Top Ten Beaches in Poland
Let’s be honest, when you think about taking a trip to Poland you are probably planning on taking a city break somewhere but there are some stunning Poland beaches.
The Polish coastline boasts white, long sandy beaches and unlike more popular beach resorts in Europe it’s possible to avoid the crowds if you visit at the right times.
Beach holidays in Poland can be surprisingly cheap as they tend to cater more for local tourists than foreign visitors. This is great news for foreign tourists though because if you pick a time when Poles are at work (and the kids are still in school) then you can often have a beach all to yourself !
We’ve compiled a list of the top ten beaches in Poland for you to consider visiting.
1/ Świnoujście beach
Yeah, I know, I can’t pronounce it either but the beach at Świnoujście is regularly rated as the top beach in Poland.
Świnoujście is located in the far North West tip of Poland practically on the German-Polish border. The closest airport is Szczecin and it takes around two hours to get from the airport to Świnoujście.
The beach is one of the widest in the country at over 205 metres in width and is over 10km long which means that you are sure to find a good spot to throw your towel on the sand and soak up some rays. As with all other Polish beaches, Świnoujście enjoys white sandy beaches and and for the best part of a decade has been named the cleanest bathing in Poland. It also has a very shallow and moderate descent into the water making it perfect for swimmers of all levels.
If all that isn’t enough to persuade you then the beach is regularly recorded as having some of the highest water temperature in Poland with temeperatures ofter reaching 26 degrees Celsius.
Świnoujście beach also has the longest stone pier in Europe at the end of which is a beacon in the shape of a lighthouse which helps ships entering the nearby port.
2/ Ustka beach
Located around 2-3 hours from Gdansk Ustka is a very popular beach especially in the summer season.
The beach is divided into two parts with the eastern part catering more to people who want to be entertained whilst visiting the beach. Here you can expect to find bars, cafes, food kiosks. Equipment for water sports and beach sports can also be hired here as well as plenty of attractions for the kids to enjoy. The downside of all of this is that it can get very crowded at times.
The western part of Ustka beach is more natural and perhaps better suited for those who don’t like crowded beaches. To get there you can either catch a ferry from the eastern side or cross a small bridge that spans one of the breakwaters.
3/ Sopot beach
Sopot beach ranks high on our list because it is so easily accessible for most tourists who fly to this area for a short break and is perfect if you are searching for beach holidays in Poland. Gdansk airport is only a 25 minute ride away and Gdynia is about the same distance away.
Sopot is one of the most popular resorts for Poles to visit and has been a fashionable holiday resort for almost a hundred years so you can expect to find dozens of hotels, bars, restaurants and shop to keep you entertained. There really is plenty to do round here and despite its popularity it’s always possible to find a nice quiet spot.
Lining the beach is a promenade for walkers and a cycle path and there are numerous bars that are located right on the beach.
There are also two luxury hotels practically on the sand, the Sheraton and the Grand Hotel Sopot both of which offer great sea views from their rooms if your budget can stretch that far.
Sopot is also famous for having the longest wooden pier in Europe (known as “Molo”). There is a small fee to access though it is free outside of season. The pier is really the heart of Sopot’s beach life and although it is only a pier with no attractions it serves as a very popular place for people to walk up and down and to enjoy the views.
4/ Karwieńskie Błoto beach
Not a place that appears in most guide books but the beach at Karwieńskie Błoto Drugie is a real hidden gem. It is pretty much the northern most beach resort in Poland located not all that far from the Hel Peninsula and just over an hour’s bus drive from Gdansk.
On the approach to the beach are a criss cross network of tiny canals and rivers. Separating the shore from the nearby villages is a narrow forest that runs the entire length of the beach offering some much needed shade during the hot summer season. The forest is also a wonderful place to explore and is very popular with walkers and cyclists.
If you walk directly across the forest then you will come across one of the many entrances to the beach. They are all numbered so it’s easier to find your way back.
The beach itself is beautiful and many foreigners who see it for the first time will be amazed that Poland has beaches that could easily be mistaken for Florida. Long expanses of soft, white sand leading to crystal clear blue waters
5/ Hel beach
Apart from having one of the coolest names in the world allowing every social media savvy tourist to play around with the “going to Hel” pun there are also some really great beaches here.
Hel peninsula is a skinny finger of land that curls across the Polish coastline and Hel is a small village right at the tip of that peninsula. This doesn’t make it that easy to get to Hel but the journey there is all part of the fun.
A train takes around 2.5 hours from Gdansk to Hel whilst a car ride will take around 1.5 hours depending on traffic but like we said the trip to Hel is something really special.
The narrowest part of the pensinsula is at the very beginning and here there is just enough land for a road, a rail track and a few metres of land with views of the Bay of Gdansk on the right hand side and the Baltic Ocean on the left.
As you move further down the pensinsula then the land starts to widen out a bit and houses start popping up as well as cycle paths. Then you come across little holiday resorts (which are well worth visiting by the way), some forested areas, windsurfing clubs until you finally reach the town of Hel.
