Westerplatte - Sopot - Gdynia

Route: Gdansk - Westerplatte - Sopot - Gdynia - Gdansk
Duration: 7 h
Firstly we will visit to the peninsula of Westerplatte was for centuries a military base for many different armies, most people associate it with a date: the 1st of September 1939. Also known as the beginning of WW2. Even though we  know now that other Polish cities were attacked a few minutes earlier than Westerplatte, this place is the symbol for the beginning of the Second World War. Here 200 Polish soldiers heroically fought the Nazis which outnumbered them 8 times. Next we will visit to Sopot comes from 1283, when the Pomeranian prince Mściwój II donated a small fishing village of that name to the Cistercians at Oliwa, who then managed this area for almost 500 years. From the middle of the 16th century rich Gdańsk patricians and diplomats from foreign countries began to build their summer residences in Sopot. At that time, the first attempts to organise special places for sea-bathing also appeared. After the first partition of Poland in 1772, Sopot fell under Prussian rule and was known as Zoppot. After the defeat of Napoleon in Russia and the retreat of the French army from Moscow, a French military surgeon Jean Georg Haffner settled in Gdańsk, where he bought a piece of land and then in 1823 built a small bathing complex. A year later, the first Spa House was created here. Thanks to Haffner’s activity, a nearby park was established (which still exists today), walking paths were marked out and the first pier built. The first patients came to Sopot, and the town began to be known as a bathing resort. In 1901, Sopot was granted city rights by the German Kaiser and the resort began to become a very fashionable place in Europe – it was called the Riviera of the North. In 1909, the Forest Opera was created.The Treaty of Versailles incorporated the area of Sopot into the Free City of Gdańsk. In 1920, a casino was founded in the city, and in 1927 the Grand Hotel opened in the city. The wooden pier was extended to the current length of 511.5m. Next we will visit to Gdynia is one of the youngest Polish cities, which is reflected in its appearance and atmosphere. Apart from the shipyard, Gdynia is a thriving centre of business, boasting the status of the most prosperous Polish city. Its close vicinity to two other towns, Gdansk and Sopot, which together form an urban agglomeration, helps to develop commercial activity. The great attractions of the city are two ships-museums, the frigate The Gift of Pomerania and the destroyer The Lightning. In the city we will visit to the Naval Museum has already become a part of Gdynia’s landscape. It is hard to imagine Kościuszko Square without ORP BŁYSKAWICA‘s beautiful silhouette or the Seaside Boulevard. The Museum acquires, conserves, researches and exhibits, the physical evidence of the history of the Polish Navy, for the purposes of study, education and enjoyment. The exhibitions present the story of the Polish naval forces that everyone, who is interested in the history of Polish presence on the seas, can enjoy. After free time we return to Gdansk.
Price: per person