New Year’s Eve in Gdańsk — Rent an apartment and ring in the New Year in style!

Updated: 1 August 2026

New Year’s Eve is one of those nights when the whole of Gdańsk comes out into the street. The question is less whether to come than where to sleep — hotels in the centre sell out for this night first, and an apartment gives you what a hotel room cannot: your own kitchen, a living room big enough for the whole group, and a door you close whenever you like. Below is everything worth knowing before you book: how many people fit, when to reserve, what the house rules are on that night, and what actually happens in the city.

New Year’s Eve in Gdańsk — what happens in the city

The main public celebration has for years taken place on Targ Węglowy (the Coal Market), right by the Highland Gate at the end of Długa Street. It usually starts around 22:00, admission is free, there are live concerts, and at midnight a fireworks display of some fifteen minutes set to music. The city announces each year’s programme in November, so check gdansk.pl for details.

Two things nobody warns you about, and both can spoil the evening:

You may not bring alcohol or your own fireworks onto the site. Security does check. So the toast happens either earlier, in the apartment, or in a bar.

The streets around Targ Węglowy are closed, usually from 30 December to 1 January — this covers Targ Węglowy itself along with 3 Maja, Hucisko and Wały Jagiellońskie. If you are arriving by car, arrange parking in advance and expect to walk the last stretch.

From an apartment in the strict centre — Granary Island, the Main Town, the Motława waterfront — Targ Węglowy is a 10 to 15 minute walk. That is the whole advantage of this location on this one night: after the fireworks you walk home, instead of hunting for a taxi in a city where everyone is hunting for one at the same moment.

Which apartment for how many people

We run over 150 apartments in the strict centre of Gdańsk, but the largest ones — sleeping six and eight — are a small part of that, and they disappear from the calendar first. A group of six or eight has far less to choose from in Gdańsk than a couple does.

A house or an apartment for a larger group?

People start looking for a house when six or eight of them are travelling together and nobody wants to spend the night in two hotel rooms on different floors. The trouble with a house outside Gdańsk is exactly that: it is outside Gdańsk. After midnight you are going back by taxi, out of town, on the night when fares are highest and cars hardest to get in the entire year.

An eight-person apartment in the centre solves the same problem differently: two bedrooms, a convertible living room, two bathrooms, a full kitchen for the New Year’s dinner — and a ten-minute walk from where the fireworks go off. For groups larger than eight it is usually possible to book two apartments in the same building; book directly and we can check whether they can be put on the same floor.

House rules you should know before booking

We would rather say this plainly than have you find out afterwards. Our apartments are not party venues. Meaning: a New Year’s dinner among the people actually staying in the apartment, yes. A party with loud music, guests who are not on the booking, running until morning, no.

Specifically:

Quiet hours from 22:00 to 6:00 in every property, 31 December included. Buildings in central Gdańsk are mostly tenements and residential blocks with permanent neighbours — the walls are thin, and those neighbours have a right to peace on that night too.

A refundable deposit, normally 300 PLN, settled after check-out. It comes back in full if nothing has happened.

The number of guests must match the booking. An eight-person apartment takes eight people, not twelve.

This is not fine print invented to annoy anyone — it is the condition on which short-term rental in central Gdańsk remains possible at all. If what you want is a venue for a loud party until dawn, it is fairer to say straight away that this is not it. For a night like that a rented venue or a club works better, and the apartment stays the place you come back to.

When to book an apartment for New Year’s Eve

The bigger the group, the earlier. Apartments for two are sometimes still free in mid-December. Six- and eight-person ones go far faster — realistically they should be booked in October or November, because Gdańsk simply does not have many of them.

Second, minimum stay. Around New Year almost every property in the centre requires several nights rather than one — that is the standard for this date, not our invention. In practice it works in your favour: on 1 January the city wakes up late, and leaving that morning means packing at dawn after a sleepless night.

Third, book directly. On the portals the same night costs more by their commission, and if plans change it is easier to sort things out with someone who holds the keys than with a form.

Where to eat on New Year’s Eve and on 1 January

On 31 December most restaurants in Gdańsk switch to a set menu with a single sitting and advance booking — call early, because places run out during December. A few spots within walking distance of the centre:

• Restauracja Kubicki — one of the oldest in Gdańsk, on the Motława, Polish cooking done elegantly. The classic choice for a New Year’s dinner.
• Zafishowani — near the Old Town, fish and seafood, good cocktails.
• Mandu — a pierogi place for those who would rather skip the formality.
• Foodhall Montownia — a former shipyard hall in the Young City, a dozen kitchens under one roof and a cocktail bar. The answer when the group cannot agree on a cuisine.
• Drukarnia Café — the atmosphere of an old print works, good for a slow start to the evening.

On 1 January most places open only in the afternoon. If your apartment has a kitchen, do the shopping on 30 December — shops close early on the 31st, and on 1 January trade is prohibited by law in Poland, with only a handful of outlets open.

What to do in Gdańsk on 1 January

New Year’s Day in Gdańsk has one quality it never has in summer: the city is empty and quiet. Walking Długi Targ at ten in the morning, where you would normally be squeezing through a crowd, is an experience available a handful of days a year. The Motława waterfront, Granary Island, the Crane — all within a fifteen-minute walk, with no queues.

If the weather holds, take the city train out to Brzeźno or Jelitkowo. A winter beach and pier on New Year’s morning make a stronger impression than they do in July, and the hardier locals go in for a New Year’s dip in the Baltic.

Museums and most attractions are closed on 1 January — things really restart on the 2nd. That is one more reason to stay in Gdańsk a day longer rather than leave the morning after.

Frequently asked questions about New Year’s Eve in Gdańsk

Apartments for New Year’s Eve in central Gdańsk

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