Gdańsk Activities: A Week by Free Days
Gdańsk rewards anyone who checks the weekday before picking a museum, because each building has its own free day and its own closed day. Get the order right and a few days here cost very little.
Monday: the city museum branches
The Museum of Gdańsk runs the Artus Court, the Main Town Hall and the Amber Museum, and all of them are free on Monday. On other days Artus Court and the Town Hall cost 26 PLN regular or 19 PLN reduced. The Amber Museum costs 37 PLN or 26 PLN, with a 99 PLN family ticket, and opens 10:00-18:00. The Town Hall’s Red Hall is the room to see: a gilded ceiling holding 25 allegorical paintings by Izaak van den Blocke, finished in 1608. Artus Court has the 11-metre tiled stove and the hanging ship models.
Monday is also the day Malbork Castle lets visitors in free, though only on the grounds route. Browse Gdańsk tours and tickets on GetYourGuide if you would rather have transport sorted for it.
Tuesday: the Museum of the Second World War
The branches above are shut on Tuesday, which is exactly when the Museum of the Second World War is free. Regular admission runs roughly 32 to 35 PLN, and the museum is closed on Monday. Free-day queues can be long, so arrive when the doors open and allow half a day. Details are on muzeum1939.pl .
Wednesday afternoon: the Crane
The medieval Crane on the Motława quay is free from 13:00 to 17:00 on Wednesday. Otherwise tickets are 23 PLN regular and 17 PLN reduced. It reopened in April 2024 after a four-year conservation project, and its exhibition covers the port trade that made the city rich. Treadwheels big enough for dockworkers to walk inside lifted ship masts here in the 1440s. Opening hours and combined passes with the other Maritime Museum sites are on nmm.pl .
Free at any hour
- The Royal Way from the Golden Gate to the Green Gate is a public street and costs nothing.
- The sixth-floor observation deck at the European Solidarity Centre is free in decent weather, with the shipyard cranes below.
- Ulica Mariacka’s amber workshops let you watch jewellers cut and set stones, and you can search amber workshop experiences on Viator if you want to try it.
- ZTM trams and buses are 4.80 PLN for a single ticket valid 75 minutes, or 22 PLN for 24 hours.
Eating and drinking
Polish milk bars (bar mleczny) serve soup and pierogi at cafeteria prices, and they are the cheapest hot lunch near the Royal Way. Goldwasser, the herbal liqueur with gold flakes, is a Gdańsk speciality in Main Town taverns. Drinking alcohol on streets, squares and promenades is illegal in Poland, with an on-the-spot fine of 100 PLN, so keep drinks to terraces and licensed venues. After dark, promoters on Długa and Długi Targ hand out free-shot offers for basement clubs. Politely decline them.
The verdict
For the best value, put Monday on the museum branches and Wednesday 13:00 at the Crane, then spend the free days on the waterfront. Tuesday suits the Museum of the Second World War. For a longer plan around these days, see the walking routes or the two-day itinerary .
Before you go
Buy paper SKM train tickets before boarding and stamp them in the yellow machine on the platform, or use an app such as Jakdojade, which activates on purchase.