GDANSK, POLAND

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21.12.2024: After quite a bit of searching, we finally manage to squeeze in one last trip of the year — despite the fact that I officially have zero vacation days left. Short Christmas getaway. Destination: the Baltic pearl of northern Poland — Gdańsk.

The city is just a 1.5-hour flight away. Close enough to feel spontaneous, far enough to feel like a proper escape. Initially, we planned to take the train from the airport to the city center. Efficient, simple — in theory. In reality, the next train was in 1.5 hours. Idea of waiting – rejected!
Plan B: Bolt Drive (Car share) car rental. After a 10-minute walk to the parking area — disappointment. The two cars shown as available are actually in maintenance and cannot be taken. Back to the airport we go.

Plan C: Bus. We queue for tickets. By the time we reach the front, we’ve just missed the bus. The next one? In an hour. Not happening. Plan D: At this point, efficiency beats pride. We call a
Bolt taxi. Andrej arrives in his Prius and, for 60 zloty, delivers us straight into Gdańsk’s Old Town.
Sometimes the smoothest part of travel is admitting defeat early and outsourcing the problem.

GDANSK: GŁÓWNE MIASTO

21.12.2024: We get dropped off near Gdańsk’s main railway station. Just around the corner awaits this year’s officially crowned “Best Christmas Market in Europe.” Not bad for a spontaneous year-end escape. And as a side note — Riga, Latvia proudly holds 4th place in the same ranking. Baltic rivalry intact.

The Christmas market stretches across several streets and feels genuinely massive. Lights
everywhere, wooden stalls, music, steam rising from food stands. We warm up with a cup of
mulled wine while scouting for something more substantial. For 32 złoty (~€7.5), we get a gigantic sandwich stuffed with chicken and melted cheese. One is more than enough for both of us. Surprisingly good. Solid start.

Next stop: hotel check-in. We’re staying at Hanza Hotel, right along the canal in the heart of the
Old Town. Officially a four-star hotel. Realistically… it doesn’t quite feel like it. But the location?
Excellent! Somewhere between “let’s just lie down for a minute” and “we’ll head out soon,” we
accidentally take a one-hour nap. Phones recharged. Humans recharged.
Time to explore the main pedestrian arteries: Długa, Piwna, and Świętego Ducha streets.
The Old Town architecture strongly reminds us of Amsterdam — tall, narrow, colorful facades
lined up like disciplined soldiers. Fewer canals than in the Netherlands, but the déjà vu feeling is
strong.

The pleasant twist? Everything here costs at least half of what it would in Amsterdam.
Accommodation even more so. Later, we settle into a bar called Red Light. Purely observational mission: study local bar culture. Poles, much like Latvians, maintain a certain northern composure. If there’s no place to sit, they don’t squeeze in aggressively — they simply move on to the next bar or cafe. Quite different from Edinburgh, where 50 cm² of standing space was more than enough justification to stay. Before calling it a night, we take a short walk along the promenade toward Wyspa Spichrzów island.

Dinner: żurek (Polish sour rye soup) and a margarita. Yes, that combination happened. And yes — I genuinely enjoy żurek. There’s something deeply satisfying about that slightly sour, hearty Polish comfort bowl on a winter evening. Gdańsk already feels like a good decision.

GDYNIA

22.12.2024: Today — second attempt at making friends with Bolt Drive car share. To avoid a 20-minute walk to the station, we grab a Renault Clio and head toward nearby city Gdynia. The start already feels far more promising than our airport episode. The only small detail to remember: how to drive a manual gearbox again. After a slightly awkward first 10 minutes — including an almost-illegal turn into a “no entry” street in Gdańsk’s Old Town — we’re properly on our way.

The drive itself goes smoothly, and we arrive in Gdynia without issues. However, we can’t end the trip in the app. Weak GPS signal. I call customer support — luckily, the Polish representative speaks English. The call drops near the end. We decide not to overcomplicate things: lock the car with the physical key and plan to use it later to drive on to Sopot. Maybe the GPS will behave better there. It’s Sunday, and the weather is truly miserable — grey, windy, damp. That probably
contributes to the impression that the city feels completely deserted. Shops are closed.

Streets are empty. Aside from a few seagulls, we only see signs of life near the city’s main
attraction. For €8.50 each, we visit the Gdynia Aquarium, home to marine life from the Baltic Sea and beyond. The aquarium consists of eight educational rooms featuring both live species and
preserved exhibits. In each room, visitors are supposed to collect a stamp. I only realize this in the second room — and I’m not motivated enough to go back for the first one. I finish with seven out of eight.

