After leaving Łódź Dan and I visited Torun, Gdansk, Gdynia, Sopot, and Hel.
Torun and Tricity (as in Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot) are probably on most people’s Poland itineraries, so there’s not really much new I can say about them. Plus, while they were all nice places, they didn’t make huge impressions on me.
Torun is a pretty university city with a beautiful and also authentic feeling Old Town. We spent one night there simply unwinding and staying up far too late talking with our Couchsurfing hosts. We were so relaxed we didn’t even take a single photo!
Gdansk is also pretty, but honestly it didn’t do very much for me. Maybe it was the stale touristy feel of the city, or maybe I was just really cold (we didn’t have the best weather there).
Sopot has a beautiful wooden pier that’s definitely worth visiting.
And the walk along the beach and through the woods between Sopot and Gdynia made for a great escape from the cities.
There wasn’t much to see or do in Hel, but you should probably visit anyway, for the name alone.
Phew, now that’s out of the way, let’s talk about Leba!
Travel to Leba, Poland
After staying in so many cities (Siberian winters aren’t exactly optimal for camping in the wilderness) Dan and I were craving a bit of time in the countryside. So when I read about Słowiński National Park in northern Poland, famous for its huge sand dunes, I knew we had to go!
We Couchsurfed with a young family in Luzino, a village near Leba (or actually, Łeba), and even if the park had been awful I would have loved my time there because our hosts were so amazing.
They lived in a mud house for several years while building their current home, and after surviving a car crash decided to move to London for a year because life’s too short not to! Seriously, they were the coolest, and staying with them almost made me want to move to Luzino so that I could have them as my neighbors.
The park wasn’t bad either!
Visiting Poland’s Sand Dunes in Leba
We rented bicycles and biked through the forest towards the beach and sand dunes, and oh my goodness, it was so nice to be out of cities for a change!
Bicycling is obviously the perfect photo op, which I took full advantage of while Dan was… amused? Not amused? Patient, at least.
It was sort of alarming to see how quickly the sand dunes move inland – those poor trees will soon be buried!
Depressing summer homes? At least they’re colorful!
We easily hitchhiked from Leba back to Luzino, as we did around most of Poland. It was a great way to get a chance to talk to more friendly locals while avoiding expensive buses.
Poland is one of the easiest places I’ve hitchhiked – the easiest though still remains Macedonia, where my longest wait was only 8 minutes!
Have you been to northern Poland?
MissLilly says
such a beautiful park!
Silvia says
it really is!
Sernik z pieprzem says
Gdynia, not Gydnia, sweetheart 🙂 hope you enjoyed it all. Greetings from Gdynia xx 🙂
Silvia says
And that’s why I should never edit when I’m tired! Thanks for catching it for me 🙂
Justine says
Who knew there were sand dunes in Poland? Not me! The countryside looks beautiful and playing in the leaves looks like so much fun 🙂
Silvia says
Right? I was so surprised to read about the dunes too!
Rachel says
I really would never have expected to see sand dunes, how cool! It looks like such a great place to explore and get some fresh air.
Gorgeous photos, and I think the sad/colourful holiday homes as cute in a I-really-wanna-make-one-over kinda way!
Silvia says
That would be such a fun project – they’re tiny, but could be really cozy inside!
Rachel says
I live in a camper van so my home is tiny! These would be roomier for me ;D
Silvia says
Ahh love it!
Rebekah says
these pictures are definitely not how I picture Poland. It looks like a lot of fun. I tend to need a lot of nature time to balance out city time as well.
Silvia says
Poland really surprised me!
Maria's Adventure says
I went to Gdansk and Sopot a few weeks ago – nothing special about the cities, but it was nice for a cheap weekend trip!
Wow how amazing that you are moving to Trondheim already in July! 😀 Feel free to ask me if you have any questions or anything! 🙂
Silvia says
That’s exactly how I felt about them! And yes, I’m so excited about Trondheim! Though nervous about finding a place to live and work, eeek. Thanks for the offer though, I might send you some questions 🙂
Camille says
Really pretty photos, the park looks so quiet and peaceful! I’m planning to be back in Europe this summer and wondering if I should include Poland on my itinerary now!
Silvia says
You should! Poland has so much to offer, and I love how it’s beautiful like so much of Western Europe, but also has a bit of an edgier, grittier side as well.
Miriam of Adventurous Miriam says
Yep. Those summerhouses do look depressing 🙂 I love the sand dunes, though; I had no idea Poland had them!
Silvia says
It definitely wasn’t I had been expecting from Poland. I’m not sure I had even realized Poland had beaches before I went, haha.
Jenia says
Whoa – sand dunes in Poland?! This is crazy cool. Your posts are making me want to explore more of Eastern Europe 🙂
Silvia says
I have fallen so in love with Eastern Europe!
Victoria@ The British Berliner says
What a lovely write-up Silvia. I love your photos especially whizzing around on your bikes! Yes, I certainly have been to Northern Poland and in Łeba too. I love it to so much that we actually go there every two/three years! Here’s the link to what I wrote about it: https://thebritishberliner.wordpress.com/2014/04/28/if-youre-looking-for-a-cheap-holiday-the-polish-baltic-sea-is-pretty-alright/
Łeba is such a sweet place on the Baltic Sea and truth be told, even though I live in Germany, I actually prefer the Polish Baltic Sea rather than the German one! Whoops! The sand dunes are just amazing and the beach is virtually deserted. You can even go on a full day fishing excursion which we did one year. We had to be on the fishing boat at 05:00! I was the only woman on the boat and nobody spoke English just Polish and a few words of German. However, they were awfully kind to my son and showed him how to catch and clean fish LOL! They were pretty respectful too as “lunch” included brown bread, sausages, pickles and and as much beer as you wanted, but they only offered me cups of tea, so I took it and kept my lady-like stance until we got off the boat at the end of the day LOL!
Silvia says
Wow, that excursion sounds amazing! Hilarious about the tea – way to be a lady, Victoria!
Little Miss Architect says
Hello, it’s a pity I couldn’t show you around the Tricty, I am sure I would show you places that would impress you 🙂 I am an architect and a blogger at http://www.littlemissarchitect.com and a tour guide in Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia. And I love walking my cities with the visitors. You can look at some of my posts on my cities here: , , any many others posts on Polish cities tagged “in Poland” 🙂 Have you seen ? Best!!!
Silvia says
Thanks for the posts! I definitely need to return and give Tricity another chance 🙂
becky hutner says
i can’t believe you hitchhike. you just got cooler.
Silvia says
Haha not sure if hitchhiking makes me cool or just cheap, but in Poland it really was so much fun, and so, SO easy!
Nanette Dorian says
Really great trip! I went to Poland 3 years ago but with a car and I had a fabulous time! The country is beautiful and the people are ridiculously friendly! Love it there! Thanks for sharing your adventures!
Silvia says
I truly loved Poland!
Robert Z. says
Silvia, I know why Tricity didn’t get your attention. Simply because you haven’t visited Zaspa with their impressive monumental murals. Zaspa is district of Gdansk filled with communist commieblocks which are transformed to one of the biggest street art exhibition in the world. By the way, sorry for late comment. I decided write about it because I noticed you are great fan of street art. Also your blog is fantastic!