Gdansk rewards thin wallets. The shipyard where Solidarity began, the Westerplatte peninsula and 10km of Baltic sand are all free, milk bars still plate pierogi for 12 zł, and one 4.80 zł tram ticket reaches every viewpoint in this guide.
The rusted-steel ECS building stands beside the 42m Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers, three anchored crosses raised in 1980. Square, historic Gate No. 2 and the rooftop garden cost nothing; the permanent exhibition is free on Wednesdays.
An 18th-century landscape park with a palm house, Japanese garden, alpine section and canals full of ducks, all free to wander. The adjoining Oliwa Cathedral, at 107m the longest church in Poland, charges nothing to enter outside concert hours.
The open-air peninsula where the Second World War began at 04:45 on 1 September 1939. Ruined barracks, Guardhouse No. 1 and the 25m granite memorial mound sit unfenced on public paths, accessible free at any hour of the day.
Rebuilt granary facades face the old quay across a swing footbridge that pivots open on the hour in summer. Walking the boardwalk, watching the bridge turn and photographing the reflections in golden light costs nothing at all.
A neo-Gothic 1896 market hall raised over the excavated foundations of a 12th-century Romanesque church, still visible in the cellar. Stalls sell smoked Baltic fish, pickles, farm cheese and rye bread; a picnic for two lands around 25 zł.
A subsidised milk bar trading since 1958 on the Royal Way, with tiled walls and a hand-written board above the counter. Pierogi ruskie, tomato soup, potato pancakes and kompot run 8-16 zł each — a filling lunch stays under 30 zł.
The student quarter two SKM stops out, where Wajdeloty's zapiekanka windows, bakeries and the Bazar produce stalls price everything for residents rather than visitors. Seasonal strawberries, bread and cheese come well under 20 zł.
A deliberately shabby PRL-styled bar papered with 1970s newsprint, where shots and beers start near 8 zł and herring plates near 12 zł. It is the cheapest sit-down table anywhere on the Royal Way after dark.
A 45m hill of 19th-century Prussian earthworks topped by a steel Millennium Cross, ten minutes' walk from the main station. The ramparts, tunnels and terraces are open parkland with a free sweep over the old town and shipyard cranes.
More than sixty monumental murals painted on the concrete apartment blocks of Zaspa since 1997, spread across the grass strip of the district's former airport runway. A permanently free, self-guided outdoor gallery with no gate or ticket.
Wide white-sand Baltic beach with a 136m timber pier, free to walk year-round. Changing cabins, showers and the promenade running north to Jelitkowo cost nothing, and pine paths behind the dunes hide free public barbecue spots.
An 1894 brick lighthouse whose time ball still drops at noon and whose tower signalled the opening shots of 1939. Around 18 zł buys the 133-step climb to a gallery view over the harbour mouth, Westerplatte and the container terminal.