Sopot Private City Walking or Bike Tour with a local architect

Below is a rough outline of the tour. I’d be delighted to take you off the beaten track so you can discover even more.

The first pedestrian street in Poland, famous all over the country even today. Back in the time it was the main road to the sea and the fishermen of the small village of Sopot used to take it to go to the sea. There are a lot of stories to tell and I will show you historical pictures so you can see how the center of Sopot has changed over the centuries.

An 18th century building, a small manor house. The interiors are interesting, it has a nice back garden, you will like the authenticity of this calm location. You will find here a bust of Fryderyk Chopin as he stayed here when being on holiday and played piano.

Passing on a picturesque bridge over a deep ravine we will get to a street whose first name was Villas Street. The oldest house here is from 1881 and people love the classical architecture style it has.There are more houses to look at and a lot of stories behind the walls… Let’s reveal that in the second part of the 20th century this street was nicknamed “Poland's Montmartre”.

One of the biggest villas is from the late 19th century, the Tower Villa has a long and rather sad story accompanied with a tone of music. It was built by a merchant for its family. Today you will find an art institution in this Alpine Resort style building. Why does the building refer to an Alpine Resort when built so far from the Alps and in a seaside resort and not a mountain one? I will tell you about the European spa resorts trend that started in the 18th century in the park surrounding the villa.

Sopot is said to have the richest complex of spa architecture in Europe. We will take a walk to discover what that means and what this architecture looks like. This is also the neighborhood where a great artist lives. His name is Per Oscar Gustav Dahlberg. You might want to stop by his house and studio and buy some of his graphics or the album presenting Sopot or Gdańsk architecture - just let me know whether it sounds interesting and I will possibly arrange a meeting :) He is Swedish and decided to move to Sopot in 1996 when fell in love with this place. There is a quite famous “crooked house” in Sopot whose design was inspired by his drawings!

The numerous tennis courts, the beautiful trees in large parks, and sandy beaches. Sopot has it all and much more! We will stop by the statue of the town’s “godfather”, previously a surgeon in Napoleon’s army and know his story of choosing Sopot as a place to live far before anybody had heard about the area.

The beautiful plaza was created in 1925 and has a lot to offer. Once again we will see old pictures; this time from when Sopot was well known all over Europe as the Riviera of the North. You will be astonished by the numerous attractions of the time.

The Grand Hotel is majestically situated on the beach. Which is quite amazing, it is the city of Sopot itself which, in the 1920’s, made the decision to make such an investment. We will look around and hear a few stories related to the splendor of the place.

At some point we will pass by the famous pier. You will get to know all about it so you can visit it after the tour.

Walking on the steps on the lighthouse might be tiring, but the view is worth it ! It will be for you to decide whether we do it or not.

The tour will end next to the Changing Rooms built in 1905. There are funny stories behind this one. Or at the plaza surrounded by the small fishermen’s houses who were gently relocated from the place the same year: 1905.