Tricity Landscape Park

The Tricity Landscape Park, Trojmiejski Park Krajobrazowy, is the belt of wooded hills that rises directly behind Sopot. It is a large protected area of forest, valleys and post-glacial slopes, laced with marked trails for walking and cycling. From the ridges you look out over the town and the Baltic, a complete change from the beach a few minutes below.

It is the easiest way to swap the crowded seafront for quiet forest. The park is right on the edge of town, so a short climb takes you into pine, beech and oak woods with birdsong instead of buskers. It suits walkers, runners and cyclists, families after an easy stroll, and anyone who wants a viewpoint over the coast. Trails range from flat and gentle to surprisingly steep.

The park has a dense network of colour-marked routes, with seven hiking trails and eight cycling paths crossing its forested valleys and hills. The long yellow Trojmiejski trail links Gdansk to Gdynia over roughly 46 kilometres through the park's valleys. A red trail toward Wejherowo begins in Kamienny Potok, a district of Sopot. You can also just follow a marked loop up from town and back without committing to a long route.

The park was established in 1979 to protect this stretch of the Baltic uplands and their forests. It runs across several towns of the Tricity area, including Sopot, Gdansk and Gdynia. The terrain is glacial in origin, with hills reaching around 200 metres above the sea, cut by wooded valleys and streams. The mix of pine, beech and oak makes it good in every season.

Late spring and autumn are the best for walking, with cooler air and good colour in the trees. Summer is green and shaded, a useful escape from the heat on the beach. Winter walks are quiet but the trails can be muddy or icy on the slopes, so wear proper footwear whatever the season.

The park starts on the western, uphill edge of Sopot, so you can walk into it from the upper part of town in a few minutes. Marked trailheads lead in from the residential streets and from near the Forest Opera. Local trains and buses serve the edges of the park across the Tricity. For routes, see the Sopot guide.

The park wraps around the green upper part of town:

• The Opera Lesna, the forest amphitheatre set right among the trees.
• The Hippodrome, on the flatter ground below the hills.
• The pier and beach, a short way downhill at the seafront.

Yes. The park begins on the uphill western edge of town, so you can reach a trailhead on foot from the upper streets in minutes and follow the marked routes from there.

Yes. Alongside the hiking trails there are marked cycling paths crossing the park. Some sections are steep, so it favours riders comfortable with hills.