Where to stay in Gdansk: the best areas and hotels

This is the Gdansk you came for. The Main Town is the historic core: the Royal Way runs from the Golden Gate down Long Street to the Long Market, where Neptune's Fountain stands in front of the Artus Court and the Green Gate opens on to the river. St Mary's, one of the largest brick churches in the world, rises behind, and Mariacka Street below it is all gargoyles and amber jewellers.

Hotels here are mostly small and steeped in character, set in tall Gothic and Renaissance-style townhouses, some right on the Long Market itself. You will walk everywhere and stumble home in two minutes. Expect church bells, buskers and, in summer, crowds.

The Main Town ends at the Motława River, and the quayside is the city's favourite place for a stroll. The great wooden Crane, once used to load ships and raise masts, leans out over the water; restaurant terraces line the Long Embankment; and tour boats set off for Westerplatte.

Hotels along this stretch give you the best views in Gdansk. They include a five-star with the river at its feet, intimate boutique places in historic houses and smart four-stars next door to the Crane, several of them with wellness areas for a rainy Baltic afternoon. It is slightly calmer than the Long Market at night, and no further from anything.

Facing the Main Town across the Motława, Granary Island was once lined with warehouses stuffed with the grain that made Gdansk rich. Today it is the city's newest quarter: brick-and-glass buildings in the shape of the old granaries, filled with restaurants, cafés and some of the most stylish hotels in town.

The appeal is obvious the moment you open the curtains. From here you look across the water at the Crane, the Green Gate and the spires behind, and a footbridge puts you in the Long Market in a few minutes. Choose it over the Main Town if you prefer modern rooms, rooftop terraces and lifts that work to creaking staircases.

Confusingly, Gdansk's Old Town is not the bit with the famous sights. It lies just to the north, around the main railway station: a more workaday district with a few fine churches, the Old Town Hall and a clutch of large, reliable hotels that suit families and anyone arriving by train. The Long Market is a few minutes' walk.

Keep going and you reach the former shipyard where the Solidarity movement was born. The cranes still stand, the European Solidarity Centre tells the story, and the old industrial buildings are turning into loft apartments, bars and studios. Stay here for a different, grittier Gdansk and lower prices than the riverfront.

North of the centre, Gdansk becomes greener and more residential. Wrzeszcz is a lively local hub of shops and cafés around its railway station, about five kilometres from the historic centre. Oliwa, further on, is known for its cathedral and park, and for the cluster of office towers that has made it the city's business district.

Hotels and serviced apartments here are modern and sensibly priced, and the position is the selling point: central Gdansk is one way down the line and Sopot the other, with the airport a short drive off. A fair choice for a longer stay or a working trip. For a first weekend, stay closer to the Long Market.

Gdansk has a seaside of its own. The northern suburbs meet the Baltic in a long, wide beach backed by parkland and a cycle path that runs all the way to Sopot. Hotels here sit a short walk from the sand and lean towards families: think swimming pools, saunas, playgrounds and children’s menus.

For something wilder, head east to Sobieszewo Island, about nine miles from the centre, where pine forest, dunes and a bird reserve meet a quiet beach. A modern spa hotel overlooks the marina. Both make sense in summer, when you want sand between your toes and the old city as an outing.

Sopot has been a spa resort since the nineteenth century and still knows how to show people a good time. Its wooden pier, the longest in Europe, strides out into the Gulf of Gdansk; a broad sandy beach runs either side; and Monte Cassino Street, the pedestrian main drag, funnels everyone down to the sea past bars, cafés and ice-cream queues.

The hotels are the best on this coast. A 1927 grande dame stands on the beach beside the pier, flanked by modern five-stars with spas, indoor pools and private stretches of sand. Summer weekends are loud and crowded; outside July and August it is a breezy, elegant place for a spa break. Gdansk is a short train ride away.

Gdynia is the youngest of the three cities, a port that grew up in the twentieth century, and it feels quite different from its neighbours: broad streets, a working harbour, museum ships moored along the quay and a seafront boulevard that locals walk at all hours. The city beach and the marina are right by the centre.

It is the calmest base in the Tri-City and often the best value. The stand-out is an adults-only hotel in an eighteenth-century house in a park, with a pool and spa; there are also waterfront four-stars and apartments near the green slopes of Kamienna Góra. Gdansk is the far end of the commuter line, so allow time for sightseeing trips.