Today Gdansk is a major shipping port and tourist destination and has been the setting for a number of major open air concerts, including Pink Floyd's David Gilmour and Jean Michel Jarre. The Rock band Queen are staging a concert in the Shipyard in October 2008.

As you explore the cobbled streets and dusty museums, it's difficult to imagine Gdansk as more than a handsome backwater. But, as the history books prove, the city has been anything but a silent extra on the world stage. Gdansk's Westerplatte peninsula, a short ferry ride from the old town quayside, witnessed the opening rounds of World War II. Today, a monstrous monument and some smashed bunkers mark the heroic siege where fewer than 200 Polish troops resisted the full force of the Nazi war machine for six days.

There are sightseeing ferries that leave from the sea-side end of Dlugi Targ in the Old Town, which give you very nice views of the Gdansk harbour and shipyards, with destinations such as: around Gdansk port, to Westerplatte, to Sopot and Gdynia or to Hel.

To book your coach to Gdansk, use the journey planner on the left.