Lazienki Poludniowe

Lazienki Poludniowe, the Southern Baths, is a timber building on the Sopot seafront that recalls the town's early days as a bathing resort. It stands on the promenade south of the pier, and its wooden, gabled shape sets it apart from the masonry buildings around it. It is a piece of Sopot's spa heritage still standing at the water's edge.

This is a stop for the building itself and its place on the seafront rather than a big attraction to tour. The timber architecture is unusual on the Polish coast, and it tells you what Sopot looked like when the sea bathing habit first took hold. Pair it with a walk along the beach and promenade south of the pier.

The Southern Baths were built in 1907 to a design by the architect Paul Puchmuller, in a Norwegian timber style modelled on old stave churches that is rare along the Baltic. In its early years it was a fashionable bathing establishment, with beach cabins and jetties reaching out to the sea and cafes and shops along the promenade side. It was renovated and extended in the 1990s. Today the historic building houses a hotel and restaurant.

A few minutes to look at the exterior on the way past, longer if you eat or stay there or settle on the beach beside it. It fits naturally into a promenade walk that also takes in the pier and the town beach.

Summer brings the busiest seafront and the fullest beach nearby. The timber front photographs well in soft morning or evening light. Out of season this southern stretch of promenade is quiet and good for a windswept walk along the bay.

It sits on the seafront promenade a short walk south of the pier and the Spa Square. From Sopot's SKM station it is about a fifteen-minute walk down to the sea and along the front. For wider transport, see the Sopot guide.

The Southern Baths sit on the quieter southern seafront:

• The beach, running along the bay right in front of it.
• The pier and the Spa Square, a short walk north along the promenade.

They are a historic timber bathhouse from 1907 on the Sopot seafront, built in a Norwegian style rare on the Baltic. The building now houses a hotel and restaurant.

The interior is used by the hotel and restaurant now in the building, so access is through those. The outside, the beach and the promenade are open to everyone.