Gdańsk with kids

Main Town and the Motława

• 6Sights
• 1Kid stops
• about 2.5 kmDistance
• 1.5 hoursWith play time

This walk is about 2.3 km and links six of the Main Town's sights: the Long Market with Neptune's Fountain, the Granary Island footbridge, the Crane on the Motława, St Mary's Church, St Catherine's Church and the Golden Gate. One playground, in Skwer Świętopełka Wielkiego between St Mary's and St Catherine's, breaks up the walk.

The whole walk stays on the Main Town side of the Motława, so there is no bridge to cross. It starts at the Long Market, goes down to the footbridge and follows the quay to the Crane, then turns inland to St Mary's, passes the playground on the way to St Catherine's and ends at the Golden Gate. Children get a bronze Neptune on the Long Market and, at the footbridge, the kind of moving bridge that a local family guide says they will like.

1. 

   Long Market and Neptune's Fountain

   The bronze Neptune on the broad market street.

   Photo: Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 3.0

2. 

   Granary Island footbridge

   The old granary island seen from the river bank.

   Photo: Rudolf H. Boettcher · CC BY-SA 4.0

3. 

   Crane on the Motława

   The medieval wooden crane on the quay.

   Photo: Qzmiak · CC BY-SA 3.0 pl

4. 

   St Mary's Church

   The vast brick church, one of the largest in the world.

   Photo: Gyddanyzc · CC0

5. Playground in Skwer Świętopełka Wielkiego Playground

   A small playground in Skwer Świętopełka Wielkiego with a slide, a swing, a baby swing, a trampoline and stepping posts.

   On the map

6. 

   St Catherine's Church

   The oldest church in the Main Town, with its tall brick tower.

   Photo: Аимаина хикари · CC0

7. 

   Golden Gate

   The ornate gate at the western end of the Royal Way.

   Photo: Lilly90 · CC BY-SA 3.0 pl

Tips for parents

• A local family-walk guide to the Main Town, which also passes the Golden Gate, the Long Market, the Crane and Mariacka Street, calls its route flat and suitable for strollers with small wheels.
• The same guide says children will surely like the "moving bridges", and names the revolving footbridge to Granary Island, the one this walk stops at.
• Mariacka Street has long been closed to wheeled traffic, and a Polish family guide notes that prams are exempt.
• A family guide to Gdańsk warns that cobblestones rattle strollers and that the Old Town is slippery when wet. It says children in flip-flops often slip.
• A Gdańsk guide to Granary Island says the waterside there needs looking after with small children; the walk stops at the footbridge to the island.

Public toilets

No public toilets are mapped close to this walk.