Lawrence and Alex in front of the bow of ORP Błyskawica — riveted steel rising overhead.

Written in by Alex Gostev

Showing a Londoner Gdynia: Lightning, Flowers, Sprats

First in a series: the walks I take guests on in the Tri-City. Lawrence came from London, so the route had to work on someone who lives inside a megacity.

Stop 01 · Downtown Gdynia

A café inside a flower shop

French flowers taste like any other flowers but having them in coffee is fun. The place itself has great atmosphere. It took me some time and exploration to find it so starting a trip there set us for good joyful day.

The flower shop from the street — orchids in every color, butterfly prints taped to the glass
It's full of different botanicals. Orchids in every color, butterfly prints taped to the glass, bouquets on the pavement. The 30s modernist architectural style leaves facades plain while shop like this gets around that and I'm glad it does.
Hot chocolate with dried petals floating on top, in a flower-patterned mug
Hot coffee with dried petals floating on top, in a flower-patterned mug.
Stop 02 · Śródmieście

Streets that confuse people

Between the café and the water we're observing streets. Sometimes people from Eastern Europe see Gdynia and think socialist housing blocks - that's true to some minor stylistic part. Downtown went up 1933–1937, on a strict grid, before Soviet architecture existed at all. Modernism was big in Europe in the 30s, and Gdynia's center survived as one coherent piece, which is why it sits on UNESCO's tentative list today.

~28
The fishing village of 28 houses
Transformed after WWI as Gdańsk became a Free City run mostly by Germans, and Poland lost practical access to the sea. So it built a new port from this tiny village.
100K+
Residents within about a decade
Plots were sold to private developers with hard rules about facades. Everything proportional and though through.
200K+
Living in a city sized for a million
The extra space feels good. A city architect made private greed produce a coherent city.

Gdynia feels like something built for a million people, but around 200,000 live here.

One detail for food people
The original building holds a Michelin recommendation restaurant
The old surviving building from the fishing-village days holds a Michelin recommendation now. This building is doing better than ever 😀
Stop 03 · The waterfront

Sorbet

On the waterfront, follow the Polish seaside promenade sequence: coffee, then ice cream, then the sea.

Strawberry and lemon sorbet in a paper cup against the water
Strawberry and lemon sorbet in a paper cup.
Stop 04 · The city beach

Fifteen minutes from downtown, sand

A city beach this close to the center. No palm trees here. Pastel loungers stacked in a pile, a beach bar with blue funnels like a ship's, umbrellas, sand, water... space.

Pastel loungers stacked in a pile at the city beach, with a beach bar built with blue funnels
Pastel loungers stacked in a pile, the beach bar's blue funnels like a ship's behind them.
Stop 05 · ORP Błyskawica

From lounging to war in one dock

ORP Błyskawica "Lightning" was built in Cowes, England, in 1936–1937 for the Polish Navy, and got out when the war started. Her best-known act came full circle: in May 1942 she helped defend Cowes itself from Luftwaffe raids, firing on German bombers over the town where she was born.

The mast of ORP Błyskawica — antenna rings, signal lines and a red-and-white flag against a gray sky
Look closely at the mast shot. Antenna rings, signal lines, a red-and-white flag against blue-grayish sky. The ship is preserved down to the wires.
Lawrence and Alex in front of the bow of ORP Błyskawica, riveted steel rising overhead
This bow shot gives you the scale that photos of whole warships never do. Riveted steel rising a few stories over your head. Błyskawica is the most decorated Polish warship and one of the few WWII destroyers still afloat.
Stop 06 · A Gdynia taproom

First beer

A Gdynia taproom nearby, 13 taps, the Polish craft mostlyl. Breweries like Lubrow and Funky Fluid share the board with the wider Polish scene, prices run 15-22 złoty a glass depending on style. We took the Kaszubski lager as Gdynia is the part of historical Kaszuby region... what else could we take.

The taproom's chalkboard of 13 taps, breweries and prices
Thirteen chalkboard taps.
The barrier to doing a thing is bigger than the barrier to being good at it.
— Lawrence

We toasted with it. It works for visiting new cities too. Most times we never get past "maybe."

Stop 07 · By the water

Sprats

Fried Baltic fish, a lemon, a lager, sitting outside. I love how it's on Norwegian — utepils ☀️🍺 It also made sense to grab some fish when you're on the coast. Honolulu makes the best fried sprats in the whole Tricity.

Fried Baltic sprats with a lemon and a lager, sitting outside
Fried Baltic sprats, a lemon, a lager, sitting outside.
Menu cartoon of a grinning sailor in a striped sweater with a pipe, raising a glass
Gdynia draws its sailors happy.
Summary

Five hours, no taxi, no queue

Café, modernist streets, beach, a real destroyer ship, beer, fish = architecture, sea, history, Polish beer during one afternoon.

Where more time would help
One afternoon is thin for Błyskawica. The naval museum on the ship deserves its own visit. Also we could been trying more food, Gdynia has a lot to offer, though choosing between eating and walking, we bet on the our legs, not stomachs 😛
If you copy this walk
01
Start soft. A flower-shop café, hot chocolate with dried petals. No tourist finds it alone.
02
Walk the grid. Downtown is 1930s modernism on a strict grid — UNESCO tentative list, not socialist blocks.
03
Keep the promenade sequence. Coffee, then ice cream, then the sea. No skipping steps.
04
Give Błyskawica time. Preserved down to the wires — an hour is a minimum, and the naval museum next door deserves its own visit.
05
End honest. Chalkboard-tap beer, then fried sprats outside by the water. You're eating what you just walked beside.