Sopot

A long weekend in Sopot with the pier, Monciak and the Tricity hills

Ride the SKM from Gdańsk to Sopot and walk down Monciak while the cafés open, stopping at the Crooked House and the spa square. Climb the old lighthouse by the pier in the afternoon for the view over the marina, return to Monciak's terraces in the evening, and on day two head uphill into the Tricity Landscape Park.

Walk the pier to its end, 511.5 metres out, while the boards are quiet.

Afternoon. Climb the old lighthouse beside the pier for the view over the marina, then pick a spot on the sand. When hunger hits, walk about a kilometre along the beach towards Gdańsk to Bar Przystań for fried fish.

Evening. Back on Monciak, the terraces fill from about eight. Have a drink in the little courtyard at Pinocchio, then follow the music towards the clubs by the beach.

Day two. Head uphill into the Tricity Landscape Park on foot or by bike for a few hours of beech forest, coming down past the Forest Opera to check what is playing that night. Spend the afternoon in North Park, walking or skating along the shore towards Gdynia, and finish with a sunset from the far end of the pier.

Fried flounder on the beach and sit-down meals along Monciak

Sopot follows the seaside rule: the closer to the sand, the simpler the food. Beach bars fry Baltic flounder or cod, sold by weight with chips and lemon, while Monciak, the main street, is where the town sits down to eat properly. Meta, at the sports stadium on Wybickiego, is a quieter choice away from the crowds.

Beach bars and fish counters fry Baltic fish, usually flounder or cod, sold by weight and eaten with chips and a slice of lemon at a plastic table. Bar Przystań, on the beach about a kilometre east of the pier, is the one locals send visitors to, and on a sunny weekend the queue proves them right. Smoked fish is the other seaside staple, sold from stands near the beach entrances.

The street is lined with cafés and restaurants from the station to the pier, and in summer almost every one spills onto the pavement. Cafe Ferber, a modern lounge bar on the street, serves some of the better cooking in town and good cocktails. Pinocchio's courtyard is a calmer place for lunch away from the parade.

Away from the crowds, Meta, at the sports stadium on Wybickiego, is a quiet Italian place that suits a family dinner. For a big night, Monciak and the clubs near the beach stay busy until the early hours through July and August, then thin out sharply once the schools go back.

Gdańsk, Gdynia and the Hel Peninsula by SKM from Sopot

Sopot sits in the middle of the Tricity, so Gdańsk and Gdynia are a short SKM ride away, with trains running late. Gdańsk's Main Town is the obvious first trip, modernist Gdynia the second, and with a full day the long, thin Hel Peninsula makes the bigger outing.

Get off at Gdańsk Główny and walk into the Main Town for the Long Market, Neptune's Fountain and the brick bulk of St Mary's Church. On the way back, stop at Gdańsk Oliwa for Oliwa Cathedral, whose great organ is played in short recitals, and the park beside it. Westerplatte, where the first shots of the Second World War were fired, is a separate half day by bus or, in summer, by boat from the city centre.

Gdynia is younger and more modernist, built up as a port between the wars. Walk the waterfront to the museum ships Dar Pomorza and Błyskawica, then take a train back towards Sopot and get off at Gdynia Orłowo for the cliff and its small wooden pier.

With a full day, the Hel Peninsula is the bigger outing: a long, thin spit of pine forest and fishing villages that closes off the Bay of Gdańsk. Trains run up it from Gdynia, and in summer boats cross the bay directly.