Hel
Hel is a town on the tip of the Peninsula. It is a renowned sea-bathing place and holiday resort, very fashionable in the period between the world wars. The seaside specificity of Hel is determined by several dozen of kilometers of beaches, white and grey sand-dunes as well as dune flora like the Sea holly for example.
Stripes of pine forest diversify the way to the beach. It is an ideal place for all those who dream of relaxation, sea and sun baths as water surrounds Hel from three sides. Tourist attractions include the lighthouse, which is a breathtaking and long-lasting in the memory viewing point in Hel, the Museum of Fishery located in a historic former-evangelical Church of Peter and Paul situated near the town centre next to the harbour and the fishing harbour, which was built in 1882-1883 by the Prussian government, originally the cutter and fishing boats harbour was protected by a breakwater of a wooden construction which took the area of today’s internal reservoir. But the most popular place in Hel is also the sealarium in the basin of the sealarium grey seals that used to be the most common specie of seals living in the region of the south Baltic Sea found their asylum. The specie died out almost entirely because of intense and long-lasting hunting.
Kashubian Region
Kashubian Region covers the areas stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Tuchola Forests. The Kashubian region is famous not only for its rich nature, but also for its culture and traditions.
The tourist attractions include, among other things, an open-air ethnographic museum in Wdzydze Kiszewskie, a Museum of Kashubian Ceramics in Chmielno and the highest Kashubian mountain in Wiezyca. Kashubian people speak Kashubian language, classified either as a language or a Polish dialect. In analogy to the linguistic classification, Kashubians are considered either an ethnic or a linguistic group. Kashubia is a lake district in north Poland in Pomeranian Voivodship. It is surrounded by many hills made by Scandinavian glaciers. The traditional capital of Kashubia was always Gdansk. Today there are many cities which claim to be the capital: Kartuzy, Koscierzyna, Bytow and Wejherowo. The total number of Kashubians varies depending on one’s definition. A common estimate is that over 300,000 people in Poland are of the Kashubian ethnicity. The most extreme estimates are as low as 50,000 or as high as 500,000.
Malbrok Castle
Malbork was founded as a settlement around a castle the erection of which started in 1274, when the Order of Teutonic Knights came to this land. In the course of about 30 years a small castle was built and it was named Marienburg, which means Mary’s City.
In 1309 the Great Master of the Order, Siegfried von Feuchtwagen moved his residence from Venice to Malbork and thanks to this the castle and the city became the capital of the Teutonic state. Due to new needs the castle was extended. Thanks to its redevelopment which lasted for almost 40 years the initial castle was transformed into the part which is now called the High Castle. It was surrounded with moats and walls and was used as a residence of the Great Masters and the highest-ranked Teutonic officials. The Malbork Castle is regarded as the biggest Gothic stronghold in Europe. It was added to the world’s cultural heritage list maintained by UNESCO in 1997. The castle is surrounded by belts of defensive walls with gates and towers. Malbork Castle is only 50 kilometers from Gdansk.
Gdynia
Gdynia is one of the youngest Polish cities. Its port is the gateway to Poland and a landmark of Gdynia. The port of Gdynia ranks among the best in the Baltic region, as it is not only a cargo-handling facility but also an international business centre.
Gdynia also has four modern shipyards and is a major road, rail, and sea transport node, providing access to major European cities – in the near future also by air. He who comes to Gdynia can experience many of the advantages it offers, like the beautiful seaside location among woody hills; good roads, modern public transport that is friendly to the elderly, the disabled, as well as the environment; all services that determine the quality of life; broad cultural offer and excellent schools of national and international renown.
Gdynia is attractive owing to its rapid growth in virtually all areas and the unmatched dynamism of its citizens. Apart from the traditional industries that gave rise to the city, firms associated with the 21st century disciplines like IT or biotechnology have been booming. Gdynia has a well-developed business services sector – companies specialising in finance, consultancy, brokerage, R&D and data processing. Gdynia offers also beautiful, sandy beaches patrolled by lifeguards. The largest is in the city centre- close to the Marina, a mere five minutes on foot from the high street. It is beautiful, wide and golden, drenched in sunshine all day long, providing bathers or sunbathers with everything they might want, like the other beaches located at Orlowo, Redlowo, Oksywie, or Babie Doly. The latter has an additional attraction – the ruin of a World War II German torpedo launcher, 320 meters away from the shore. It is explored by those seeking adventure and history secrets.
Sopot
Sopot is the smallest town of the Tri-City agglomeration, functioning as a district town. Sopot is a small Polish town situated on the Baltic Sea coast between Gdansk and Gdynia, a natural centre of the nearly one-million Tri-City agglomeration and the Pomeranian province.
In the south the town is bordered by the Tri-City Landscape Park and its northern border is marked by 4.5 km long sandy beaches of the Bay of Gdansk. In Sopot there are many attractions, e.g. the longest wooden pier in Europe, clean and sandy beaches, Bohaterow Monte Cassino Street, which is the most famous pedestrian precinct in the country, The Forest Opera, the Fishing Harbour, The Hippodrome Sopot and the Forest Stadium. Sopot, once described as the Riviera of the North, is attractive also because of its proximity to Gdansk and Gdynia. From Sopot excursions can be made to Puck, Kartuzy and Wejherowo, or by boat to Hel. It is worth seeing in Sopot the neoclassical manor house of the Sierakowskis from ca 1800, now the seat of the Society of Friends of Sopot. The town’s narrow streets hide many delightful guesthouses.