Why you really should visit Gdynia in Poland

Gdynia, city in Poland, was born only 100 years ago, but the amount of history attached to it could cover centuries. This year, in February 2026, we celebrated 100 years of the city; the celebrations will take place for the whole year. Gdynia knows how to enjoy and celebrate.

Events are one of the reasons why you should visit Gdynia. In addition to many more, which I will describe in this blog post.

Whenever you wonder if you should make the day trip to Gdynia during your stay in Gdańsk, or take the cruise that will dock here for a day, or maybe you just search for a city break with the sea, this post is for you.

Hi, I’m Aleksandra, and I live in Gdynia, which… I’m just passionate about. I moved here 15 years ago because of work. The initial plan was to stay and then move again ‘in search of a career’. It didn’t work, as I fell in love. With Gdynia. Even if it’s not perfect obviously, no place is, and it has negatives. It has many more positives, though, and many of them make it a great place to visit. These are: the sea, the beach, forest, interesting places to see and events to participate in, good food and coffee.

In Gdynia you will find it all. Welcome to Gdynia, the City from the Sea and Dreams.

Why is Gdynia called the City from the Sea and Dreams?

Gdynia is often really called the City from the Sea and Dreams. Personally I very much like this term. It refers to its location, right at the Baltic Sea, and to the history. Once only a small village, in a few years it has risen to be the big and important city and port. Dreams were big. In 1918, Poland, as a country, came back to the official map of Europe after 123 years of the Partitions of Poland. The country didn’t have easy access to the sea and port. It was to have, according to agreements, via Gdańsk. But Gdańsk back then was treated as a ‘free city’ and access for trading and marines wasn’t smooth and secure. Poland needed its own port, so the government decided to build one from scratch. Small village Gdynia ‘won’ as the best place due to geography, winds, and close localisation of train tracks. The hard work of architects, engineers, and builders built the port, which became the biggest and most modern port on the Baltic Sea. The first passenger line, Gdynia-New York, was opened in 1934.

Port building influenced the numbers of people arriving to and living in the village, which in 1926 got city rights. It also led to quick development of the city, not only in numbers of inhabitants but also in infrastructure.

Architecture from these times is one of the biggest attractions of the city, and you can visit it via the Gdynia Modernism Trail.

If you like architecture, it’s something that should attract you to visit the city.

Gdynia nowadays

Nowadays Gdynia is the city with around 250,000 inhabitants, which, together with Gdańsk and Sopot, is part of the Tricity.

Passenger and army ports are still here, both of great importance.

When you stay in and around the centre, you will hear boat signals from the port. You hear and meet seagulls in all of the city. You feel winds almost all the time.

The sea is just Gdynia’s DNA. But not all the reasons to visit the city are purely connected with the sea; the city is more than that.

As you can imagine, it’s a very touristic place, especially during the summer months. The weather at the Polish seaside changes often, so Gdynia (and the whole Tricity) is a  good destination; you have many attractions indoors to keep you and children busy during rainy days.

Let’s see what you can expect when visiting Gdynia.

Reasons to visit Gdynia

Nature

I don’t even talk about the sea here. Gdynia is surrounded by the forest. Around 10 minutes’ walk from the main train station, you can enter a beautiful big forest called Trójmiejski Park Krajobrazowy-Tricity Landscape Park (the same forest that surrounds Gdańsk and Sopot) with walking, Nordic walking and bike trails.

There is also a forest trail (yellow sign) just ‘over the sea’, so you can walk to Sopot partially at the sea and partially in the forest. It’s an additional plus if you are visiting for a few days and need calm rest.

That’s also why I feel so good here; nature is very easily accessible: I have around 15-minute’ walk to the forest and less than 30 minutes to the beach in the centre.

From Gdynia, you can also easily go for a day trip to the Kashubian region where you will find forests and, especially, many lakes.

Size and commuting

If you visit for a day or a few, most likely you will stay in and around the centre. The centre of Gdynia is pretty compact, and you will have almost everything in easy access and walking distance: beach, forest, parks, museums, architecture, and restaurants. It’s a big enough city to have it all and small enough to have it close to each other.

And if you want to go to see other parts like Gdynia Orłowo or even Sopot and Gdańsk, it’s also very easy; you can get there by quick city train (SKM).

Creativity and events

I’m not saying that in other places in Poland or Europe you will not get creative things, not at all (actually I think generally Polish people are quite creative). All I’m saying is that in Gdynia both the city and its inhabitants are creative. There are many interesting events organised by the city and city cultural and sport organisations, especially in spring and summer.

For example, yesterday, I was at the free concert of classical music that took place in the park, and two days ago I was at the theatre play organised just in the backyard of the school in my neighbourhood. At the same time there were Gdynia Sailing Days and sports competitions at the beach and other activities at the film centre.

It’s actually even hard to follow all events, but it’s good to know you should watch out for a few. The most well-known event in Gdynia is probably the Opener Festival.

There are also many nice cafes and bakeries with more creative menus.

Indoor attractions

In relation to the previous point, you will find different museums or centres to enjoy the day even if the weather disappoints, for different interests.

Gdynia Aquarium, Emigration Museum, Gdynia City Museum, or Experyment, just to  name the most known.

The other part of such interesting places is in Gdańsk.

Coffee, pastries, and bread

Gdynia is seriously gluten heaven, with many small artisan bakeries. You can buy  amazing bread and pastries here, and drink good coffee.

I will write a separate blog post about the exact places I recommend, but the number of such places is big. And new ones are created constantly.

Sea

I know I already told you about it, but I just can’t not come back to the sea.

There are two marinas in Gdynia, so it’s a great place to walk (unless you like sailing; then Gdynia is a great place for it, sometimes called the ‘Polish capital of sailing’).

There is a beach in the centre with boulevard, within around 20 minutes’ walk from the train station. There are also other beaches in other neighbourhoods, like Babie Doły.

One of my favourite places is Gdynia Orłowo (a 6-minute train ride from the main station), with a beautiful cliff and pier. I will explain more about it in the next posts, but I really recommend visiting it even for a short 1-2 hours of your time in the city.

Additionally, Gdynia is a gateway for many other beautiful seaside places like Rewa, Mechelinki, or my favourite, the Hel Peninsula.

It’s just the best place for sea lovers, but as you can see, even if you are not so into the sea, you will find here many things to see and do!

Wondering when to visit Tricity? Check out this blog post.