Gdansk being a seaside town, seafood restaurants predominate. If you like fish, head for the waterfront area, where there are dozens of good eateries, both upmarket as well as budget, specialising in seafood cooking. All across town are a range of outlets serving different cuisines. Polish food, with its filling dumplings, meat and potatoes, is popular, but Gdansk is swiftly acquiring its full complement of international restaurants. Areas like Ulica Dluga, Chlebnicka, Dlugi Targ and Grunwaldzka are replete with restaurants which serve everything from Oriental and Russian to Italian and fast food. Pizzas and Chinese food, in particular, seem to be high on the popularity charts.

For cheaper meals, hunt out Gdansk’s cafés and cukiernias (cake shops), the latter usually excellent for sampling the local baking.

A special tip for anyone who likes a tipple: Gdansk is the home of the famous- and pricey- goldwasser, a sweet, unctuous vodka which has flecks of real gold floating in it. It’s widely available in pubs and bars all over Gdansk and is immensely popular, especially among tourists. Give it a try- it’s the done thing when visiting Gdansk.

Gdansk has a reasonably lively nightlife; bars and pubs are scattered all across the city, and there are a number of discotheques and nightclubs as well. If you’re willing to venture out a bit, head for Sopot- it’s reputedly the best place to drink, dance, listen to music and let your hair down.

Gdansk also has the odd casino, a number of cinema halls, and a few theatres, where there are regular performances of everything from puppet shows to theatrical productions. The Baltic Philharmonic Hall, the Technical University Auditorium, the Forest Opera and the State Baltic Opera are the main venues for performances of classical and symphonic music, chamber music and opera. During the summer months, performances of folk music and dance are held at the less highbrow venues.