Tours to Malbork Castle from Gdansk are strangely expensive. You can save a lot of money by taking the train to Malbork instead.
Why visit Malbork Castle
A red brick behemoth, Malbork Castle was once the HQ of the Teutonic knights and Polish kings, and was built into a classic riverside fortress during the Middle Ages. It is one of the top tourist attractions in Poland and one of the most impressive castles in Europe.
Get a photo from the other side of the river before walking over the drawbridge. Then amble through rooms with grandly vaulted roofs, claustrophobic cellars and eye-poppingly humungous great halls.
Perhaps the most evocative part of Malbork Castle is St Mary’s Church, which is entered through a sumptuous Gothic doorway, but inside it lies in ruins after WWII bombings. More quirky is the Gdaniska, a toilet perched atop its own tower.
Getting to Malbork Castle by train
Malbork Castle is a 20 minute walk from Malbork train station, which is best accessed from Gdansk.
There are several trains a day from Gdansk to Malbork, although some are faster than others. The EIP Pendolino service is quickest, taking 24 minutes.
It’s also the most expensive service, with one way tickets costing from €18.
If you take one of the slower trains – most take between 31 minutes and 64 minutes – tickets cost from €5 one way.
Visit the Polish Trains website for exact timings and costs on the day you want to travel.
Malbork Castle tours from Gdansk
The other option for visiting Malbork Castle from Gdansk is to take a tour. There are several available, but given that they do little more than transport you to the castle and back, they’re surprisingly expensive.
On a quick search, the cheapest Malbork Castle tour from Gdansk I could find cost €122. Given how cheap the train tickets are, this seems a lot to pay for the added convenience, even if the Malbork Castle tickets are included.
For reference, admission tickets to Malbork Castle, including an audio guide, cost 80zl for most adults. That equates to just under €19.
