Gdansk, Poland GDN Poland

Sopot, Poland Baltic Sea beach resort town

a group of people on a beach
Sopot Lighthouse, Poland

Sopot, Poland in summer is the country’s major beach resort in the Pomeranian region of northern Poland on the Baltic Sea. Kelley loved Sopot beach town life. I think it reminded her of our own local California upscale small town Carmel-by-the-sea with far cheaper restaurants and drinks for us as tourists in Poland.

a building with a clock tower
Sopot Lighthouse, Poland

The Baltic Sea water temperature in late June is about the same as Pacific Ocean water temperatures in San Diego, California at 64F.

a beach with water and people
June sunset Sopot, Poland
boats on the water
Sopot Beach morning

Sopot, Poland is the 5th city in Poland I have stayed in hotels over the past two years after Krakow, Wroclaw, Warsaw and Gdansk. I visited Gdansk twice in 2017. This was my first time in Sopot.

Kelley wants me to plan an extended stay in Sopot for summer 2019.

people walking down a street
Monte Cassino morning in Sopot
a building with a group of people walking in front of it
Sopot summer evening.

My beach photos were taken primarily at 6:30-7:00am and 9:00pm. I have no good photos of the crowds at the beach during the day on Wednesday or Thursday in late June. The best representation is a photo taken from an outside picnic table where we ate lunch at Bar Przystan, about a kilometer from the Sopot Pier.

picnic tables on a beach
Bar Przystan Sopot Beach
a group of swans on a beach
Swans with mischievous kid at Sopot Pier.

Monte Cassino is the promenade pedestrian street through Sopot lined with pubs, restaurants, stores and street vendors from the train station to Sopot Pier .

a group of people walking on a street
Monte Cassino is the main pedestrian street through Sopot to the Pier.
a beach with houses and water
Quiet beach walk in the morning before activity picks up.
a street light and a building
Sopot
a building with a curved roof
Sopot Monte Cassino coffee shop
a fountain in front of buildings
Sopot view of lighthouse from outside Sheraton Hotel.

Sopot is part of the Gdansk-Sopot-Gydnia tri-city metro area. These three cities have a combined population around 750,000 residents running along the Baltic Sea coast east to west on Gdansk Bay. Yet seen from the air, the tri-city area outside Gdansk is largely covered in forest lands.

aerial view of a city
Aerial view over Gdansk-Sopot Baltic coast

Sopot itself is an economically upscale beach community with fewer than 40,000 residents compared to the largest city Gdansk about 465,000 residents and Gdynia at 250,000.

Gdansk Airport is the primary international airport for northern Poland. The airport is about 10 miles from Gdansk and Sopot.

an aerial view of a city
Aerial view over Gdansk. Reconstructed historic Old Town Gdansk is located where two smaller bridges cross river in center photo.

Gdansk is a historic commercial city with historic shipyards dating back to medieval Hanseatic League trade city days. Gdansk is also a city with significant modern history from the past 40 years. Gdansk shipyards is where the breakup of the Soviet bloc was initiated with the shipyard and dock workers strikes of Solidarity in the 1970s and 1980s.

Two new and significant museums in Gdansk, Poland opened in the past five years. European Solidarity Cener museum located at the old entrance to the Gdansk shipyards and The Museum of the Second World War are both within easy walking distance of Old Town Gdansk and most of the main city hotels.

Dluga Targ is Long Street in Old Town Gdansk. This is the center of the tourist part of Gdansk with several hotels located on or within 10 minutes walk of this beautifully restored 16th-19th century street with Amsterdam Dutch style buildings. Gdansk was leveled by bombs and a firestorm in the final months of World War II.

a fountain in front of a building
Dluga Targ – Long Market Square, Old Town Gdansk, Poland

Loyalty Traveler - Dluga Street (ul. Dluga) Gdansk, Poland July 3, 2017.

Gdynia is a second economic center for the region. Gdynia is ranked as Poland’s top city to live. I have not been there yet. The airport is located 23km east of Gdynia.

a beach with a building and a body of water
Westerly view from Sheraton Sopot of Sopot Beach and Baltic Sea coastline of Pomerania, Poland

 

 

1 Comment

  • Lack July 1, 2018

    It’s Gdynia :-).

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