Wednesday 12 June 2019

Gdańsk museums | the lowdown

When I go on holiday, I absolutely love to cram in as much as possible - especially when it comes to museums because I love learning. Gdańsk does not disappoint in terms of the amount of museums it has to offer and when the Gdańsk tourist board offered to provide me a sightseeing pass for my recent trip, I knew it would come in handy. So for full disclosure, some of my museum trips were 'free' in exchange for promotion of the city card which I talked about over on Instagram and also in day 2 of my Gdańsk travel diary series. City cards and tourist passes are a brilliant way to see any city when you're travelling on a budget but know you want to get a lot done! Find out more HERE.

collage of 3 images from the gdansk archaeology museum: 2x sudanese patterns and some amber

The first museum we visited was the archaeology museum which starts off with a small exhibition about Sudan (I'm not sure why) and then goes on to Polish archaeology - particularly Pomeranian archaeology; there's a whole room of amber, some of which has fossilised bugs in it, and loads of urns, and plenty of information about tribes and paleopathology and how Polish people used to live way back when. It's a great museum and relatively cheap to get into, plus it's free with the sightseeing pass.

collage of 4 photos from the gdansk maritime museum: me giving a thumbs up in front of some buttons, 2 images from the deck of the Soldek, stop wheel

Our next stop was the maritime museum, which spans a few different buildings and sites; it was around 2.30pm when we got there and the woman on reception told us we were too late to see the whole museum and had to pick one (1) area of it. We opted for the Soldek, a now-disused boat that sits on the waterfront in Gdańsk, and you can go inside and downstairs and all the way around it, into the engine room and up on deck. You get to see cabins and the crew kitchen and all sorts, and it was really interesting. It's fairly cheap to visit the Soldek, or you can get in for free with the Gdańsk sightseeing pass.

collage of 4 images: ww2 museum in gdansk, TERROR sign, my hand on a screen showing an open book, old Polish street

On the same day we finished off with the museum of the Second World War which is absolutely - and I can't stress this enough - massive. It has mock ups of old Polish streets, there are cars and tanks and weapons, books, decorations and endless photographs. I know a lot about WW2 as it is, but this museum definitely taught me some new things which is brilliant. It will take you ages to get through it all but it's so interesting and informative with loads of interactive parts. It's free on Tuesdays, which is when we happened to go, and free if you have the sightseeing pass; otherwise it's 23zloty.

a sign saying BASTION in front of some trees

I'm not sure if you can quite count our visit to Westerplatte as a museum, but it kind of is - a big, DIY, outdoor museum that's completely free to walk around. There are different areas and things to see, like a guard tower and a few ammunition factories and defence barracks each with information boards. There's also some bigger info boards that talk you through the entire history of Westerplatte. If you're interested in history and the war, I can't recommend it enough. Find out more about getting to Westerplatte via pirate ship here; there's buses that go there, too, or you can get an Uber.

two images: a signed football, and a sheffield wednesday shirt alongside a newspaper clipping and framed image of the team

On the last day of our trip we went to the Lechia Gdańsk Museum at the Energa Stadion; it is pretty much entirely in Polish, so it was mostly just looking at trophies and old kits and various balls etc - but it was interesting nonetheless and it only costs 5zloty to enter so it's worth a look around if you make it all the way to the stadium to find out there's no tours running that day. Ahem.

collage: my hand holding the audioguide, Lech Walesa's ID card, the pope mobile and some flags hanging from the ceiling

Last but not least, we visited the European Solidarity Centre which is hands down one of the best museums I've ever been to; I didn't know much about the Solidarity (or Solidarność) movement beforehand but left with so much knowledge and genuinely feeling so inspired. You pay 20zloty to get in (there's a discount with the sightseeing pass) which gives you a little headset and audio guide - you get taken around the museum by this guy talking in your ears, telling you to look left or right and explaining what's there, then he says things like "I'll let you explore this area in your own time, and I'll meet you next to the posters on the right hand side when you're done". I loved it, and we only went on a whim because we had time to spare but if you are coming to Gdańsk, put this one on your list as it's well worth it!

So there's the museums we visited in Gdańsk - they were all great in their own way, and there's SO many more museums that we didn't even get around to. Have a look into the sightseeing pass if you think it'll be worth your while, too!


For the museums in Brussels, CLICK HERE

15 comments:

  1. I love visiting museums when I can and looks like you got to see a really great, and different, selection on your trip!

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  2. I'd be so intrigued by the second world war museum xx

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  3. I love going to museums there are so many fascinating things x

    Joyce | www.joycelauofficial.com

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  4. I grew up loving museums but I haven't been to any in ages! xx

    Maiya | www.maiyabellexo.co.uk

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  5. Must admit I'm not a massive fan of museums unless I'm super interested in the subject but looks like you had fun!

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  6. Wow, the WWII museum looks really interesting! That last one looks awesome too.

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  7. You've certainly managed to pack lots into your trip. The archaeology museum sounds fascinating.

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  8. I really love a good museum, always adds to the trip! Thanks for sharing these :)

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  9. I love museums and I just wish there was more near me. These sound fab x

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  10. I would love to check out the archeology museum! I bet there was great finds there! Love the guide.

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  11. I love a good museum, I must go to Gdansk!

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  12. I love war museums, find them so interesting!

    Gemma Louise

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  13. I bloody love museums, could honestly spend ages in them. This is the trip for me!

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  14. Love museums, in fact, anything to do with the war I find quite interesting as we studied it so much at school.

    Amy x
    The July Rose

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