Gdansk Walking Tour: The Royal Way Through the Main Town

Gdansk surprises people. Tucked up on the Baltic coast, it has one of the grandest main streets in Poland, a run of tall, gilded merchant houses that once belonged to one of the richest trading ports in Europe. This route follows the old Royal Way straight through the heart of it, from the western gate down to the river, and it works beautifully as one of those self-guided walking tours you can take at your own speed. The whole thing is flat, a little under two kilometers, and packed so tightly with sights that you are never walking more than a minute or two between them.

Before you set off

Give yourself around two hours, more if you stop for coffee or duck into the amber shops along the way. The route is flat and entirely paved, though the cobbles are uneven in places, so wear something sensible on your feet. Mornings are the quietest time, before the day crowds arrive, and the low sun lights the fronts of the houses beautifully. Gdansk sits right on the sea, so the weather can turn quickly and a breeze often comes up the river in the afternoon, which means a light layer is worth carrying whatever the forecast says. Bring a little cash for the amber stalls, since this coast is the amber capital of the world and the shops here are half the fun.

The Upland Gate

Start at the Upland Gate, the western entrance to the old city and the formal beginning of the Royal Way. This was where visiting kings began their ceremonial procession into Gdansk, so it is the right place to start your own. The gate is a solid, low Renaissance block decorated with the coats of arms of Poland, Prussia, and the city itself, a reminder of how many hands this port has passed between. Stand in front of it and read the carvings, which lay out the whole political story of the place in stone. Just behind it stand the remains of the old torture house and prison tower, a grimmer note before the grandeur begins. This spot marks the edge of the historic core, where the modern city stops and the old one takes over. Walk through and the Golden Gate waits just ahead.

The Golden Gate

A few steps on you reach the Golden Gate, and the change in mood is immediate. Where the Upland Gate is defensive and heavy, this one is pure show, an ornate arch topped with allegorical statues representing the virtues a good citizen was meant to hold. The stonework is picked out in gold, which is where the name comes from, and it glows when the sun catches it. This gate opens directly onto the Long Street, framing your first view down the grand avenue like a stage curtain being drawn back. Pause under the arch and look through it, because the framed view of the street beyond is one of the best in the city. The gate was rebuilt after the war, like almost everything here, which makes the craft of it even more remarkable. Step through and you are on the Royal Way proper.

The Long Street

The Long Street, or Dluga, is the showpiece of Gdansk, a wide avenue lined on both sides with tall, narrow merchant houses in cream, gold, pink, and pale blue. Each one is different, their fronts crowded with carvings, gilded details, and steep decorated gables, because the merchants who built them competed to outdo their neighbors. Walk slowly down the middle and let your eyes climb the facades, since the best details sit high up where the crowds never look. Look out for the Uphagen House, one of the few you can step inside to see how a wealthy family lived. The whole street was flattened in the war and rebuilt piece by piece from old photographs and paintings, which is almost impossible to believe as you walk it. The avenue widens gently as it goes, opening into the broad Long Market at its far end.