Gdańsk & Pomerania

Długi Targ was once the main city market and is now the major focus for visitors. Things have gotten a bit touristy here over the last decade (dubious amber stalls, restaurant touts), but look up from the crowds to appreciate the period architecture, all of which is a very selective postwar rebuild, of course.

The junior partner in the Tri-City set-up (along with Gdańsk and Gdynia), Sopot is a kind of Incongruity-on-Sea, a mix of elegant villas and marauding clubbers, an overdeveloped 21st-century seafront just streets away from typically Polish soot-cracked facades. Like the British seaside towns of Brighton and Eastbourne rolled into one, Sopot is about moneyed Poles flashing their cash in ritzy restaurants standing alongside old Polish literary-themed cafes, a strutting club scene illuminating pensioners taking to the waters while kids on the beach build sandcastles. Whatever Sopot has become, it certainly remains popular, with international visitors mingling with the Slavic waffle-and-ice-cream crowds on hot summer days then getting down at the beachside clubs on balmy Baltic eves.

Opened in 2016, this striking piece of modern architecture is a bold addition to the northern end of Gdańsk's waterfront. It has rapidly become one of Gdańsk's must-visit attractions, tracing the fate of Poland during the world's greatest conflict and focusing on the human suffering it caused. Few leave unmoved. Covering 5000 sq metres, an absolute minimum of three hours is needed to do the main exhibition justice. Note that the museum is not suitable for children of any age.

Malbork’s blockbuster attraction is its show-stoppingly massive castle sitting on the banks of the sluggish Nogat River, an eastern arm of the Vistula. The construction of Marienburg (Fortress of Mary) was begun by the Teutonic Knights in the 13th century and was the headquarters of the order for almost 150 years; its vast bulk is an apt embodiment of its weighty history. Visits are by self-guided tour with audio guide. Allow at least three hours to do the place justice.

If you’ve spent your time in Poland jostling with the crowds in Kraków or wandering Warsaw’s sprawling boulevards, then Toruń will come as a revelation. This magnificent walled Gothic town on the banks of the Vistula should be high on every traveller’s list, especially as its delights seem low on everyone else’s, leaving visitors to revel virtually unrestricted in its wealth of historic buildings and city defences, all of which WWII left mercifully untouched. The entire town is listed as a Unesco World Heritage site for being an unusually well-preserved example of a medieval European trading and administrative centre.

Beyond architecture, Toruń is also well known as the birthplace of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543). His name (Mikołaj Kopernik in Polish) is all over the town, and you can even buy gingerbread shaped in his image. This other Toruń icon – its pierniki (gingerbread) – is famous across Poland.

Most English-speakers can’t help cracking a smirk as they ask for their ticket to Hel. But this relaxed holiday town at the end of its long slender sandbar is far from purgatory. In fact, it’s quite a pleasant getaway and feels a long way from Poland’s 21st-century cares. The beach is the obvious main draw when it’s hot; the rest of the year the town shows few vital signs.

Throughout history, Hel benefited from its strategic location at the maritime gateway to Gdańsk. By the 14th century Hel was a prosperous fishing port and trading centre. However, it was constantly threatened by storms and the shifting coastline, and declined in importance in the 18th century before reinventing itself as a popular seaside resort.

This 186-sq-km park takes up the 33km stretch of coast between Łeba and the tourist fishing village of Rowy, complete with two large lakes, Łebsko and Gardno, and their surrounding belts of peat bog, meadows and woods. It’s named after Slav tribe the Slovincians (Słowińcy), a western branch of the Kashubians whose descendants inhabited this part of the coast right up until the 19th century. In 1977 the park was placed on Unesco’s list of World Biosphere Reserves.

One of Poland's best beaches, this stretch of sand curves gently along the coast and is backed by out-of-bounds, protected dunes. So high is the sand banked up that none of the town is visible, lending the beach a wild feel. It's the ideal place to laze and the main reason to come to Świnoujście. Kids will love watching ships and ferries sliding in and out of the port at the eastern end.