I was going through some old travel photo albums from my student years in Stockholm and came across the Gdansk weekend trip photos. So, I thought of sharing them this weekend, as a photo tour.

Given that the cruise lines going past Stockholm used to attract me, I used to watch out for cruise deals and finally came across one, that was too good to miss. So, during the Easter break of 2002, a friend and I decided to go for a weekend cruise to Gdansk. The cruise package was ideal for the budget traveler as it included accommodation in a large, en-suite cabin for the entire weekend on half-board basis so we did not have to find other accommodation while exploring the city.

Gdansk old city was the highlight of our trip. We took the tram from the port to the old city area each morning and walked about. On our first day, we made our way over to ulika Duliga. The main street was a lovely street with an old fountain in the middle and interesting building architecture lining both sides of the street.

While walking around, we came across another lovely street, which looked more of a quiet back street when compared to the flamboyant main street. ul Mariacka was crammed with hand carts selling art crafts and jewellery.

As I had wanted to visit Oliwa cathedral, we took the bus to the cathedral rebuilt in 16th century, after it had been burnt to the ground during the 1577 rebellion of the city of Gdansk. Adjacent to the cathedral was a lovely park area, which we enjoyed wandering around.

A third highlight of our weekend trip was the visit to another coastal city, Sopot, named for its springs, thought to be beneficial to one’s health. After Gdansk, Sopot seemed a much more relaxed place and people seemed more friendlier and prone to ask about us. I enjoyed the fresh sea breeze while walking along the pier.

While I had enjoyed my visit, I really had no plans to revisit until I saw Eff it… I’m on holiday’s recent pictures of Gdansk. Vlad’s beautiful photos made me think that I should revisit the city to see the lovely changes that have occurred over the last 15 years.

[Linking this post to Weekend Travel Inspiration and The Weekly Postcard]