The Tricity (Trójmiasto) is three cities in a row along the Gulf of Gdańsk, linked by the SKM commuter train. Base yourself in Gdańsk and treat the other two as day trips.
Day 1 — Gdańsk Main Town
Enter through the Golden Gate and walk the Royal Way: Long Street (Długa) and the Long Market (Długi Targ), past the Neptune Fountain to the Green Gate and the river. Almost all of it was rebuilt after 1945 from pre-war drawings and photographs.
Walk the Long Embankment along the Motława to the medieval Crane, then back through Mariacka Street, lined with amber shops and stone terraces.
Day 2 — the shipyard and Westerplatte
Walk north to the European Solidarity Centre at the gates of the former Lenin Shipyard, where the 1980 strikes that led to Solidarity began. It is one of the best museums in Poland; give it three hours. The shipyard area around it is being redeveloped but still has the cranes.
In the afternoon, go out to Westerplatte, where the first shots of the Second World War were fired on 1 September 1939. Buses 106 and 138 run all year; in summer you can also go by water tram or tourist boat.
Day 3 — Sopot and Gdynia
Take the SKM train to Sopot — about 20 minutes. Walk Monte Cassino Street down to the pier, the longest wooden pier in Europe at over 500 metres, and along the beach.
Continue to Gdynia, built almost from scratch in the 1920s and '30s as Poland's new port. Its modernist centre is on Poland's list of historical monuments. Walk Świętojańska Street and out along the South Pier.
Getting around
SKM trains run along the coast every 7–8 minutes at peak times and every 10 minutes for most of the day. The PKM train from Gdańsk airport goes to Gdańsk Wrzeszcz, where you change to the SKM for the centre.
When to go
Late May to September for the beach. The Main Town works all year; Christmas markets run through December.