Christmas in Gdańsk – Apartments and Accommodations

Updated: 1 August 2026

Gdańsk won the European vote for the best Christmas market — not a marketing line but the result of the Best Christmas Market in Europe contest, where the city gathered over 92 thousand votes and left the rest of the field well behind. The effect is that people now come here in December for more than the Motława and the Crane. Below is the practical side of Christmas in Gdańsk: when the market runs, what is open on 24 and 25 December, and why on those particular days an apartment with a kitchen beats a hotel.

The Christmas market in Gdańsk — the best in Europe

The market is set up on Targ Węglowy (the Coal Market), at the end of Długa Street, and spills over into the neighbouring blocks. It opens in the second half of November and runs until 23 December. Admission is free — you pay only for what you eat, drink or buy.

Hours are adjusted from year to year, but the pattern holds: on weekdays the market runs from midday into the evening, and longer on Fridays and at weekends. There are well over a hundred stalls — amber, Kashubian ceramics, smoked fish, mulled wine, gingerbread workshops for children, meetings with St Nicholas on Sundays. Add several hundred illuminations across the centre, which stay lit long after Christmas, usually until early February.

The city publishes each year’s dates and programme in the autumn on gdansk.pl. From an apartment on Granary Island, in the Main Town or by the Motława, Targ Węglowy is a 10 to 15 minute walk — close enough to drop in for mulled wine in the evening without planning an expedition.

What is open in Gdańsk on 24, 25 and 26 December

This is the question everyone spending Christmas away from home asks, and the one guidebooks skip.

24 December (Christmas Eve). The market closed the day before. Shops work shorter hours, usually until early afternoon, so do your shopping in the morning. Most restaurants close for the evening or open only until midday. Christmas Eve in Poland is the main family evening, and the city is quiet — the empty streets of the Main Town under the illuminations are one of the better sights of the year.

25 December. Trade closed, museums closed, most restaurants closed too. Hotel restaurants and a handful of others open, always by advance reservation. It is a day for walking and resting, not for sightseeing.

26 December. The city slowly comes back: some restaurants open, a few attractions resume, but many institutions are still shut. Full service returns on the 27th.

The practical conclusion is simple: for two, sometimes three days the city is closed, and you still have to eat. That is why an apartment with a full kitchen and a fridge works better over Christmas than a hotel room — you shop on 23 December and stop depending on whether anything is open.

Apartment or hotel for Christmas in Gdańsk

We run over 150 apartments in the strict centre of Gdańsk — from studios for two to two-bedroom flats that take a whole family. All of them have a fully equipped kitchen, which over these particular few days matters more than usual.

Christmas by the sea — is there any point in winter

Christmas by the Baltic sounds like a summer idea moved to the wrong month, but the winter coast has its own case. The beach at Brzeźno or Jelitkowo is practically empty in December, the pier stands in the mist, and a walk along the shore in cold air turns an afternoon into something you cannot repeat in season. From the centre it is about half an hour by city train and tram.

Realistically: there will be no swimming, except for the ice bathers who go in as a group on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. But the combination of a market in the centre and an empty beach half an hour away is something no other Polish city offers at this time of year.

Where to eat in Gdańsk over Christmas

Before Christmas — that is, up to 23 December — everything is open, and that is the moment to go out. A few places within walking distance of the centre:

• Restauracja Kubicki — one of the oldest in Gdańsk, on the Motława, Polish cooking done elegantly.
• Gvara — in the heart of the Main Town, Polish dishes in a modern reading, intimate.
• Pierogarnia Stary Młyn — on Świętego Ducha street, a good choice with children.
• Kawiarnia Pikawa — hot chocolate and mulled wine after a walk around the market.
• Eklerownia — for something sweet and proper coffee, right in the centre.

Over Christmas itself the list shrinks to a few places taking reservations only, usually booked from November. If you plan to eat out on 24 or 25 December, arrange it a month ahead — otherwise it is your own kitchen.

When to book accommodation for Christmas

Christmas books more calmly than New Year — interest peaks in October and November, and individual properties are sometimes free even in December. The exception is apartments for larger families, sleeping six or more: there are few of those in the centre and they go first, because Christmas is when the whole family arrives at once.

The second question is how long to stay. Arriving on 23 December and leaving on the 27th gives you four full nights: a day for shopping and the market before it closes, two quiet Christmas days, and one for sightseeing when the city works again. A shorter stay means you catch only the days when everything is shut.

Frequently asked questions about Christmas in Gdańsk

Apartments for Christmas in central Gdańsk

Our apartments in the strict centre of Gdańsk stand on Granary Island, in the Main and Old Town and along the Motława — a quarter of an hour’s walk from the market on Targ Węglowy. Book directly with Apartmore, without portal commission.