Here you will find plenty of shops and bars to keep you happy as well and this is also where you will find the beach at Hel that faces the Bay of Gdansk. The beach here is a little narrow and can get very crowded but if you walk across to the other side of the peninsula, on the Baltic side then the shoreline is wider and much less crowded.
6/ Łeba beach
The beach at Łeba is somewhat typical of other beaches in our top ten in that it enjoys clean, white sandy beaches beyond which lies a stretch of pine forest that acts as a welcome haven whenever the sun becomes too intense.
Plenty of things to do here with activities organised for kids as well as equipment for those who love their water sports.
There are also some amazing sand dunes at Słowiński National Park which is a few kilometres away but is definitely worth seeing if you are in the area.
7/ Kołobrzeg beach
Perhaps not the most accessible beaches in Poland as it’s almost two hours drive from Szczecin and over three hours from Gdansk however (!) if you are lucky enough to be in this area then you should definitely make a beeline for this beach.
Kołobrzeg is one of those fortunate beach resorts that doesn’t have to rely solely on “beach tourists”. The town is also very well known as a spa resort and attracts many visitors from northern Europe.
Although the beach here is still great to spend a few hours there are also many other things to explore as Kołobrzeg has quite a developed tourism infrastructure. There are plenty of bars and restaurants at the sea front as well as a lighthouse to explore, statues to admire, hotels to stay in and a pier to admire the views.
8/ Krynica Morska
This beach is possibly the closest you may ever come to visiting Russia !
Krynica Morska is located at the north east tip of Poland, only a short distance from the Russian “enclave” of Kaliningrad. The beach is on the fringe of a very narrow land spit not to dissimilar to Hel Peninsula in some ways
Only an hours drive away from Gdansk it is also possible to catch a train from Gdansk to Krynica Morska although you will need a taxi/car for part of the way and consequently this extends the journey time to almost 2.5 hours.
For a beach that might seem like it is at the end of the world there are a surprising number of things to do at Krynica Morska.
The beach itself is wonderfully unspoilt and although it can get busy in high season the shoreline is long enough that you can still find some quiet places. There is a lighthouse, a pier, plenty of things for the kids to do, plenty of bars and restaurants and even an option to visit Russian by getting a temporary visa to visit Kaliningrad (read Jonny Blair’s excellent guide on how to apply for a Russian visa).
9/ Mielno
Located between Gdansk and Szczecin, it can take around 2-3 hours by car from Szczecin and between 3-4 hours from Gdansk.
We’re including Mielno in our top ten list of best beaches in Poland because Mielno is regarded as one of the best beaches in Poland if you like to paaaaarty ! Not quite Ibiza but it has developed a bit of a reputation as a great place to go and enjoy yourselves with plenty of bars, clubs and restaurants to keep everyone entertained.
Despite lots of crowds in summer the beach is long enough that you should still be able to find some space and like all good beach resorts there are plenty of activities to enjoy such as water sports, activity parks, a seaside promenade and a lighthouse.
10/ Dębki beach
Dębki is located around one hour and ten minute’s drive from Gdansk airport.
If you are looking for nudist beach holidays in Poland then Dębki might be your answer. There are two beaches here, one which caters for families and another where clothing is optional (it’s best not to confuse the two areas !)
There are plenty of campsites around as well as hotels and guest rooms.
The beach is wide and very clean and popular with swimmers as the descent into the sea is very moderate. There is a small village nearby and a pine forest which offers welcome shade to scorched sunbathers.
Beach holidays in Poland may not be the most obvious vacation idea but Poland genuinely has some great beaches.
White sandy shorelines are a very common feature amongst Polish beaches and they are usually very clean too. It’s not unusual to have pine forests right at the edge of the beach where people can enjoy exploring along walking paths.
In the high season, many beaches in Poland can be very crowded but you can always find a secluded area away from the holidaymakers for some peace and quiet.
Conversely, if you want to be in the middle of all the fun then Polish beaches are definitely geared up for entertaining tourists. Activity areas for kids, beach volleyball, water sports equipment hire, fishing, are just some of the things you will see. As the Baltic sea has practically no tide then many beaches build permanent bars or restaurants right next to the beach, for example, Sopot as the world famous Grand Hotel only three steps away from the sand whilst there are also some night clubs that turn parts of Sopot beach into an outdoor party venue !
Summer isn’t the ONLY time to enjoy the beauty of the Polish coastline. Spring and Autumn can still be very hot and a lot less crowded as everyone has gone back to work. Even Winter brings it’s own charm as part of the sea can freeze which is an unforgettable sight.
Don’t forget, that even if you aren’t lucky enough to visit the north of Poland then you can still enjoy some beach life in other parts of the country as there are many urban beaches in Poland such as Warsaw and Wroclaw.
Hopefully whichever part of northern Poland you visit you will find some time to visit the beach. You won’t regret it.