Gdansk river tour: the Motlawa from shipyard to water gates

A Gdansk river tour is really a tour of one small river doing a lot of work. The Motlawa enters the centre through the Kamienna Grodza lock and splits into a web of canals around Granary Island and Olowianka.² In the middle of town it branches into several arms and channels, and the granaries, the Crane, the philharmonic hall and the old water gates all stand along them.⁵ That compact layout is why a short cruise can show so much.

The water is calm, and that shapes the whole experience. The current is so weak that kayakers paddle the river in either direction, admiring the old city as they go.⁶ For you, that means a steady ride with little rocking, even in a small open boat, and time to look up rather than hold on. The thing to watch is traffic: from the Crane onward the river is busy with vessels, the regional kayak trail notes.⁷

This page follows the galar cruise, the route the site's own tour sails, from its start at the former shipyard back up into the Old Town. The galar takes 70 minutes and its guide speaks Polish and English. Other city boats, from electric launches to catamarans, use parts of the same water, so the stops below also serve anyone planning a Gdansk river boat tour on another vessel. The river panel of the map shows every stop.

The first island you meet in the centre is Olowianka. Kayak guides pass it with its distinctive philharmonic hall and the permanently moored ship Soldek, and then slip under a drawbridge on the edge of the historic centre.⁹ The National Maritime Museum's main exhibition fills three historic granaries on the island.²¹ From the water you see their brick walls rise straight from the quay, which is the view the old cargo boats had.

The Soldek deserves an introduction before you sail past. The museum calls it the only steam-powered coal and ore carrier left in the world and the first prototype seagoing ship built in Poland after the Second World War.²² Between 1949 and 1981 it made 1479 voyages and carried more than 3.5 million tons of coal and iron ore.¹⁹ A note for this autumn: from 1 September to 15 November 2026 the ship runs a shortened visitor route during repairs.²³

Above the island turns the AmberSky wheel, 50 metres high.²⁰ A ride takes about 15 minutes, a good way to see the river you have just sailed from above.²⁴ Between the museum's buildings on either bank runs a small ferry called Motlawa, so you can cross to the Crane without walking round by the bridges.²⁵ If you plan a museum visit, the permanent exhibition in the granaries is free on Wednesdays.²⁶

Past the Crane the river runs beside the Long Embankment, today a promenade with the berths of the tourist boats.⁷ Along it stands a row of Gothic water gates from the Middle Ages, each one the end of a street running down from the city.⁴ The electric eco boat's listing picks out several of them, the St Mary's, Straganiarska, St John's and Holy Spirit gates, along its route, a handy list to tick off as you pass.

St Mary's Gate is the easiest to place: it closes the river end of Mariacka Street, the lane that climbs to St Mary's Church.²⁸ At the southern end of the embankment the Green Gate was built between 1568 and 1571 as lodgings for visiting monarchs.¹⁶ From it Dluga and Dlugi Targ run inland to the Golden Gate, the old Royal Route.²⁷ From the water, the Green Gate frames that whole axis.

Almost everything you see here was rebuilt. Taken in March 1945, Gdansk was turned into a sea of ruins, then restored over decades by builders, conservators and artists.⁵³ Knowing that changes how the waterfront reads: the gables are faithful reconstructions, and the river is one of the few things that never moved. Ask your guide which facades follow old drawings and where the rebuilders took liberties; it is a good question to put on the water.

The route is the same water for every operator, but the boats differ. The galar is the wooden one, 12 seats, 70 minutes, wheelchair accessible by its listing. The electric eco boat is smaller still, limited to 8 guests on a 50-minute loop from near the Green Bridge, with pillows and blankets on board. On the electric boat you hear the water and the gulls rather than an engine.

If you want a guide in German, the 45-minute catamaran cruise has commentary in English, German and Polish, and it sails rain or shine. A 45-minute river yacht from the same Green Bridge stop takes no more than 10 guests. The eco boat's listed loop also touches the shipyard and the marina, but of these four boats only the galar lists the harbour itself among its sights. For a Gdansk river tour that wants the working harbour as well as the Old Town, that settles it.

Prices sit close together: all four boats here, the galar included, start from about €19. Each refunds in full if you cancel 24 hours or more ahead. So choose by the stretch of river you want and the size of boat you are comfortable in, not by a few cents. Whichever you pick, book a slot that leaves time to walk the embankment afterwards, because the gates and the Crane reward a second look on foot.