Gdansk old town center - Where is Gdansk old town centre?

In this post I briefly present Gdansk Old Town and where are the main shopping and tourist areas. Gdansk old town is not very large and accessible by foot. Let's start with the basics. If I would have a friend who has one hour to see Gdansk old town I would say to him/her that walk the red line in the map below. The street are Dluga street (east-west or horizontal street in the pic) and the street by the Motlawa river is called Dlugie Pobrzeze. Dluga is the main tourist/shopping street in Gdansk old town and Dlugie Pobrzeze has many restaurants, shops and cafeterias.

If you ask me where is the Gdansk Old Town center point, I would say it's somewhere close to Neptune Fountain on the Dluga street pretty close to the river.

Here are some good hotels in this area:

• Gdansk Hilton Hotel (the best hotel in Gdansk) is located by the river. It's official address is Targ Rubny street but actually it's located by the river on Dlugie Pobrzeze.
• Hotel Hanza is located on the street by the river in the map above.
• Radisson Blu hotel Gdansk is very close to the corner on the red line in the map (not by the river but very close) 
• Hotel Artus is three star hotel in the middle of the old town.

If none of the hotels above meets your expectations, here you can see all hotels available in Gdansk.

Why travel to Gdansk? - 10 reasons to travel to Gdansk and Pomerania region of Poland

In this blog I mainly write about Gdansk and Pomerania hotels but I think it's worth saying something about reasons to travel to Gdansk and Pomerania region in Poland. Below I listed 10 good reasons to travel to Gdansk and surrounding area.

1. Possibility to combine city break and beach holiday. Gdansk as the biggest city in northern Poland and Pomerania has awesome old town. Old town is not as large as in most famous travel destinations like Prague and Budapest but best areas of Gdansk Old town are very nice and views to the Motlawa river are stunning especially after sunset. But Gdansk can offer something that Prague and Budapest cannot: access to the beaches by the sea in less than 30 minutes. Northern Gdansk very fast transforms to the beach area city name changes to Sopot. Sopot is very nice beach destination. If you want something more local continue beach to the north and book your next beach holiday for example at Hel peninsula, Jastrzebia Gora, Karwia or Wladyslawowo. You can find them all at the map below.
• See hotels at Gdansk City
• See hotels at Sopot (beach destination)
• See hotels at Hel peninsula area
• See hotels at Jastrzebia Gora (beach area where locals spend their summer holidays)
2. Affordable prices. If you are from Western Europe, America or Asia and used to the average price levels in major international cities, you will find Poland and especially areas outside biggest tourist traps extremely cheap. In few quarters at Gdansk Old Town and Sopot main street prices can be close to west European average level but everywhere else you will find living in Pomerania very affordable.
3. Exotic peninsulas: Hel and Vistula Spit (Krynica Morska town on the map). Hel peninsula is 35 km long peninsula you can see on the map below. Vistula Spit is a peninsula that connects Poland to Kaliningrad (Russian territory). Both have beautiful beaches and they offer unique views you cannot experience anywhere else.
• Great spa hotel at Katy Rybackie just where the Vistula Spit peninsula starts
4. Three cities at the same price. Gdansk, Sopot and Gdynia are independent cities but in practice they are connected to each other like one city. Each of them has their own character. Gdansk is the main city with old town center, Sopot is the capital of beaches and nightlife and Gdynia is old harbour city with big aquarium and maritime museum.
• Gdansk hotels
• Sopot hotels
• Gdynia hotels
5. Fish restaurants. Poland is not famous of it's kitchen but there is one ingredient they know how to cook and it's always fresh thanks to the location by the Baltic sea. Local fish dishes are something I can recommend.
6. Stutthof Consentration Camp Museum. Auschwitz in Southern Poland near Krakow is the most well known consentration camp museum but there is one very interesting near Gdansk. Stutthof Consentration Camp is located south east from Gdansk near Vistula Spit. It's possible to make daytrip from Gdansk to Stutthof or combine Stutthof visit to Vistula Spit beaches and stay there few nights.
• Hotels near Stutthof Museum
7. Boat trips to the Baltic Sea. There are several cruises that start from Gdanks, Sopot or Gdynia. Their prices and quality vary significantly so it's worth comparing prices and checking online reviews. My recommendation is to take boat from Gdansk to Hel peninsula and/or back. This way you can see Hel peninsula and see beautiful beaches (and some old industrial areas as well) from the sea.
8. Churches, cathedrals and all those old buildings for architecture lovers. My life is too short to name all of them but like all European old towns Gdansk has plenty of old buildings for architecture lovers.
9. Urban nightlife in historical building. Gdansk nightlife is characterized by variety of small and interesting pubs, restaurants and bars. There are many bars that offer urban modern nightlife in old historical buildings. For more traditional nightclub and disco lovers I recommend Sopot especially at summertime.
10. Easy living. Usually the more exotic your travel destination is the more effort you need to survive daily life if you are not on all inclusive hotel package holiday. Gdansk and Pomerania region is balanced combination if you want to see something outside big European capitals and major tourist beaches but you don't want to make your holiday too complicated. Younger people in Poland speak usually excellent English and shopping, eating and drinking is usually very casual and easy in Poland.

