Discover 20 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Gdynia (Poland). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Akwarium Gdyńskie, Saint Anthony Church, and Dar Pomorza. Also, be sure to include Emigration Museum in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Gdynia (Pomeranian).
Table of Contents
Akwarium Gdyńskie
Fresh and seawater aquarium in 1970s space. Gdynia Aquarium is a public aquarium and sea museum operated by the National Marine Fisheries Research Institute in Gdynia, Poland. Previously called the Oceanographic Museum and Sea Aquarium of the Sea Fisheries Institute in Gdynia, the aquarium has a zoological garden status and is situated along Aleja John Paul II on the South Pier.
The museum has operated since 21 June 1971, although attempts were made to establish it in the 1920s and 1930s.
Exhibitions presented within the museum are on oceanography and hydrobiology, while the aquarium contains both sea and freshwater flora and fauna.
Educational activities were developed during exhibition modernizations. In 2005, a Cinema-Conference Hall was unveiled, as were rooms equipped with microscopes and computer equipment for conducting laboratory activities. In 2007 a Wet Room was opened - a place where one can put their hands into an open-top aquarium tank and touch fish. The Marine Education Section was expanded with a Preschool Room full of soft marine toys, which is very frequently visited by the youngest school children.[1]
Address: al. Jana Pawla II, 81-345 Gdynia
Saint Anthony Church
Also known as: Parafia św. Antoniego Padewskiego w Gdyni
The parish of Saint Anthony of Padua in Gdynia is a Roman Catholic religious administrative unit and community, located in the Archdiocese of Gdańsk. Centered on the Conventual Franciscans' friary and church of Saint Anthony, it chiefly covers the Gdynia district of Wzgórze św. Maksymiliana. It is recognized for numerous social and religious activities ranging from ministry to culture, education and charity. The church building, towering above large part of the city, is known as one of Gdynia's landmarks. Its peculiarity was that it periodically hosted two churches one above another.[2]
Dar Pomorza
Maritime museum opened in 1958. The Dar Pomorza is a Polish full-rigged sailing ship built in 1909 which is preserved in Gdynia as a museum ship. She has served as a sail training ship in Germany, France, and Poland. Dar Pomorza won the Cutty Sark Trophy in 1980.[3]
Address: Aleja Jana Pawla II, 81-345 Gdynia
Emigration Museum
The Emigration Museum is a museum located in the city of Gdynia, Poland. Opened to the public on 16 May 2015, it showcases 200 years of Polish emigrations, from the 19th century to modern days. It is located in the former Maritime Station, which from the 1930s until 1979 was a transit building from which thousands of Polish emigrants left for their new homelands. The building was refurbished in mid-2014 at a cost of PLN 49.3 million.
In 2018 the Museum received the Živa Award of the Best Slavic Museum by the Forum Slavic Cultures.[4]
Address: Polska 1, 81-339 Gdynia
Centrum Nauki Experyment
Experyment Science Center in Gdynia - a science center, an educational institution popularizing science in the form of interactive installations and shows. It aims to combine science and fun and conduct activities promoting science.
Address: Aleja Zwycięstwa 96/98, 81-451 Gdynia
Donas
The Donas hill is in Poland in the Pomerania region, within the borders of the City of Gdynia, in the Dabrowa district. Its height is 205.7 m. In March 1945, a battle took place between the Red Army and the Germans. On the top, there is a GSM tower erected, with a visitors terrace 232 m above sea level. The view includes Gdańsk, Gdynia, Gdańsk Bay, Hel Peninsula and Wiezyca mountain, the highest in the Pomerania region. Nearby is the old and abandoned cemetery that served the village of Kolonia Chwaszczynska's population.
It is also referred to as the Donasty[5]
ORP Błyskawica
Naval museum aboard a WWII destroyer. ORP Błyskawica is a Grom-class destroyer which served in the Polish Navy during World War II. It is the only Polish Navy ship to have been decorated with the Virtuti Militari, Poland's highest military order for gallantry, and in 2012 was given the Pro Memoria Medal. Błyskawica is preserved as a museum ship in Gdynia and is the oldest preserved destroyer in the world. Błyskawica is moored next to the Dar Pomorza.
She was the second of two Grom (Thunderbolt)-class destroyers built for the Polish Navy by J. Samuel White, of Cowes, in 1935–37. The Grom class were two of the most heavily armed and fastest destroyers in World War II.[6]
Address: al. Jana Pawła II 1, 81-001 Gdynia
Sea Towers
Mixed-use in Gdynia, Poland. The two-tower skyscraper Sea Towers is a mixed-use complex on the Gdynia waterfront, Poland, 50 metres from the main port of Gdynia developed by Invest Komfort SA. Tourist attractions such as the beach, boardwalk and retired Polish WWII naval ship ORP Błyskawica are all within walking distance. Construction commenced on 10 May 2006 and was completed on 28 February 2009. At 143.6 metres, Sea Towers is the 14th tallest building in Poland and the second tallest residential building in the country. Apartments are for sale, and the complex can double as a hotel. There is a viewing terrace on floor 32, the top floor of the taller tower.[7]
Address: Antoniego Hryniewickiego 6, 81-340 Gdynia
Muzeum Marynarki Wojennej
Marynarki Wojennej Museum in Gdynia - a museum that collects exhibits related to the Polish Navy. It was established in Gdynia on June 28, 1953.
