Friday 31 May 2019

Gdańsk travel diary | day 4

Thursday 16th May 2019 | 23,379 steps

This was our final proper full day in Gdańsk, and it started off nice and sunny - we had planned to take a day trip to Sopot, one of the cities that makes up the TriCity area alongside Gdańsk and Gdynia. So we set off in search of the train station which was a pretty decent walk from where we were staying, and VERY hard to find. To get to the station you need to head to the Forum shopping centre and then, with McDonalds ahead of you, take the stairs or the lift up to the next level. Pass the benches that look like books and take a right before you get to the next lot of steps; keep walking and you'll come to a weird bridge/tunnel sort of thing, and once you come out of that you should be at the edge of the station car park with the tram stops to your right.

train seats

After a long (and I mean long) wait at the one ticket machine in the main area of the station, we had purchased our tickets to Sopot which were 4,30 zloty each one way and eventually worked out how to get to Platform 2. We did actually pass more ticket machines the downstairs 'corridor' space that leads to the platforms, so if there is a queue at the upstairs one then just head to the platforms anyway and you'll find one that's free. The train we got on the way to Sopot had separate compartments like in Harry Potter, which is really novel for us Brits, and the journey took just over 20 minutes. Very easy and smooth, in my opinion!

a cute cream building with turret roof against a blue sky

me standing with outstretched arms in front of a building with crooked walls

We arrived in Sopot and it was still fairly sunny, so we made our way down in the direction of the beach/pier area; one of the things I wanted to see was the crooked house on Bohaterów Monte Cassino, and we actually ended up on this street by accident as it's the main drag of Sopot that leads down towards the sea. The crooked house is now part of a shopping centre and we didn't go in, but it was really cool to finally see it in real life. We snapped some photos and carried on walking, heading straight to the beach...


a fancy looking building in poland with a blue sky

me on the beach with one arm up pretending to be a swan

baby swan on sopot beach

On the beach, which is really clean, there was LOADS of swans. Like, I've really never seen that amount of swans in one place and they were really calm, letting you get super close to them. There were some babies too, which was nice! The beach is absolutely stunning and I can imagine in the warmer months it's the perfect place to hang out and even do a bit of sunbathing. We then headed left, and paid 8zloty each to walk down the longest pier in Europe - you can pay by card or cash at these little ticket booths, then you pass through a turnstile and onto the pier itself. By this point it had started spitting, and the waves were crashing against the sides of the pier as we walked right to end of it: just out into the Baltic sea! The view was lovely and it was a good photo opportunity, plus I guess it's pretty cool to say you've walked down the longest pier in Europe.


view from sopot pier back to the town

me standing on a wooden pier with the sea and some love locks behind me

some boats in a marina with a cloudy sky above

By the time we walked back up the pier it was pouring down - we had a little look at the souvenir stalls selling magnets and bouncy balls and lots of amber, then we nipped into Sopot's oldest pub for a beer. It's on the left as you're walking up from the pier and there's a sign outside saying it's the oldest pub, so you won't miss it! We stayed there for a while, hoping the rain would stop because there were a couple of things we wanted to do like the museum and some really cool-looking bars. Alas, the rain just got heavier and heavier, and the museum was about a half hour walk away, and we decided to just head back to the familiarity of Gdańsk. I really enjoyed visiting Sopot and it was really easy to get to, so I'd definitely recommend a day or afternoon trip there, but bloody hell I wish we'd had better weather!


fancy looking building under a cloudy sky

canalside at night with GDANSK sign lit up

When we got back to Gdańsk we headed to the mall - I had a raging sore throat because I was full of cold, so we went for ice cream/coffee and then it was time to hit Sephora, Bath & Body Works and Hebe to pick up some skincare and hand sanitisers. None of these shops are available near me, and if you know me then you know I love trying new skincare, so I just had to do a little shopping spree. We headed back to the apartment to pack our cases as we knew we had an early start the next day - our final day! - and then we went out for burgers. A very full and very tiring day...

Day 5 coming to the blog soon, keep your eyes peeled.


For day 3, CLICK HERE

9 comments:

  1. Ice cream, coffee and Sephora?! Sounds like my kind of trip. xx

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  2. Oh wow it looks amazing! I love the wonky building!

    Erin || MakeErinOver

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  3. Why do you always look so cool when you're travelling! xx

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  4. I love going to Sephora when I go abroad, it's one of my faveee things to do! x

    Gemma Louise

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  5. I really want to explore more places like this in the next 2 years x

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  6. I've never been to Sephora or even been abroad but I really want to. Maybe when the boys get a little older x

    Lauren | www.bylaurenmay.com

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  7. Gdansk looks amazing I'm dying to go! Also Sephora is a must when I travel anywhere ahah! Xx

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  8. This looks like such a great trip, I love the idea of swans at the beach. They're so majestic!
    Fran - wwww.frannymac.com

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