Elbląg: Old Town, art and Bażantarnia
Accommodation in Elbląg
Old Town, art and forest trails in Elbląg
Elbląg offers several ways to shape a trip: historic buildings and art take centre stage in the Old Town, while Bażantarnia invites visitors to enjoy activities in the forest park. There is also an exhibition about the Viking-era trading settlement of Truso and the option of taking a trip along the Elbląg Canal, which can start in the Old Town. This lets you choose a focus for your stay instead of packing every experience into a single itinerary.
Elbląg, dawny hotel Stadt Elbing fota 14.JPG
Photo: Joanna Barton via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl
Historic traces and a view from the tower
The historic street plan shapes the Old Town, along with a forecourt, a monastery and hospital complex, reconstructed townhouses and the distinctive Ścieżka Kościelna. Other sights include St Nicholas Cathedral, the Galeria EL Art Centre and the Market Gate. If you would like to combine a visit to the cathedral with a view from above, you can visit the observation platform on its tower from 1 May to 30 September 2026. This gives you a specific reference point when planning a visit in 2026.
At the Archaeological and Historical Museum, the exhibition “Truso – legenda Bałtyku” focuses on the Viking-era trading settlement founded on the shore of Lake Truso. It adds an aspect of the city’s early trading history to your visit. A trip along the Elbląg Canal can also start in the Old Town, offering a different way to experience Elbląg than visiting buildings and exhibitions.
Art in different forms
The Galeria EL Art Centre primarily presents and creates contemporary art. Its programme includes exhibitions, concerts, performances, theatre productions and film screenings. The building is a two-aisled Gothic former Dominican church in the Old Town. Here, two aspects sit side by side and can be considered separately during a visit: the centre’s current artistic work and the building’s former ecclesiastical use.
Artworks across the city are also part of Elbląg’s character. “Otwarta Galeria” is a collection of more than sixty three-dimensional artworks. In addition, several dozen works from the first and second Biennale Form Przestrzennych are spread throughout the city. These two groups of works offer different ways to engage with art beyond a single exhibition programme; they should be viewed as distinct collections and contexts.
Bażantarnia: trails and activities in the forest park
Bażantarnia is a forest park and an important recreation area in Elbląg. Its trails are suitable for hiking, horse riding and cycling; in winter, the forest trails are suitable for cross-country skiing. The blue circular trail runs through the forest park. If you are interested in a specific section, the red Copernicus Trail in Bażantarnia has a precisely described sequence of waypoints: it follows the Srebrny Potok, passes the Elewów Bridge and Parasol, and crosses Góra Jagiellońska to the car park by the forestry office in Dąbrowa. The two routes thus offer different ways to plan an active stay, without forming one combined trail.
When choosing your holiday apartment in Elbląg, you can start by asking which side of the city you want your trip to focus on: the sights and art of the Old Town, the museum exhibition and canal, or the trails and activities in Bażantarnia.
More places to discover: Plajny, Komorowo Żuławskie, Bogdaniec, Kazimierzowo, Gronowo Górne, Pilona, Łęcze and Oleśno.
For the broader travel overview: Elbląg.
