Things To Do In Gdansk: Sunset Kayaking The Harbor

Outside the capital city of Warsaw and Krakow, Gdansk is one of Poland’s most visited tourist spots for both locals and foreigners. And for good reason. It’s a beautiful port town with architecture that resembles that of Copenhagen. A large part of the town is still preserved and its charm is the reason it’s a busy and bustling place.

 

But that’s also one of its drawbacks, in my opinion. Unlike smaller towns like Wroclaw, Poznan, and Lodz, which I absolutely adored, Gdansk can feel a bit crowded at times. Walking through one of the mains gate onto Ulica Dluga and there’s almost as many people as you’d find in the ultra busy streets of Taksim Square in Istanbul and Time Square in New York.

To escape that and see the city from, literally, a different perspective, I decided to explore Gdansk by kayak. Was it worth it? Absolutely.

We reached out to Around Gdansk to set up a sunset kayaking trip around the Harbor. From the water, you escape the crowds and see the town in a whole new way while getting a quick, digestible history lesson about this historic place.

Meeting Szymon

Owner and operator of Around Gdansk, Szymon, is quite a character. We arrived 15 minutes early, and I immediately liked the guy. His direct manner of speaking was real and honest. We sensed this wouldn’t be an average kayaking trip.

Learning More About Kayaking Than We Needed To Know

I’ve done a few kayaking tours in different cities. Usually, you get a basic lesson on paddling that almost no one listens to, and everyone ends up doing their own thing.

With Szymon, we spent 15 minutes on different techniques, paddle adjustments, angles, and even advanced skills like righting a capsized kayak and rescuing another. It seemed unnecessary for a calm harbor paddle, but it was interesting and nice to learn.

Kayaking Around The Gdansk Harbor

After putting on our lifejackets and kayak spray skirts to keep water out, we pushed off and began paddling through the old industrial harbor.

We were a group of six, not including Szymon. I wondered how he would manage us if skill levels and speed varied. Luckily, his skills allowed him to run laps around us when needed. He stayed with each group for a bit and let us go at our own pace.

I like this because, ultimately, I was there to kayak and some other tours have had everyone staying very close together.

Every so often, Szymon would signal for us to get together so he can drop a bit of knowledge about what we were seeing. The information was short and to the point. He humbly told us that he was no historian. He only knew more about this place because he has been here longer than we have.

The Rebuilt City

Like many other cities in Poland, WWII destroyed most of Gdansk. After reclaiming the city, the Poles rebuilt it, effectively erasing much of the German influence and completely renaming the city from its German name, Danzig, to Gdansk.

As a result, the architecture took on other influences, with many buildings rebuilt to the old specifications of the city prior to the German occupation.

Still, some structures, fortunately remained. As we made our way into the heart of the harbor, we approached an ancient, black building that I had seen almost everyday walking out from my hotel. One of the few remaining structures from their golden trading age, the Crane, dates back to 1367. The building was actually the largest operating crane of its time and also served as a defense structure and a gate into the main city.

The Crane

Two men manually operated this massive structure to transfer goods from ships to land, using large cranking hamster wheels to pull the cargo onto the port. This labor-intensive job was prestigious and often passed down within families from generation to generation.

Although the crane was closed for renovation during our visit, learning its history added depth to the experience. Otherwise, it might have just been another old building to me.

From there, we continued through the main part of the harbor, passing familiar restaurants I’d frequented all week. We went under low bridges we had crossed before, which was quite fun. People on land waved to us, and we waved back, creating a cheerful atmosphere.

Turning Around For Sunset

When we reached the edge of town, we turned back toward the harbor for the best view of the sunset. This time, we pulled up right alongside the giant Soldek ship. From land, the ship looked big, but up close, it was a towering behemoth.

Once again, we got a bit of history here. Story goes that if the owner of a shipyard offered a ship to the man who would load the most coal. A man by the name of Soldek won, and so they named a ship after him. Not quite the reward he was expecting, but his name has certainly lived longer as a legacy.

Szymon timed the launch and stops perfectly so we would return to the harbor in time for the sunset. We caught glimpses of it as we moved toward the old harbor.

Some of the world’s largest ships come here for repair, not because it’s cheap in Poland, but because of the world-class ship repair services.

By the time we got to our spot, it was clear we wouldn’t see an actual sunset. The clouds made sure of that. Still, the good weather and vibrant colors during most of the kayaking exceeded my expectations since it had rained most of the week.

Kayaking was one of our favorite activities in Gdansk. It was a great way to see the city differently from the rest of our time there. You can book directly on the Around Gdansk site or here for about 28 euros.

Another great non-active way of seeing the town by water is on one of the harbor cruises.

Looking for more travel inspirations? Scroll through some of the 450+ experiences on my bucket list. Maybe you’ll find your next adventure on there.

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Updated on June 15, 2024