Quick visit to Gdynia, Poland, to see what's what

I had heard that Gdynia was 'cool' from a couple of my Polish colleagues. And it certainly sounded and seemed cool from additional research and info I absorbed. A modern city. With a great beachfront. Home to a number of annual festivals and concerts. Poland's primary port of business and a 21st century tech hub. Plus the historical aspect that I either never learned or had learned and forgotten. (Look up "Gdansk free city" after WWI and how it triggered Poland's investment in developing Gdynia and you'll see what I am referring to.) Sitting just about 25 minutes by train from Gdansk it was too close to not scout it out.

Step one was getting the local train, which felt like a nicer version of the L in Chicago. Or, at least what that felt like some 15 years ago when I last took it. Nothing special, but gets the job done comfortably. For 10zł (less than $3) per person, it was fair value for sure.

We hopped off the train, got our bearings, found some Bolt scooters, and made our way to the waterfront. The dark blue line below shows what we did between getting off the train at Gdynia Głowny and then getting back on at Gdynia Hill of St. Maximillian. In between we scoped out some of central Gdynia's main east-west street, its main north-south street, the waterfront and little park area.

Again, it was impossible for me to snap photos safely while we scooted about. But the downtown areas we passed through all had a pleasant feel. I got the sense that it would indeed but a nice comfortable place to slow travel through for a week or so, enjoy its cafes, etc. Once we got to the water I had to snap a few shots. Very much Chicago vibes, minus the skyline. Could have been a composite of the lakefront trail and beach areas of Foster, Montrose, and maybe the stretch between Oak Street and Ohio.

Cool place. Glad we stopped. Would happily spend a couple / few days there if we are able to swing back through Poland again in the future. But we had Sopot in our sights next and needed to get moving.

Vibe shots from a walkabout on a Monday morning in May (Gdansk, Poland)

The bigger plan for the second day in Gdansk was to make our way up to Gdynia and Sopot, but that was going to be an afternoon thing when the weather cleared up a bit. That left me some time in the morning to spin around the area surrounding our Airbnb and also do a quick loop through part of the center. Our apartment was at the Kowalska 6 pin you see in the screenshot above. The whole loop depicted took about 45 minutes to cover 1.4km according to Google Maps. Not a ton of narrative here. Mostly vibe shots. But all of this was around 10am on a Monday and it was pretty calm.

This next place, Loveat, looked good. About 2 minutes from our apartment. But when we travel our morning schedules don't really align unless it's a transit day, so we don't often eat breakfast out. Google tells me there are a handful of Loveat locations in Gdansk, and all have pretty solid reviews.

We were also quite close to this neighborhood mall. Judy checked it out solo when I went off to visit Malbork Castle (post upcoming). She was not impressed. But it looks nice and I imagine it's convenient for the locals.

Bit more wandering with no particular aim other than to see what was around ...

After about 20 minutes in the area around the Airbnb I headed toward the water and started making my way to downtown. This scooter hotspot is quite close to the Hilton. We didn't actually scoot in Gdansk proper, but made up for it with some good rides in Gdynia and Sopot.

More vibe shots. Just an attractive city center to wander around. Especially when it's quiet.

Happy with my meanderings I stopped in a bakery (pretty sure it was this one, with mediocre reviews). They were nice enough to me. Got a couple loaves of bread and one of those Polish pastry tacos you see in the top of the third pic below (probably not the official name ... looks like the tray is labeled 'Nalesnik', which translates to crepe ... maybe?). Whatever it was, really tasty. Subtle flavors. We enjoyed it, would recommend.

Quick Review: Shanti (Gdansk, Poland)

Our first day in Gdansk was Sunday, May 25th. It was also our 22nd anniversary. We tend to celebrate big events - birthdays, wedding anniversaries -- with dinner out at an Indian place to honor our first date, which was at a place called Jaipur Palace in Chicago. (It no longer exists but was in River North / Streeterville, I believe.) When Judy was teaching we had clear travel windows of spring break and winter break, and they often lined up with our first date anniversary (Dec 29) or the date we got engaged (March 25). So we have sought out Indian restaurants in a number of places and have now added Gdansk to the list. And sometimes we just do it because we enjoy Indian food, like Tandoori Flame, in Krakow.

I found Shanti before we arrived in my pre-trip research. Again, it had excellent reviews and was a simple walk from our Airbnb. (Even simpler than illustrated below. Not sure what that goofy loop around is supposed to be. Just walk out the front door and head south on Kowalska.)

The walk was pleasant. It was close to 9pm and still somewhat light out given our latitude. And the whole area of Szeroka street became my favorite little zone over the next couple of days. It runs parallel to Dluga and is just 3 streets north but feels like a separate experience from the touristy center. Locals walking dogs. Scattered side street restaurants winding down service for the weekend. Nice chill vibes.

We strolled up to a cute little house. Saw a south Asian family roll in just before us (cliche, but a good sign). Nice and cozy interior. Good start.

Service was friendly. Food came out and delivered on the promise. I remember that lemonade thing being delicious. Lemonade with ginger. Fantastic. Cheese naan was also very good, including the next morning for a lil' snack with my coffee.

100% recommend