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Gdansk and Sopot cruise: which boat suits your trip

Yacht cruise from Sopot marina with a welcome drink

★ 4.7 · 355 reviews total

from €23 a headSee availability

Answer in brief

For a Gdansk and Sopot cruise, choose the Sopot sailing yacht for open sea and a turn at the helm, a Gdansk river boat for the old waterfront, or the Westerplatte round trip for history.

Choosing essentials

  • Sopot pier: 511.5 m out to the yachts1
  • Cruises from the pier are open to anyone2
  • Adult pier ticket on paid days: PLN 103

Two taps to your boat

Sea or river: which cruise suits you

Say what you want to see and who is coming, and a matching cruise appears with its starting price.

1What do you most want from the water?

A Gdansk and Sopot cruise can mean an hour on a historic river boat among old gables or a sail on the open bay off Sopot pier. They feel nothing alike, so pick by what you want to see.

Editorial team, sopotcruise.click · Updated November 9, 2026 · Takes 8 min

Key facts

  • Open seaThe yacht from Sopot pier, 50 to 105 minutes, from €22.
  • Old town riverThe historic boat in Gdansk, 70 minutes, from €19.
  • History by waterThe round trip to Westerplatte, 80 minutes, from €23.
  • Small and quietThe electric eco boat in Gdansk takes at most 8 guests.
  • Between the citiesGdansk to Sopot one way in 1.5 hours.

Sea or river: the first choice to make

The cruises around Gdansk and Sopot split into two families. River boats stay on the Motlawa and the canals of Gdansk, gliding past granaries, gates and the shipyard, close enough to the banks to see faces on the quay. The Sopot yachts leave the pier-head harbour for the Gulf of Gdansk, where the horizon widens and the deck rides the swell.

A Gdansk and Sopot cruise therefore depends on the mood you want. On the river you get architecture, a guide and a smooth ride that suits small children and anyone wary of waves. At sea you get space, wind in the sails and the long line of the coast from Gdansk to Gdynia, with the chance to steer the yacht yourself.

Distance matters too. The river boats start in the Old Town, a few minutes from where most visitors stay in Gdansk. The Sopot yachts start at the head of a pier that runs 511.5 m from the promenade, so allow time to walk out, and on paid days buy a pier ticket on the way.1 The pier operator also keeps a register of the firms allowed to run commercial cruises from Sopot pier, from small operators to the white-fleet boats of Zegluga Gdanska, and says the bay cruises are open to anyone.2 From central Gdansk that means a train ride to Sopot first, so a sea cruise is closer to a half-day outing, while a river cruise fits into an afternoon of sightseeing with no planning at all.

Side by side

Every bay and river cruise in one table

CruiseWaterFromReviews
Sopot yachtOpen gulf€22355
Sopot sunset yachtOpen gulf€26316
Historic river boatRiver€193,498
Westerplatte round tripRiver and port€231,471
Eco boatRiver€19841
Motlawa catamaranRiver€19337
Gdansk evening yachtRiver and bay€22336
Gdansk to Sopot boatRiver and gulf€473

Starting fares and review counts from each listing; prices depend on date and option.

The Sopot sailing yacht, for sailors and couples

Out of Sopot, the yacht cruise takes 50 to 105 minutes, with fares from €22. Unlike the motor boats on the river, it is a sailing yacht, and guests may take the wheel and help run the boat. Wind sets the course: cliffs at Orlowo one evening, the Gdansk port side or plain open water the next. Expect the deck to tilt when the sails fill, and feel free to ask for a turn steering.

Couples, small groups and anyone curious about real sailing, minus the course, will feel at home. The alcohol-free welcome drink, prosecco in summer and mulled wine in the cold months, makes it feel like an occasion without becoming a party boat. Its 355 reviews average 4.7, and guests rate the crew at 4.8. Book a daytime slot for brisk sailing and bright water, or read on for the evening version.

Its sunset twin, from €26 and just as long, glides past beachfront hotels, the pier and cliff at Orlowo and the Sopot lighthouse. Choose it for an anniversary or a last evening of a trip. Choose the daytime sail if you want stronger wind and brighter water. On both, the sheltered inner deck and the toilets on board make the outing comfortable for people who have never been on a yacht before.

Time aboard

Bay and river cruises by length in minutes

  • Speed boat30
  • Catamaran, Gdansk45
  • Eco boat, Gdansk50
  • Historic boat70
  • Westerplatte trip80
  • Sopot yacht, longest105

Durations as each listing states them; the Sopot yacht runs 50 to 105 minutes by option.

