Great Refectory), and the Outer Bailey (housing service buildings). Plan half a day for the interiors; an excursion from Danzig is easily manageable by train or car.

Łeba and Słowiński National Park

Łeba is a small seaside resort with around 3,000 inhabitants at the mouth of the river of the same name into the Baltic Sea, about 50 kilometers northeast of Stolp (Słupsk). The town has been a spa since 1862. Its location between the Baltic Sea, Lake Łebsko (Jezioro Łebsko), and Sarbsko Lake makes it a starting point for the Słowiński National Park, which begins directly to its west. The national park, founded in 1967, is known for its shifting dunes: The Łącka Dune reaches 42 meters and moves up to ten meters annually. Additionally, there's Lake Łebsko, with a good 71 square kilometers the largest coastal lake west of Gdańsk, and Lake Gardno. Since the 1970s, the area has been a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, and a Ramsar wetland since 1995. In the town itself, days revolve around the beach, the harbor canal, and fried fish eateries. For the dune, you should plan half a day, ideally early in the morning or late in the afternoon.