The museum itself isn’t bad at all. Nothing overwhelmingly spectacular, but given the poor
weather and lifeless city outside, it’s actually a very good way to spend the time. Since we
recently visited a similar marine museum in Klaipėda, Lithuania, perhaps that’s why it doesn’t feel entirely new — though objectively, it’s solid and well done. For today, we’ve had enough marine exhibits. There’s not much else happening in Gdynia. Time to head to Sopot.

SOPOT

22.12.2024: After just a few steps in Sopot, the city already feels more alive — and frankly, prettier — than Gdynia. A pleasant bonus: we manage to successfully end the Bolt Drive rental and get rid of the Clio without further GPS drama. From here on, we’re back to being pedestrians.
We head toward Molo w Sopocie, Sopot’s famous pier. In essence, it’s quite similar to the pier in Palanga, Lithuania — long wooden structure stretching into the Baltic Sea. The main difference here is that at the far end there’s also a small marina for yachts and a restaurant. The restaurant, however, doesn’t look particularly lively, and it doesn’t tempt us enough to stop.

After walking along the main pedestrian street Bohaterów Monte Cassino and passing through Skwer Kuracyjny, we feel like sitting down somewhere warm for coffee and something sweet.
We choose a small bakery — Piekarnia-Cukiernia Andrzej Szydłowski. The pastries and cakes on display are enormous. No need to overthink it — we stay. Good decision indeed! The baked goods are excellent! For the return to Gdańsk, we take the train. A ride in what feels like a very old train carriage, accompanied by a loudly snoring homeless man nearby, costs €1.50 each.
Efficient. Authentic. Budget-friendly.

GDANSK: WYSPA SPICHRZÓW

23.12.2024: Today we want to explore Wyspa Spichrzów in daylight. Yesterday we only walked along the promenade in the dark, so now it’s time to see what the island actually looks like.
We cross via Stągiewna Street. In the morning it’s quiet and peaceful. The characteristic narrow
“bottle houses” (our nickname for the bottled shaped buildings from Amsterdam’s trip) continue
here as well — though in a more modern interpretation. Interestingly, if you check Google Street
View from 10–15 years ago, much of this area was still ruins and empty fields. Today it’s a
polished, lively tourist district. Development moves fast and definitely in the right direction.
Our original plan for the day was to climb the tower of the Main Town Hall for panoramic views.
Unfortunately, in winter season it’s closed.

Plan B: climb the 405 steps of Bazylika Mariacka Wniebowzięcia Najświętszej Maryi Panny w
Gdańsku (St. Mary’s Basilica). Entry: 16 złoty per person. The staircase is extremely narrow and spirals tightly upward. After the climb, the view is… good, but slightly frustrating. To get the perfect Old Town panorama, the viewing platform would need to be about 0.5–1 meter higher to see fully over the church roof ridge. As it stands, you mainly see into the distance rather than directly down onto the beautiful Gdańsk rooftops.

Most likely, the platform is designed this way so it isn’t visible from street level below. Still — 405 steps up and 405 steps down deserve respect. After squeezing past people on the tight spiral staircase in both directions, it’s time for recovery in a café. We’re still full from breakfast, so instead of food we opt for an afternoon beer and wine.
We finish this micro-holiday back at the Christmas market. Today is a weekday, so it’s noticeably less crowded. Still lively, but manageable. Now we can actually browse the stalls instead of just flowing along with the crowd. A calm, festive ending to a short but satisfying winter escape.

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23.12.2024: Since this was already my fifth visit to Poland, objectively it didn’t trigger any
major excitement fireworks. Still, Gdańsk is absolutely worth visiting, and there’s zero
regret about coming here. Poles truly know how to welcome and feed their guests — generously and warmly. We’ve done our part and officially added another stamp to the Poland chapter.
We agree this is a place to revisit in summer, when outdoor terraces are open, canal-side
life is buzzing, and the atmosphere feels lighter and livelier. And with that, we close the impressive 2024 travel season.

I won’t claim it was more spectacular than 2023 — but it was certainly longer awaited.
We finally made the long-dreamed-of US West Coast road trip happen after six years
of planning. Most importantly: it did not disappoint. This year we stepped foot in nine countries
and spent 53 hours in airplanes. Not bad, right? Now — time to wait and see what 2025 has
in store.