When the Baltic wind turns cold, the ice goes down. Public rinks open across Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia through the winter, some under a roof and some in the open air, and most hire out skates and the penguin-shaped aids that keep first-timers upright. Here's what we checked, from the hockey club's indoor sessions at Hala Olivia to the open-air rink beside Gdynia's arena.
Gdańskie Lodowisko is an open-air ice rink on Plac Zebrań Ludowych, run by GAK. It opens each winter season for skating.
It is an easy pick for a cold-weather outing with school-age kids. GAK posts season news on the rink's Facebook page.
Public skating in the Mała Hala, the smaller ice hall of the Hala Olivia arena, where the GKS Stoczniowiec club has run open sessions every fall and winter for close to six decades. Hockey matches are played on the same ice.
Beginners can borrow a "penguin" skating aid to push along, and there is a free cloakroom, skate and helmet rental, and a café.
An open-air rink with a 20 by 40 meter sheet of ice, set up each winter on the car park between Polsat Plus Arena Gdynia and Riviera mall. The rental point hires skates, helmets and penguin-shaped skating aids that beginners push across the ice, and a service desk sharpens dull blades. On opening night, New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day a DJ plays on the ice.
Every winter the square at the foot of Sopot's pier becomes a Christmas and New Year village, run by the city. Huts line the arcades with food and handmade gifts, and the concert shell by the pier hosts carols, kids' theater and circus acts.
It's a come-and-go outing: wander, eat, catch a show. It suits families with kids of any age who don't mind the Baltic cold.
When the Baltic wind turns cold, the ice goes down. Public rinks open across Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia through the winter, some under a roof and some in the open air, and most hire out skates and the penguin-shaped aids that keep first-timers upright. Here's what we checked, from the hockey club's indoor sessions at Hala Olivia to the open-air rink beside Gdynia's arena.
Gdańskie Lodowisko is an open-air ice rink on Plac Zebrań Ludowych, run by GAK. It opens each winter season for skating.
It is an easy pick for a cold-weather outing with school-age kids. GAK posts season news on the rink's Facebook page.
Public skating in the Mała Hala, the smaller ice hall of the Hala Olivia arena, where the GKS Stoczniowiec club has run open sessions every fall and winter for close to six decades. Hockey matches are played on the same ice.
Beginners can borrow a "penguin" skating aid to push along, and there is a free cloakroom, skate and helmet rental, and a café.
An open-air rink with a 20 by 40 meter sheet of ice, set up each winter on the car park between Polsat Plus Arena Gdynia and Riviera mall. The rental point hires skates, helmets and penguin-shaped skating aids that beginners push across the ice, and a service desk sharpens dull blades. On opening night, New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day a DJ plays on the ice.
Every winter the square at the foot of Sopot's pier becomes a Christmas and New Year village, run by the city. Huts line the arcades with food and handmade gifts, and the concert shell by the pier hosts carols, kids' theater and circus acts.
It's a come-and-go outing: wander, eat, catch a show. It suits families with kids of any age who don't mind the Baltic cold.