The first seat of the Museum was an old villa next to the beach in Gdynia, where the exhibition was located, and on the surrounding grounds elements of ship's armament and equipment were exhibited, such as coastal artillery guns from Hel, cannons recovered from the wreck of ORP "Gryf" minesweeper, anti-aircraft guns from ORP "Błyskawica" torpedoes, mines. Several cannon barrels and naval cannons dating from the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries were imported from the museum storehouse in Gdansk. In 1960 a boat "Chatka Puchatków" was placed in the museum, on which two Polish sailors crossed the Atlantic in 1958-59.
Also in 1960, the museum received a very attractive exhibit - the ORP "Burza" destroyer, meritorious in battles during World War II, moored in the harbor at Skwer Kościuszki. During its 15 years of service, the ship-museum was visited by more than 3.7 million people. Due to its poor technical condition, ORP "Burza" was scrapped on 1 May 1976 and the function of the museum ship was taken over by ORP Błyskawica, the oldest destroyer in the world.
In May 1969 the facility and the exhibition were closed due to the poor technical condition of the building, after which some of the exhibits were moved to a temporary room at the Navy Club and the outdoor exhibition of weapons and armaments was placed at the Seaside Boulevard.
One of the most interesting exhibits is the world's only surviving example of a German BT 1000 rocket-propelled bombotorpedo from World War II.
On November 28, 2012, the grand opening of the museum's new headquarters took place in a building shared with the Gdynia City Museum.
A new multimedia permanent exhibition opened in November 2018 to mark the Navy's 100th anniversary. Plans are underway to add an underground portion of the facility at the site of the outdoor museum's Maritime Weapons and Armaments Exposition.
Address: Zawiszy Czarnego 1, 81-001 Gdynia
Gdynia Orłowo Pier
Also known as: Molo w Gdyni Orłowie
Pier in Gdynia, Poland. Gdynia Orłowo Pier - a wooden pier located in the coastal borough of Gdynia.
The first pier in Orłowo was built during World War I. The pier functioned as a Pleasure Pier and as a promenade for the nearby resort. The pier was expanded during the 1920s (the region was then part of the Second Polish Republic); the pier had the length of 115 metres and functioned as a jetty for small ships. In the late 1920s, as the popularity of Orłowo grew, so did competition with the nearby resort of Sopot (then part of the Free City of Danzig); which led to the pier being expanded to 430 metres in length. In June, 1935 the resort of Orłowo became a borough of Gdynia.
In 1949, the pier was devastated by a huge storm which destroyed over half of the structure. In 1953, the remainder of the pier was renovated. Currently, the pier has a length of 180 metres.
Nearby to the pier, is located the Summer Stage of the Gdynia Theatre (Scena Letnia Teatru Miejskiego w Gdyni) and the Orłowo Cliff.[8]
Muzeum Miasta Gdyni
Museum of the City of Gdynia - a municipal museum established in 1983 in Gdynia, a local government cultural institution; documents the history of Gdynia; since 2020, the museum's director is Karin Moder.
Address: Zawiszy Czarnego 1, 81-374 Gdynia
Kościół pw. NMP Królowej Polski
Basilica of the Blessed Virgin Mary Queen of Poland, also known as Basilica of the Sea - one of the two oldest Roman Catholic churches in Gdynia. It is a Neo-Baroque church, belonging to the parish of Blessed Virgin Mary Queen of Poland, located in the center of Gdynia's Śródmieście district in the vicinity of Świętojańska Street.
Address: 29 Świętojańska, Gdynia
Port of Gdynia
Also known as: Port morski Gdynia
Seaport in Gdynia, Poland. Port of Gdynia – the Polish seaport located on the western coast of Gdańsk Bay Baltic sea in Gdynia. Founded in 1926. In 2008 it was #2 in containers on the Baltic sea. The port adjoins Gdynia Naval Base with which it shares waterways but is administratively a separate entity.[9]
Teatr Muzyczny
Concerts and shows, Theater
Address: Ul. Plac Grunwaldzki 1, Gdynia
Teatr Miejski w Gdyni im. Witolda Gombrowicza
Concerts and shows, Theater
Address: ul. Bema 26, 81-381 Gdynia
Ławeczka Antoniego Suchanka
Antoni Suchanek's bench is located in Gdynia-Orłowo by the pier, in the square named after him. It was unveiled on May 31, 2009 and was created by Zdzisław Koseda, a sculptor from Gdynia.
The bench depicts an artist sitting on a park bench and immersed in his work. Next to him on the bench lies a cassette with painting utensils.
The monument was created thanks to the ten-year efforts of the Orłowo District Council.
Bulwar Nadmorski
Square, View point, Park
Address: Bulwar Nadmorski im. Feliksa Nowowiejskiego, Gdynia
Skwer Tadeusza Kościuszki
Square
Urząd Miasta Gdyni
City hall
Address: Aleja Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego 52/54, Gdynia
JUMPCITY - Park Trampolin
Game and entertainment center, Theme park, Amusement park, Park, Relax in park
Address: Tadeusza Wendy 7/9, 81-341 Gdynia