Gdynia

Gdynia (Gdiniô in Kashubian, Gdingen in German) is a 246,306 inhabitants seaport city on Gdańsk Bay in eastern part of the voivodeship of Pomerania, in Poland. It's the 12th largest city in the country and is part of the TriCity with Sopot and Gdańsk (Trójmiasto). Historically and culturally it's part of Kashubia and a primary economic hub since Poland recovered independence (1918). Some regard it as the best city to live in Poland.

How do I arrive to Gdynia?

  Gdynia is one of the largest cities and one of the main railway junctions and ports of Poland. 

• Boat: Gdynia has frequent boats with Karlskrona (Sweden) and once per week with Baltiysk (Kaliningrad, Russia).
  
• Train: Gdynia is one of the biggest railway hubs in Poland with connections to many places in Pomerania like Sopot (aprox. 10 minutes), Gdańsk (aprox. 25 minutes), Wejherowo (aprox. 25 minutes), Puck (aprox. 30 minutes), Władysławowo (aprox. 45 minutes) and Hel (aprox. 1 hour 20 minutes) in Hel Peninsula, Tczew (aprox. 50 minutes), Malbork (aprox. 1 hour), Kartuzy (aprox. 1 hour 20 minutes) in the Kashubian Landscape Park, Słupsk (aprox. 1 hour 45 minutes) or Chojnice (aprox. 2 hours 30 minutes), close to Bory Tucholskie National Park. The city has also connections with  to Warsaw (aprox. 3 hours 10 minutes), Toruń (aprox. 3 hours 15 minutes), Poznań (aprox. 3 hours 50 minutes), Szczecin (aprox. 4 hours), Kraków (aprox. 6 hours), Białystok (aprox. 6 hours 15 minutes) or Wrocław (aprox. 6 hours 30 minutes).
• Bus: there are buses to the most important neighbouring cities and towns.
• Car: if you rented a car, Gdynia can be reached from many places in the voivodeship of Pomerania like Sopot (aprox. 15 minutes), Gdańsk (aprox. 30 minutes), Wejherowo (aprox. 30 minutes), Puck (aprox. 35 minutes), Tczew (aprox. 40 minutes), Kartuzy (aprox. 45 minutes), Władysławowo (aprox. 50 minutes) and Hel (aprox. 1 hour 30 minutes) in Hel Peninsula, Malbork (aprox. 1 hour), Słupsk (aprox. 1 hour 40 minutes) or Chojnice (aprox. 2 hours), close to Bory Tucholskie National Park. Gdynia can also be reached from Elbląg (aprox. 1 hour).

History

Due to its location, in the Pomerania region, Gdynia was inhabited by the Goths and later by the Slavs. The first mention of Gdyniaas a Kashubian fishing village dates back to 1253, first referred to the town of Oksywie (now part of Gdynia). In 1380, the wealthiest man in the village, Peter de Rusocin, gifted the church of Gdynia to the Cistercian Order (it's the oldest church building on the Polish coast). The area belonged to Poland from the year 990 to around 1308. In 1309 it was conquered by the Teutonic Order and later became part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The partition of Poland in 1772 caused Gdynia to be given to the Kingdom of Prussia and later become a city of the Second Reich. In 1870 the town of Gdynia had about 1,200 inhabitants, being a well-known tourist spot, with many hotels, restaurants and coffee shops. After the Treaty of Versailles (1919) the city was incorporated into the Second Polish Republic while Danzig was declared a free city and administered by the League of Nations. After the end of WW1, the construction of the port of Gdynia began, becoming the most important port in the country. Gdynia was taken by Nazi Germany (naming it Gotenhafen) and in 1945, Gotenhafen it was captured by the Red Army and the city became part of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. In December 1970, workers' demonstrations against the communism that then ruled the People's Republic of Poland led to the workers being shot at by the police. Today, Gdynia is an important tourist center, with a multitude of attractions and monuments. In 2002, Gdynia won the Europe Prize by the Council of Europe. In 2009, the Sea Towers, the 12th tallest skyscraper in Poland, were inaugurated.
 

What can I visit in Gdynia?

Gdynia is a quite suprising city that is worth to discover, specially walking close to its port. The main sightseeing points in Gdynia are located around Molo Południowe.

