Malbork Castle is a huge, fascinating castle. It’s easy to visit from Gdansk, and you can easily spend a day exploring Malbork Castle. Here’s my guide to taking a day trip from Gdansk to Malbork Castle by train.
Malbork Castle is a huge, UNESCO-listed castle in North Poland. It dates back to the 13th Century, built by the Teutonic Knights. It’s been expanded and added to over the years, to become the vast red-brick castle that it is today. Taking a day trip from Gdansk to Malbork Castle by train is a great option for anyone interested in castles or history.
Taking the train from Gdansk to Malbork Castle
It’s really easy to travel by train from Gdansk to Malbork Castle. Trains run regularly from Gdansk Glowny station. You can check the train times on the Polish Trains website here. Or Google Maps is usually very accurate with the scheduled train times as well. You can buy tickets on the Polish Trains website, or you can buy tickets at the station. Most tickets come with a seat reservation.
Gdansk Glowny station isn’t huge. So once you know the time your train is going, you can find your train on the big information boards and find the platform.
The faster trains take around 20-30 minutes from Gdansk to Malbork. But there are also options for slower trains that are cheaper. I found the train prices in Poland affordable, so I chose the faster trains to maximise the amount of time I had at the castle.
Malbork train station is fairly nice, with wood panelling and decorative ceilings.
Once you get to Malbork Station, you need to walk through the town of Malbork to get to Malbork Castle. It’s fairly easy to find your way, with a bit of help from Google Maps. The walk takes about 20 minutes. And there are some food options in Malbork town as well – including a McDonalds near the entrance to the castle. There’s not a lot of food options once you get inside Malbork Castle, so it’s worth getting something to eat before going inside. Or you could take a picnic – there are places you can sit in warmer weather.
Malbork Castle – the audio guide route
I visited Malbork Castle in late November, and it wasn’t very busy. There wasn’t any queue to get tickets. But I’ve heard that it can get really busy in the summer, so if you’re visiting in peak months it would be worth buying your ticket online. Your ticket comes with an audio guide, which also shows you the route to take around the castle.
Do I need to listen to the whole audio guide at Malbork Castle?
When you buy your ticket for Malbork Castle, they advise that the audio guide route will take about 3.5 hours – and could take more if you stop or take breaks.
I started off listening to the audio guide – but I have to admit, I found it a bit much. There was a lot of detail. And it wasn’t long before I realised I was reaching my information-saturation point.
I discovered that you don’t need to listen to the whole audio guide at Malbork Castle to still enjoy your visit. You can just use the device as a map. Fast forward the audio, and then there will be a button that says ‘show how to continue’. This will show a picture of a location with an arrow. Just look up and find what the picture is of – it’s fairly easy to match up the picture of a door on your device with what you see in front of you. And then you can continue your route without needing to listen to the entire audio guide.
I definitely recommend listening to some of the audio guide to learn about the history of the castle. There aren’t many information boards around to be able to read about the history. And the audio guide gives you a great route around this large castle so you can see all the best places.
The history of Malbork Castle
Malbork Castle is in three main sections: the High Castle, Middle Castle and Lower Castle. The High Castle is the oldest part of the castle, built in the 13th century by the Teutonic Knights who used to rule this part of Poland. The Middle Castle was built later, followed by the Low Castle.
The castle suffered a lot of damage during World War Two. But it’s been amazingly restored, and today looks very similar to how it did before the war.
The highlights of Malbork Castle
You enter the castle over the huge drawbridge and first explore the Middle Castle courtyard.
The audio guide tour takes you inside the Grand Masters Palace. Some of the most impressive interior rooms in the castle are here, with huge vaulted ceilings and impressive artwork.
Next, you go through a small Amber Museum. This is nice, but not as impressive as the Amber Museum in Gdansk – so if you’re a fan of amber, I recommend visiting the Gdansk museum as well.
After the Amber Museum, you see the armoury, with a huge collection of weaponry.
Next, you walk through the outside of the Castle, over another drawbridge, to the High Castle. The views of the outside of the castle are really nice.
This is the more religious part of the castle. Here, you’ll walk through cloisters and visit some chapels.
There’s more impressive artwork and statues as well.
St Mary’s Church is another highlight of Malbork Castle. It’s a huge church, in the old monastic part of the castle. You can really imagine the monks coming here to pray, hundreds of years ago.
Back outside, you can enjoy more views of the outside of the castle as the audio tour route ends.
Views of Malbork Castle
Just before you exit the castle, it’s worth walking across the bridge that goes over the river. You can see this bridge on the audio guide route as you head towards the exit.
You get greats views back to the castle from the bridge, looking over the river. The view from here really gives you a sense of the size and scale of this huge castle. I visited on a cloudy day in November, so the view was a bit grey – but still nice. But I can imagine it would look even more stunning on a sunny day in the summer, when the sun would light up the red bricks.
Top tips for enjoying your day trip from Gdansk to Malbork Castle by train
To fully enjoy your day trip from Gdansk to Malbork Castle, here are my top tips:
- Take one of the faster trains from Gdansk to Malbork, to maximise the amount of time you have at the castle
- Get some food in the town of Malbork before entering the castle, as there aren’t many food options inside
- Buy your tickets for Malbork Castle online if you’re visiting in busier times
- Take the audio guide, but don’t feel you have to listen to the entire 3.5 hours. You can skip some of the audio and just use it as a map to guide you around the castle
- Take your time in the areas of the castle you find more impressive, such as the Grand Master’s Palace, Middle Castle Courtyard and St Mary’s Church
- Cross the bridge over the river at the end of your audio guide tour to get a great view of the castle over the river
Hope you enjoyed my guide to taking a day trip from Gdansk to Malbork Castle by train! Make sure you also check out my guide to spending 3 days in Gdansk, as well as the best places to eat in Gdansk. If you’re visiting Gdansk at Christmas, you can also read my guide to the Christmas Markets in Gdansk.