Map of Gdansk area where there are marked some points mentioned above.

Tristan Hotel & Spa - Best hotel at Katy Rybackie - Spa hotel close to Gdansk

If you are visiting Gdansk for longer time and want to visit more authentic Polish countryside you can head to Katy Rybackie. Katy Rybackie is small town by the Baltic Sea. Stutthof concentration camp museum is also close to Katy Rybackie.

If you want to explore Polish countryside but stay in good quality hotels you have only one serious option to book. Tristan Hotel & Spa is very good quality 4 star spa hotel. Tristan has excellent ratings at Tripadvisor and other hotel ranking sites. Below some pictures from Tristan Hotel & Spa which is the best hotel at Katy Rybackie.

 

See more and/or book a room at Tristan Hotel & Spa

Sofitel Grand Sopot - The best hotel in triple city

Sofitel Luxus Hotels has their hotel in Sopot (appr. 20-30 minutes by car from Gdansk) by the sea. Sofitel Grand Sopot is a luxorious 5 star hotel, where many stars visiting Gdansk want to go. Sofitel Grand Sopot has 127 charming, elegant and comfortable rooms. Hotel building is built 1927 and its located at the best place in Sopot beach. Hotel has wonderful seaview and there is only 100 meters to the best shopping street in Sopot. Sofitel Grand Sopot has an Art Deco restaurant, bar, ballroom, casino and multifunctional rooms.They also have a wellness center with a swimming pool.

Sofitel is definitely the best hotel in the triple city (Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot). In Gdansk city Hilton Hotel is the best but this luxury hotel at the Sopot beach is even better. When big political leaders or celebrities come to northern Pomerania Sofitel Gdand Sopot is very likely their hotel choice. For example Angela Merkel stayed at Sofitel Grand Sopot when visiting Poland for football Euro 2012 championships.

See more and/or book a room at Sofitel Grand Sopot luxury hotel.

Hotel Bonum - Above average hotel peacefully located

Hotel Bonum is located on peaceful street few blogs away from the most visited streets of Gdansk Old Towb. Hotel Bonum has nothing very special but visitors at Hotel Bonum have reviewed rooms nice and clean and most of the visitors find service at Hotel Bonum good or excellent. Hotel Bonum is better than average hotel with walking distance to the most attractions in Gdansk.

Read more about the best hotel in Gdansk.

Hanza Hotel - Top 5 hotel in Gdansk

Hanza Hotel is not the best hotel in Gdansk but definitely one of the Top 5 hotels in Gdansk. In tripadvisor Hanza Hotel is ranked as the 5th best hotel in Gdansk.

Hanza Hotel is located by the river in very popular place at the Old Town of Gdansk. The location is definitely the best thing about this hotel.

Here you can read more about the best hotel in Gdansk.

Podewils Hotel - The third best hotel in Gdansk

Podewils Hotel is a small boutique hotel in Gdansk Old Town. If you prefer smaller boutique hotel over big international hotel chains like Hilton and Radisson Blu, Podewild Hotel is your hotel choice in Gdansk. Customers of Podewils Hotel appreciate big rooms, high quality restaurant and beautiful view to the river Moltawa. Podewils Hotel is located on the other side of the river than the center of Old Town so there is excellent view to the most beautiful buildings in Gdansk.

Podewils Hotel is located at ul Szafarnia 2, Gdansk 80755, Poland.

Here you can read more about the Best Hotel in Gdansk.