These are Gdynia's main attractions:

• ORP Błyskawica (10-13 and 14-17 Tue-Sun; 16zł/ 8zł  adults/ reduced): museum located in this warship from 1937 and that operated during WW2 (being part of the Norwegian campaign, the evacuation of Dunkerque or the operations Torch and Overlord, among others), being able to see its artillery, engine rooms and a historic exhibition display of the Polish Navy. It was in use after the war with some renovations but since 1976 it was moored to the Port of Gdynia as a museum ship. The ship is considered the world's oldest surviving destroyer. There's a combinec ticket that includes the entrance to the Naval Museum of Gdynia (24zł/ 12zł/ free  adults/ reduced/ kids under 7).
• Dar Pomorza Ship-Museum (10-18 from Jul to Aug; 9-17 Tue-Sun from May to Jun; 10-16 Tue-Sun from Jan to Apr and from Sep to Oct; 17zł/ 10zł  adults/ retiree, students and kids): a frigate purchased in 1929 for the Maritime School in Gdynia, being the most famous Polish training tall ship. Since 1982 it was moored in Gdynia as a museum ship, being a branch of the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk.
  
• Gdynia Aquarium (10-17 Tue-Sun; 25zł/17zł  adults/ retiree, students and kids): aquarium and sea museum with exhibitions presented on oceanography and hydrobiology, while the aquarium contains both sea and freshwater flora and fauna. The museum has a total of 215 species from 61 families. It also has a Cinema-Conference Hall, a Wet Room (where one can put their hands into an open-top aquarium tank and touch fish) and a Preschool Room.
• Gdańsk (aprox. 25 minutes)
  Miejska Beach: beach by the center of Gdynia with a nice promenade.
• Naval Museum of Gdynia (10-17 Tue-Sun; 16zł/ 8zł/ free  adults/ reduced/ kids under 7): museum collecting exhibits related to the Navy of the Republic of Poland with history and objects related to navy. Among the highlights of the exhibition it has a the unique a rocket-powered bomb-torpedo BT 1000, construsted by Germany in the end of WW2. there's an open-air exhibition of maritime weapons and armaments.
  
• Collegiate Basilica of Najświętszej Maryi Panny: Neo-Baroque church built in the 1920s consecrated the church as a votive offering for Poland regaining independence. Its design is inspired in Baroque and Renaissance churches of Central Poland.
• Sea Towers: two-tower skyscraper with mixed-use on the Gdynia waterfront completed in 2009. They are the 14th tallest building in Poland and the second tallest residential building in the country. There is a viewing terrace on floor 32, the top floor of the tallest tower of the two.
  
• Emigrantion Museum of Gdynia (12-20 Tue, 10-18 Wed-Sun; 12zł/ 8zł/ free  adults/ reduced/ kids under 7): very good museum that explains Polish migrations from the Middle Age to present day, relating it to the consequences for both Poland and the countries that welcomed Polish people. 
  
• St. Michała Archanioła Catholic Church: church built in 1224 by Świętopełek II, Duke of Gdańsk, considered the oldest building both in Gdynia and in the entire Tri-City. The most important thing of its interior is the Neo-Baroque altar from the 1930s and has an old cemetery too.
  
• Osada Rybacka Beach: quite wild beach in Oksywie district where the visitor can see beautiful, old fishermen equipment and a funicular for fish transport.
  
• Near Sopot there's Orłowo (Adlershorst in German, Òrłowò in Kashubian), a small seaside resort that nowadays is district of Gdynia that has much less people, a nice pier and a beautiful beach, Orłowo Beach. Before reaching it there are some nice cliffs, Orłowo Cliffs.

Orłowo Cliffs and Beach

Dar Pomorza Ship-Museum

 

Grand Hotel

Near Gdańsk, 13 km northwest, can be found the municipality of Sopot (Zoppot in German, Sopòt in Kashubian), a seaside resort in the Bay of Gdańsk with 37,089 inhabitants. The main interesting points are located in Bohaterów Monte Cassino, the main street in Sopot like the interesting shopping center Krzywy Domek, the statue Tightrope Walker, the appealing State Gallery of Art (11-19 Tue-Sun; 10zł/ 7zł  adults/ retiree, students and kids) which is located in the Dom Zdrojowy. Near to the sea there's Sopot Pier (largest in Europe, 515 m) from 1928, Sopot Museum (10-16 Tue-Sun; 5zł/ 3zł  adults/ retiree, students and kids), museum with 19th century decoration and furniture which was the summer residence of a rich trader or the Grand Hotel, the symbolic hotel from 1927 which made Sopot popular. Outside the town there's Opera Leśna, the place where takes place the second most important festival of its kind in Europe, Sopot Song Contest; and Aqua Park, where kids will have a lot of fun.