The historic river boat in Gdansk, for first-timers

With 3,498 reviews averaging 4.7, the city cruise on a historical Polish boat is the most-reviewed boat listing we compared. It lasts 70 minutes on the river through the Old Town, guided live in Polish or English, and starts from €19. It is also listed as wheelchair accessible. The boat has 2 starting points by booking option, so note which quay is printed on your ticket before leaving the hotel.

This is the cruise for a first visit to Gdansk: it explains the waterfront, the granaries and the old port in an hour, with no swell and no walk out along a pier. The same kind of boat runs a sunset sailing of 1.5 hours from €22, with 1,142 reviews averaging 4.8. For a couple staying in the Old Town, that evening river trip is the natural rival to the Sopot sunset yacht: shorter to reach, calmer on the water, but without the open horizon.

The river trips belong to a city break in Gdansk rather than a day by the sea. Here they matter as the alternative: if the sea is rough, or you are not going to Sopot at all, the river boat is the safe and rewarding choice. It also works as a first-day orientation: once you have seen the waterfront from the water, the streets behind it make more sense when you walk them, and a sea trip from Sopot can follow later in the stay.

Three different hours

Yacht, river boat or galleon

Sailing

Sopot yacht

Open sea, you may steer

  • Length50 to 105 minutes
  • WaterGulf of Gdansk
  • DrinkAlcohol-free
See this cruise

River

Historic river boat

Old Town waterfront

  • Length70 minutes
  • GuidePolish and English
  • AccessWheelchair accessible
See this cruise

History

Westerplatte trip

Guided round trip

  • Length80 minutes
  • GuideEnglish, Polish, German
  • AccessWheelchair accessible
See this cruise

The galleon to Westerplatte, for history

The guided round trip from Gdansk to Westerplatte lasts 80 minutes, has a live guide in English, Polish and German and starts from €23. It has 1,471 reviews averaging 4.2. It heads out of the city past the shipyard and the port towards the peninsula at the harbour mouth. Unlike the Sopot yacht, it starts in the middle of Gdansk, so it is easy to fit around a morning of museums, and the live commentary in several languages helps visitors who know little of Polish history.

Treat it as a history trip rather than a pleasure cruise. Westerplatte is a battlefield and a place of remembrance, and it deserves the quiet respect you would give any memorial. If you want to walk the site itself, find out first whether your boat puts passengers ashore or just circles; sailing past and walking the ground are not the same visit.

If your interest is the sea itself rather than the war, the Sopot yacht gives you more open water for less time aboard. If it is the history, the galleon is the right boat, and there is no reason not to do both on different days of the same stay. The yacht is about the bay as it is today, the galleon about what happened at its edge, and seeing both gives a fuller picture of this stretch of coast.

Compare the cost

Price two boats for your group

Enter your party size to see the starting fares side by side.

Compare 4 alternatives

Price two boats for your group

Enter your party size to see the starting fares side by side.

2 people
  1. Sopot yacht50 to 105 min · per person starting at €21

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    View
  2. Historic river boat70 min · per person starting at €17

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    View
  3. Westerplatte trip80 min · per person starting at €21

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    View
  4. Eco boat50 min · per person starting at €17

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    View

Starting prices from GetYourGuide, converted at the ECB reference rate. You will see the exact price when booking.

Sea or river

Picking a boat in four steps

  1. Start here

    Sea or river

    The Sopot yacht sails the open gulf from the end of the pier.

  2. Then

    How long

    From a 45-minute catamaran to an 8-hour sail to Hel.

  3. Next

    Who comes

    The eco boat takes at most 8; a private yacht up to 12.

  4. Finally

    Day or dusk

    The Sopot sunset sail starts from €26.

Small boats and catamarans on the Motlawa

For a quieter hour on the river, the electric eco cruise around the Old Town lasts 50 minutes, takes at most 8 guests and starts from €19. Its route passes Granary Island, the Soldek, the Museum of the Second World War and the Gdansk Shipyard. With 841 reviews averaging 4.6, it is well tested.

A sightseeing catamaran on the Motlawa runs 45 minutes with a guide in English, German and Polish, also from €19. It suits families who want a guide in German as well as English. Both return to their starting point, so there is no transfer to plan afterwards. On a hot afternoon the shade on a covered boat is worth a lot, and on a cold one a short loop of under an hour keeps everyone happy, and these short river trips pair easily with a museum or a meal in the Old Town.

