Welcome to Toy Town.

Gdansk looks like something you’d see on the cover of a fairytale storybook - not a Polish city that was pancaked in WW2.

But the city was rebuilt in ornate, cake-topper style, spilling out onto Poland’s Baltic coastline.

Combine its postcard-perfect face with river bars and street murals and you’re onto a winner, say ‘cześć’ (HELLO) to Gdansk…

Learn

Gdansk had a hard old time of it… It’s where WW2 started and German communism ended. The best way to get the history in is on a boat.

Hop on the The Galleon Lion or Black Pearl for a ‘journey through time’. The guides fill you in while you fill up on the city’s best views (and bar snacks).

Walking through Gdansk’s squeaky clean streets tells its own story. Find St. Mary’s Church and look up at the pretty buildings on Long Lane and Long Market.

Look At

Away from the dockside glitz you’ll find old Soviet high-rise buildings. But they’ve had a makeover.

The Zaspa district is now a street art jungle, where Japanese manga characters cosy up to human chickens. The best way to see it is by bike.

Or for the more traditional sightseeing head to the Amber Museum to fill your eyes with Gdansk’s most precious export.

Drink

You’ll find dockside beer gardens and backstreet bars across the city.

Try Brovarnia, Gdansk’s only micro-brewery, to taste their three speciality brews.

If beer’s not your thing the local Goldwasser vodka will have you breathing fire, try shots for 70p in No to Cyk. If you’re not peeling communist stickers off the toilet door with your pants around your ankles, then it’s time for another shot.

Food

The best way to eat here is to embrace the pub grub. Both of the bars above will do you a solid Polish meal (hello dumplings). But if you're after something a little classier, you won’t go wrong with Goldwasser.

Yep this riverside restaurant shares its name with the local vodka, but this time you’re sipping on shots in between mouthfuls of melty steaks and pulled duck salad.

Gdansk is the main lad in the Tri-city. Head down the road to the seaside resort of Sopot or to the modern port of Gdynia. Flights can be as cheap as a tenner 😱