Why the Polish city of Gdansk should be on your radar

Surprise me,” I say to the barman at Flisak ’76, the underground speakeasy-style cocktail bar I discovered around the corner from my hotel, shortly after landing in Gdansk on an evening flight.

He disappears for a second and returns with what looks like a tube of toothpaste. He’s certainly met my brief. Next, he informs me that it’s a cocktail in gel form and to enjoy it I simply have to squeeze it into my mouth.

“Too much of a surprise?” he asks. “Maybe,” I reply sheepishly. 


He takes the tube away and returns with a wooden artist’s palette, which allows me to paint with, as well as sip, my cocktail.

My “drinks”, and many others like them on the menu, come from the imaginations of a small but hyper-creative team of bar staff who reimagine the Flisak ’76 drinks menu Willy Wonka-style every month.

The beverages are one-of-a-kinds, specific to Gdansk, and they sum up the independent and individual spirit that makes the city such a compelling place to visit. Located on the north coast of Poland, the port city of Gdansk flies under the radar of many British tourists. In fact, only 13.1% of its visitors hail from the UK.

Yet, there are direct flights to the city from 11 UK airports including London Luton, Stansted, Manchester, Edinburgh and Bristol with airlines such as Ryanair and Wizz Air. The journey time is no more than two hours and 20 minutes, depending on which airport clients fly from. Plus, the city centre is only a 25-minute taxi drive from the runway. All of these factors combine to make it an ideal destination for a long-weekend city break.