Everybody who goes to Poland asks here about Krakow (Old Town, Salt Mine, Auschwitz, Schindler;s Factory) or sometimes Warsaw. Why not to vist Polish seaside? For example Gdansk? Over 1000 years old city, where II World War broke out and which has Old Town more Ducth in character than Amsterdam nowadays...

Old Town more Dutch in character than Amsterdam nowadays... any pictures of that.

Some of mine, cell-phone snaps.
I am there frequently since we bought a condo in Gdynia, which our 88 year old mother promptly commandeered for herself.

The brick wall is the place of execution of the defenders of the Post Office.



https://photos.google.com/share/AF1Q...F2NmFfa25tNU5n

Seems so - old Hanseatic Port with Dutch looks.

No surprise there.
Back in the days of the Ottoman Empire and even before that the easiest way to get the Ukrainian grain to European markets was to barge it on the river Bug and Wisla, load it on ships in Gdansk and out to Europe through the Kattegat Strait.

Some richest people in the worlds were the Baltic grain merchants.

Gdansk IS a Hanseatic (old German, in order to simplify a bit too much, but NOT Dutch) city, like Sczecin and others along the Baltic Sea.
It's charming and a good base for all kinds of day trips (Marienburg, Masurian lakes, etc.)
Most somewhat important Polnish cities are worth to see, but tourist people concentrate at Krakow and Warszawa.
You find this phenomena in almost all European countries.
Or who goes to gems like
Merida, Caceres, Ubeda, Baeza, Aosta, Perouges, Orbe, Gent, Rattenberg am Inn, Bretten, Mühlhausen (Thüringen), Weimar, Olomouc, Sighisoara, Sibiu, Veliko Trnovo, Ivano Frankivsk........?

Many people are simply not aware of it, the same with many places. Most Americans for example will slavishly follow the advice of Rick Steves and travel the same, cliched routes along with all the other tourists. Granted there are many places that are rightfully popular because of what is there, think London, Paris, Rome, Prague et al. But somewhere such as The Cotswolds which is seemingly on every American's bucket list whilst attractive is not unique, there are hundreds upon hundreds of villages up and down the UK that are equally as attractive yet they barely receive any attention because they're not under the spotlight of influential travel writers.

I agree with some of what you wrote. Personally, Gdansk has been on my radar for a few years. It looks gorgeous and all but a little too far away from more popular places which would likely serve as a base or multi-country stop. If I were on a business trip to Poland, it would make sense geographically. Ditto for a river cruise that would stop there. Otherwise, it's really nowhere close to a European Alpha city like Berlin (6h 31m away) or even the capital city of Warsaw (3h 42m away). That means you've either got to have a lot of time on the ground (which most Americans don't) or be close enough to visit as a daytrip. This is why Charleston and Savannah don't get a lot of European tourism here in the US, despite being beautiful places. They're just too far away from places like NY, S. Florida, and California.

You see you're thinking like an American and that's travelling by driving. Berlin to Gdansk is just over an hours flight away, from London it's 2 hours and 10 minutes (and for as little as £40 return with Ryanair). I have my eye on Gdansk at some point but it's just that pesky Stansted airport that gets in the way.

Guilty as charged. But Is Gdansk worth the logistical hassles of air travel? (time spent waiting at airport, passport control if applicable, delays, transportation to city center, etc.) It seems like the kind of place I would rather visit as a daytrip from a base city.

It seems that there are people who go from Zurich or from the Salzkammergut by public transport to Neuschwanstein (5 1/2 resp. 6 hrs by train) in order to see a castle.
If they were interested in a real European fortress, they would go to Marienburg/Malbork instead, just half an hr by train from Gdansk or 2 1/2 hrs by train from Warszawa.
If they were interested in a unspoilt and untouristy medieval European city, they would go to Graudenz/Grudziadz, 2 hrs by train from Gdansk.
Instead of continuing endlessly in this way:
there are tons of interesting sites around Gdansk. A visit of Gdansk without a visit of the surroundings would be like a visit of Bolzano/Bozen without a visit of the Dolomites.

There are many others. It is still like 300-400 years ago (the crane is older).

When I go there I do not visit only Gdansk. There is Malbork nearby - huge fortress of Teutonic Order and the capital of those monks-knights, one of the biggest castles in Europe. There is Sopot in the neighbourhood, popular resort with XIX-XX century architecture. And then Gdynia - once the biggest port in Baltic, which poor interwar Poland built from a small village in 1920's, now probably the most modern city in the country. Then Hel Peninsula - for fun and for historical research - with some finest beaches in the area (actually you Poles have some 600 kilometres of sandy beach - very few stones or cliffs). And many, many other places of historical value as well as lots of entertainment options.
I spent there 2 weeks last time, besing based in Hel Town... and it was not enough. I'm coming back with some more plans for sightseeign, for example I'm going to visit old Lusitian culture village in the area.

I agree on the Cotswolds. Many nice villages but far overrated as a tourist destination. It's more like an affluent (extended) London commuter belt than the taste of 'real' countryside life as it's often made out to be. Surrey to the north of London. Yeah there are tractors but you're much more likely to encounter a City banker with attitude trying to get you out of his way than you are to experience real countryside life. Still, generally very pleasant but no real reason for the massive attraction to it.

Do you live in Gdansk?

What are some other hidden gems of cities in Poland besides Gdansk?

>Gdansk IS a Hanseatic (old German, in order to simplify a bit too much, but NOT Dutch) city, like Sczecin and others along the Baltic Sea.

Gdansk is part of the European Route of Brick Gothic, which stretches from Denmark to Poland. We have followed this trail only from Lüneburg to Parchim, and it is a nice meandering drive that follows the Elbe. The trail fades out in some parts and it is definitely better kept in the western parts. One day we will come back and do the rest and get to Gdansk, but there always seems to be a different priority when we go to Germany, which we do on a more or less regular basis. We will have to come back and do Poland in a separate trip.

https://www.germany.travel/en/leisur...ck-gothic.html
https://www.eurob.org/polen/gdansk-danzig/?lang=en

Lavandula

Don't know if these are gems but IMO definitely more pleasant, authentic and not yet bastardized by mass tourism like Kraków is.

The beer fest was a pleasant surprise in Rzeszów:

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1Q...o3TS1DcHFzMVln

Nearby Łańcut Palace and its carriage museum, one of the best in Europe.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1Q...ViOE1DaFBhUjJn

Sandomierz, pleasantly busy with families enjoying a "trade free weekend"

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1Q...daUThtcGRGcHJB

Between the above, the best route to take is the "Wooden Architecture Trail".

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1Q...Z3UjgwY002Y0dR


Gdynia, always busy in the summer, last weekend in June celebrates the "Days of the Sea"

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1Q...tfdklYcTB1Tjhn

No, I don't live in Gdańsk. I am from Krakow and live in Cheshire.

To what cnyul mentioned I'd add up for example Zamośc - an example of Reneissance town and once mighty fortress (defended against Cossacs and Swedish). When in Gdańsk I'd visit tiny Frombork - a place where Nicolaus Copernicus lived.
Toruń, Kazimierz (same name as old Jewish quarter in Krakow, but different city) - both by Vistula river and also fine Reneissance architecture. Poznań - once capital city (before Kraków) and Wrocław - the biggest city in Silesia, although rebuilt (totally demolished during the siege in 1945). It is plenty of "hidden gems" there...*