Gdansk has its own evening yacht with a welcome drink, priced from €22 for 50 to 105 minutes. It is the Gdansk counterpart of the Sopot sail, with 336 reviews averaging 4.3, and it suits travellers based in Gdansk who do not want to take the train to the coast. Compare it with the Sopot yacht on the route as much as the price: one stays close to the city, the other heads straight for open water.

Video

Gdansk, Sopot and Gdynia compared

Thee Poland on YouTube · The video stays unloaded until you press play.

Before you choose

Questions to settle first

About you3

  • How many are coming, and does anyone get seasick?
  • Does anyone need wheelchair access?
  • Do you want daylight or sunset?

About the boat3

  • Length from 45 minutes to 8 hours
  • A guide on board, or a skipper and the view
  • A Sopot pier ticket on paid days for the yachts3

About booking2

  • Free cancellation up to 24 hours on the cruises compared
  • Starting fares from €19 on the river

The boat between the cities and the long sails

If you want the boat to be your transport as well as your outing, the one-way Gdansk and Sopot boat trip takes 1.5 hours from Stara Stocznia to Sopot marina and starts from €47. It passes the shipyard and Westerplatte before crossing open water to the pier, so it covers both worlds in a single trip.

For a whole day on the sea, a sailboat trip from Sopot to Hel lasts 8 hours, starts from €86 and includes a 2-hour stop on the peninsula. It is the biggest commitment of the lot, and it needs a settled forecast. A breakfast cruise on a catamaran from Sopot or Gdansk sits in between, 2 hours with a buffet, from €53.

Adrenaline seekers have a 30-minute speed boat ride from Sopot that reaches up to 100 km/h, limited to 10 participants, from €79. It covers the Sopot shore, Gdynia and the Brzezno pier in quick succession, the opposite of a slow sail in every way. It starts at the square in front of the pier, so you can walk off the beach and onto the boat with little planning, but be ready for spray and speed rather than a gentle look at the coast.

Matching the boat to the people on it

For couples, the sunset yacht from Sopot is hard to beat for atmosphere, and the daytime yacht for a first taste of sailing. For families with small children, the river boats in Gdansk are calmer, and the historic boat is listed as wheelchair accessible. For a group celebration, a private yacht from Gdansk or Sopot takes up to 12 people per boat.

For history lovers, the Westerplatte galleon carries a live guide in English, Polish and German. For keen sailors, the Sopot yacht lets you steer, and the day sail to Hel gives a real passage across the bay. For people short of time, a 45-minute catamaran in Gdansk fits between lunch and a museum. And for those who want the sea and the city in one trip, the one-way boat from Gdansk to Sopot is the obvious answer, arriving at the pier for a walk and a meal by the beach.

Whatever you pick, check the cancellation terms before paying. The cruises on this page that we compared allow free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start, which on a bay ruled by the wind is worth having. Book a river boat and a sea boat on different days if you can; they are different enough to justify both.

FAQ

Quick questions get quick answers.

Which is better, a cruise in Gdansk or in Sopot?
It depends on sea or river.

Gdansk boats stay on the river among old buildings; Sopot yachts sail the open gulf for 50 to 105 minutes.

Which cruise is best for children?
A river boat in Gdansk.

The 70-minute historic boat is calm and listed as wheelchair accessible.

Can I steer the boat?
Yes, on the Sopot yacht.

Guests may take the wheel and help sail the yacht from Sopot marina.

Does the Westerplatte cruise land at Westerplatte?
The round trip is a guided cruise.

It is an 80-minute round trip from Gdansk; check its listing if you want to go ashore.

What is the smallest group on the water?
The electric eco boat.

No more than 8 passengers ride the 50-minute Old Town loop by electric boat.

Is there a boat that links Gdansk and Sopot?
Yes, a one-way cruise.

It takes 1.5 hours from Stara Stocznia in Gdansk to Sopot marina.

Which cruise is fastest?
The Sopot speed boat.

A 30-minute ride from Sopot at up to 100 km/h, for at most 10 people.

Sources

  1. MOSiR Sopot, the city sports and recreation centre that runs the pier (mosirsopot.pl) · Molo w Sopocie ↩
  2. MOSiR Sopot, the city sports and recreation centre that runs the pier (mosirsopot.pl) · Rejsy pasażerskie ↩
  3. MOSiR Sopot, the city sports and recreation centre that runs the pier (mosirsopot.pl) · Cennik biletów na molo w Sopocie ↩

Before you go

Keep a place on the yacht.

Reserve a sailing from Sopot pier with nothing to pay today, and cancel free until 24 hours before.

See dates and prices