One Day in Torun, Poland

While it may not get hyped up like tourist hotspots Krakow and Warsaw, Torun is famous for several things — gingerbread, Copernicus, and its stunning architecture, to name a few. With its inclusion on both the UNESCO World Heritage List and the Seven Wonders of Poland list, Torun deserves a stop, especially if you’re on a Polish road trip and have the flexibility to customize your own itinerary. Having escaped destruction in World War II, Torun’s architecture has several impressive original Gothic structures — but it’s not just about the past. Torun is also home to half a dozen universities, which means it buzzes with all the energy that university students bring. While I’d advocate for more than just one day in Torun (the streets are perfect for wandering), here’s how to maximize your time if you can only do a short visit. 

(Restaurant and bar recommendations provided by a friend who lived in Torun for several years. I sadly didn’t have time to try them all, but he’s a good authority from which you can build a solid list.)

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What to Do with One Day in Torun, Poland

Get a solid breakfast while enjoying the quiet streets of the medieval Old Town. Places in Poland don’t always open in time for the go-getting tourist, but the guys at Bulka serve up an early morning breakfast. The silver lining to this cloud is that the streets are far quieter in the ‘early’ morning, giving you a chance to really soak up the atmosphere of the Gothic architecture. If Bulka is too busy (like it was when we tried to go) other places to check out are Bread House, Mistrz i Malgorzata, and Manekin. 

Take a guided tour of Torun. Torun snagged its spot on the UNESCO World Heritage List because of its remarkably preserved medieval Old Town. In the 13th century the Teutonic Knights came to the area and started to develop what was a small settlement into one of the most influential cities in the region. The history of Torun is pretty interesting (especially what the local Polish people eventually did to the Teutonic Knights and their castle!), so it’s worth it to get to know the city better through a tour.

You can do a walking tour or hop on one of the electric cars that zip around the city, complete with a recorded audio guide. We did the motorized tour for ease and time. I have a mixed impression of it — It’s pretty short (about 45 minutes) and sometimes it was difficult to see things, but it’s a solid option if lengthy walking tours are a challenge. If you like to DIY it, the Torun Tourism Board made a downloadable Torun audio guide. 

Get a top notch view from City Hall. Whenever you have a chance to get a bird’s-eye view of the Old Towns in Poland, you should take it — it’s worth the steps! In Torun, you can see the city from above by climbing up the tower at City Hall. You can also climb to the top of the Saint Johns’ Cathedral. 

See the ruins of Torun’s castle. The Tectonic castle was built in the 13th or 14th century, and its construction helped the development of the city significantly. However, the Polish locals grew unhappy with their Tectonic rulers and eventually rebelled against them. They destroyed the castle and turned it into — of all things — a garbage dump. Little of the original castle remains, but it’s still worth checking out as you wander the city. 

Enjoy a break on the beer boats. Ok, so they’re not specifically beer boats, but you can rest your legs, re-caffeinate, or grab lunch on one of the restaurant boats on the Vistula River. 

Snap up some gingerbread (no matter the season!). Gingerbread (or pierniki, in Polish) is a local speciality, and gingerbread shops are sprinkled liberally throughout the city. We stopped in a few and found that there is variety in their offerings, so I’d recommend visiting more than one. Some offer elaborately decorated cookies, others big boxes where you can buy cookies in bulk, and others a range of gingerbread products. I picked up gingerbread syrup, which I put to good use when the holiday season rolled around, making gingerbread martinis. If you want to be more involved in the process, not just the product, there are a couple museums that celebrate gingerbread and gingerbread making. They get mixed reviews, so definitely do your research before choosing to go to one. 

Capture the vista of Torun’s UNESCO medieval skyline. Across the river you can get the best views of Torun’s Old City. You can walk or bike there if you’re feeling active, or if you’re pressed for time you can catch a taxi. If you have your own wheels, it’s easy to stop at the observation platform either on your way into or out of town. 

Play catch up with Copernicus. As the birthplace of Copernicus, Torun has a few significant sites for you astronomy nerds. Not only can you see the house where he was born, which is now a museum devoted to the astronomer and the city during his time, but also the baptismal that baby Copernicus was baptized in can be found in the St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist Cathedral. For those with a typically average interest in Copernicus, you can snap a photo with his statue outside City Hall. 

Get gluttonous with pierogi. You can literally never have too much pierogi, but the people behind Pierogarnia have done something above and beyond — you can get extra large baked pierogi or gigantic fried pierogi. You can also get normal-sized pierogi, with a dozen different scrumptious options for fillings. 

If, for some bizarre reason you are not in the mood for pierogi, check out Wabi Navi for ramen and fried chicken or L’antico Forno and Chleb i Wino for crowd-pleasing Italian.

Enjoy the beer scene in Poland. I will never not talk about Poland’s amazing beer scene. There are several places in Torun where you can imbibe but the guys at Jan Olbracht brew a gingerbread beer and you know, when in Torun… If you want to bar hop a bit, check out Dwa Swiata, Tratwa, or Koniec. 

Stay out enjoying Torun’s nightlife. Since Torun is one of Poland’s biggest university towns, experience some of the student nightlife by heading to The Black Tulip. Here you can get liter mugs of beer on draft. For something a little more upscale and central, check out Coffee and Whiskey. 

We sadly only spent one day in Torun, stopping overnight on our Polish road trip. And while I loved the Gothic atmosphere that got the city its well-deserved UNESCO World Heritage Site listing, what I liked most about Torun was how liveable it seemed. It definitely made me wish we had had more than twenty-four hours, just to enjoy the atmosphere and to explore both the old town and the university side. Even if you only have time for a quick gingerbread stop, I definitely recommend putting Torun on your Polish itinerary! 

Places to Stay in Torun

We stayed at the Solaris Hotel, which was extremely well-located and had cute little rooms. They left us some earplugs, which made us think it might get loud in the evenings, but there were no problems. You can check out the best prices for Torun accommodation here.

Driving and Parking in Torun

It’s relatively easy to get in and out of the city, but navigating the streets around the Old Town was a complete nightmare. We weren’t paying too much attention when trying to find our hotel, which was located on a dead-end right next to the main square. After we unloaded our luggage and went to look for parking, we got caught in a tangle of one-way streets and no-exit alleys, all while being surrounded by distracted tourists. If possible, I’d recommend parking at one of the lots outside of town (we found one under the bridge) and then taking your luggage to the hotel. 

What is around Torun?

If you’re doing a longer Poland road trip and basing yourself in the city for a few days, there several attractions near Torun that you can drive to. You can see the castle at Golub-Dobrzyń, the spa town of Ciechocinek, or the picturesque and off-the-beaten-path town of Chełmno.

Torun-Poznan

Poznan and Torun, while not the typical Polish hotspots, are easy to visit as you drive between north and south Poland. We only briefly stopped in Poznan on the way between Wroclaw and Torun, but I would have happily spent more time there too (I can’t get enough of these smaller Polish towns!). It’s only about 2-2.5 hours between the two, so you could base yourself in one and take a day trip to the other, depending on your schedule.

We spent one day in Torun as part of our 2-week Poland road trip. More information on how you can plan your own Polish road trip coming soon!