Cypel Rewski Spit in Rewa

Continuing by the coast but going north instead (16 km far from Gdynia) there's Rewa, a 972 inhabitants village by Puck Bay. This village is area is a centre for windsurfing and kitesurfing and is popular because of its beach, Rewa Beach. On the corner of the beach there's a big cross, Rewa Cross, and a beautiful spit, Cypel Rewski Spit.

In the case of going west 12 km it can be reached Rumia (Rëmiô in Kashubian, Rahmel in German), with 46,107 inhabitants that is part of the Kashubian Tricity (Małe Trójmiasto Kaszubskie, composed of Rumia, Reda, Wejherowo and having 120,158 inhabitants) with a nice old town. Some of the highlights of the town are Podwyższenia Krzyża Świętego Catholic Church (Neo-Renaissance church from the 1910s with Neo-baroque altars and a pulpit as well as Baroque elements from the old church of Rumia, destroyed after 1945) and the Ruins of Świętego Krzyża Catholic Church, a former 13th century church in Gothic style destroyed in 1945. The next place in the Kashubian Tricity is Reda (Réda in Kashubian, Rheda in German), with 26,011 inhabitants.

Plac Jakuba Wejhera and Wejherowo Town Hall

The town preserves some old half-timbered houses and there are some churches that are interesting to see: Wniebowzięcia Najświętszej Maryi Panny Catholic Church (Neo-Gothic style church built in 1901 in the place where there used to be a wooden church) and St. Antoniego Padewskiego Catholic Church (a Neo-Renaissance church finished in 2016). The last town of the Kashubian Tricity is Wejherowo (Wejrowò in Kashubian, Neustadt in Westpreußen in German), the largest town with 49,927 people living there. The town has some interesting things to visit that will be mentioned now: Wejherowo Town Hall (building from 1908 in Empire style following the design of August Leo Caar and Ernest Döhring), St. Anny Catholic Church (17th century church built by Jakub Wejher, one of the oldest monuments in the city, with the worshiped image of Matka Boża and one of the three churches that forms the Passion-Marian Sanctuary in Wejherowo), Collegiate Church of the Świętej Trójcy (Baroque syle church from the 18th century), the Calvary of Wejherowo (complex of 26 chapels funded by Jakub Wejher, part of Passion-Marian Sanctuary in Wejherowo) and Sts. Leona Wielkiego i Stanisława Kostki Catholic Church (Neo-Gothic church from 1908 that was used as Lutheran church till 1945). The town has also some interesting museums such as Piaśnica Museum in Wejherowo, museum that teaches about the Massacres in Piaśnica (mass executions carried out by Nazi Germany with around 14,000 victims, most of them Polish intellectuals from Gdańsk Pomerania, but also Poles, Jews, Czechs and German inmates from mental hospitals), seen as the first large scale Nazi atrocity in occupied Poland); and Literature and Music Museum of Kashubian-Pomeranian, a museum located in the 18th century Przebendowski Palace where cultural goods in the field of Kashubian-Pomeranian literature and music are shown and taught. The town is also seat of the Kashubian Philharmonic, established at Wejherowo Cultural Center. Outside the town it's located Piaśnica Forest, place where the Massacres in Piaśnica took place, with mass graves of the victims, a chapel-mausoleum and a monument dedicated to the murdered.

Where can I eat in Gdynia?

There are some recommended places to eat in Gdynia such as the restaurants Pueblo (Antoniego Abrahama 56), Barracuda (Bulwar Nadmorski im.Feliksa Nowowiejskiego 10) or the veggie restaurant Falla (Żołnierzy I Armii Wojska Polskiego 13).

In Sopot there's also an interesting culinary offer with places like the cafes Bar Bursztyn (Grunwaldzka 80) or Mlezcny Kefirek (Aleja Niepodległości 786/2), the cafe-pub Błękitny Pudel (Bohaterów Monte Cassino 44) or the prestigious Bulaj (Aleja Franciszka Mamuszki 22), as well as places where having a drink or dancing all night. 

Posted in: Europe,Poland,Pomerania