After spending a few days in Poland, exploring Warsaw and Krakow, I decided to get a bus to the North if Poland and spend two days in Gdansk.
Gdansk, came at a time I needed to be remembered how it felt to travel alone, with no one to count on but myself. I had been travelling for two weeks with two amazing Portuguese girls I had met on my way. During this time I actually let go and forgot about the difference of traveling with someone and going alone.
Arriving in Gdansk brought back all those feelings of arriving in a new place
“where the hell am I?” and “How do I get out of here? Where is the hostel?” and my typical one “Oh my God, I’m going to die here!”
Five hours on a bumpy bus from Warsaw later, I said hello to Gdansk. After two weeks of absolutely no worries about anything related to travel the nerves kicked in again.
Two days in Gdansk | Poland
The moment I got my feet out of the bus, I looked around, totally lost and realized I had no idea of anything! I didn’t know where to go from the station, which turned out to be hilarious. It took me almost an hour to figure out how to cross the street. Also, once again, I didn’t even know the name of the hostel!
I had only one information about where to go, which was to get close to the water. I started to ask pretty much everybody that crossed my path how to get there. Obviously nobody spoke English.
After one hour of not even figuring out how to cross the street and not a single person able to speak English I started to freak out a bit. It was the kind of feeling I didn’t have for the past two weeks.
I wasn’t used to being lost and alone after all that time.
In order to make it worked I had to take a deep breath and remember what I used to do in these situations. I went searching for a point of information. After a while I discovered that Gdansk has free wifi all over the place, so I turned the wifi on my phone, opened google maps and managed to find my way to the river.
Having two days in Gdansk, and not feeling well on the day I arrived, and the weather being pretty bad, I ended up just staying at the hostel the first day.
I was in pretty bad shape and I had fever during the night. This is not something you want to have when you’re traveling, specially if you’re alone. I ended up meeting a guy in my dorm who told me he looked at me and asked why I slept so much.
Getting sick on the road sucks!
Exploring Gdansk in two days | Poland
The next day I woke up early, got my small backpack with me, my camera, and I went exploring Gdansk. I unexpectedly fell in love with this city. From walking side by side with the river, to the breathtaking colors of the buildings and the architecture, Gdansk grew in my heart.
Gdansk was one of my last stops on my solo travel adventure in Europe. Traveling alone again after two weeks made me realize how much I missed being alone.
Gdansk reminding me how much I love traveling alone
The fact that I love traveling alone doesn’t mean I hate having company. Meeting the Portuguese girls and traveling with them for two weeks was one of the highlights of my trip. But being alone helps me appreciate my own company and I’m able to experience a new place in a totally different way.
There’s nothing like getting out of my hostel in the morning alone and being able to do whatever I feel like without having to explain my choices to anyone.
During my two days in Gdansk, I got to see the city at my own pace. I tried to walk every small hidden street I could find. Also, I did something I hadn’t done over the few weeks before: I wrote! I found perfect cafes with typical Polish coffee, sat there, almost always by the window, watching locals pass by and writing as much as I possibly could. Finally I felt inspired to write about everything my life had been over those months of backpacking Europe and doing what I love.
Gdansk is the perfect place to explore walking. No bus, no train, no metro. Just you working out your legs. It’s a small city and very different from the tourist cities in Poland.
Gdansk is the perfect city for you to explore without being bothered by selfie sticks or crazy euphoric tourists.
Gdansk was my Polish getaway and a place that confirmed my love for Poland.
One thing about Poland that’s not news to anyone is the crappy weather. Polish weather tends to be very annoying during Spring. You can actually feel the four seasons in less than thirty minutes. Yes, if you feel the sun shinning and warming up your face, I can promise you it will last a few seconds and trust me it will rain, get windy and even snow for a second. That’s just Poland and its bipolar weather.
But not all is bad. Or I wouldn’t say Poland was one of my favorites out of thirteen countries. Poland grew on me pretty quickly. Obviously not counting the freezing cold weather, Poland is amazing, and it has one great advantage over some other countries I visited: you can find really cheap food! And I’m not talking about crappy cheap food or fast-food, I’m talking about typical Polish food at the price of almost nothing. That kinda of food that will make your tummy incredibly happy and wishing for more.
The trick to eating good in Poland is having the patience to look for the best and cheapest places. If not, you’ll probably end up paying for fake Polish food and you will also pay the price of a tourist. It’s like any other place I guess.
Where to eat cheap and good food in Gdansk?
My favorite was a place called Dwadziescia Cztery that’s located on Piwna 16. Here they serve lunch menus that change everyday, and from Monday to Friday between 12-4pm you can have the main course, dessert and drink always at 18PLN (which is a little over 4€)
I mean, you want better than that? It’s even cheaper than McDonalds!
Another typical thing in Gdansk, or maybe I should say in Poland, is the coffee tradition. Here you will have a lot to choose from, if you’re looking for great coffee with a cozy environment to enjoy on a cold or rainy day. And since I’m here to help you get the best possible experience on the places
Best places for coffee in Gdansk
Kurhaus, on Aldony 6, Poludnik 18, on Garncarska 7, Pies i Róza, on Swietojanska, and Palarnia Kawy, on Tkacka 7/8. You will thank me later about this!
Reasons why I loved my two days in Gdansk
Do you understand now the reason I started this post by saying that Gdansk was the place that reminded me how much I love being alone?
In just two days I did all that I love. I walked an entire city and discovered what’s probably the cheapest place to eat in the city and my tummy was happier than ever. I’ve jumped from one coffee shop to another, tasting great coffee and writing about my travels. I felt the panic, again of being alone and lost with no one to help me. And I felt the joy arriving to the hostel and having that great feeling of accomplishment as I dropped my backpacks and said “I did it!”.
My two days in Gdansk were about discovering an amazing city that most people who go to Poland don’t even know about. I embraced being alone, remembered how ok I can be just by myself. I guess I have the advantage of not being a person who gets lonely and I actually enjoy my time better this way.
Overcoming fears and fighting for my dreams
Overall, I was once again a happy kid. I like the feeling of finding a way of doing things that aren’t easy for me. When you travel alone you have the feeling of constantly conquering your fears, of not letting it hold you back.
If the three months I had backpacking Europe on my own did something, was to give me seconds of feeling like a superwoman, of believing I can do anything I want. And that, nobody is ever gonna take that away from me. It will be moments I’ll have carved in my memory and that will go with me wherever I go from now on.
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