Amber Museum

The Amber Museum in Gdańsk is the city's showcase for Baltic amber – "Baltic gold" – from drops of resin formed millions of years ago to contemporary jewelry. A branch of the Museum of Gdańsk, it has occupied the Great Mill, a medieval mill built by the Teutonic Knights beside the Radunia Canal in the Old Town, since 2021. With more than 1,000 exhibits, insects trapped in amber and plenty of multimedia, it is one of the best things to do in Gdańsk, especially on a rainy day or with kids.

Why amber, and why Gdańsk?

Gdańsk has been a center of the amber trade and amber craftsmanship for centuries, and the city likes to call itself a world capital of amber. Baltic amber washes up on the beaches around the Bay of Gdańsk to this day, and local workshops have turned it into everything from rosaries to chess sets. The museum tells that story from geology to modern design.

The Great Mill

The Great Mill was built around 1350 by the Teutonic Knights. It was driven by 18 water wheels, each about 5 m in diameter, powered by the Radunia Canal, and kept working until the end of World War II. In 1945 its turbine drive was destroyed and the building partly ruined; it was rebuilt in the 1960s and later served as exhibition space, storage and, from 1993 to 2016, a shopping center.

The Amber Museum previously occupied the Foregate on Long Street. Its new home in the mill opened on July 24, 2021. The building is roughly 26 m tall and 41 m long, and the brick walls and timber structures have been kept visible alongside the modern displays.

What to see

The permanent exhibition holds more than 1,000 objects. The museum's own visitor guide highlights:

• inclusions – pieces of amber with trapped plants and tiny animals; you can borrow a magnifying glass free of charge,
• an enlarged model of a lizard preserved in one of the lumps,
• an amber forest recreating the trees that produced the resin,
• a lump the museum presents as the largest in the world,
• historic Gdańsk craftsmanship, including a chess set from around 1690, and craftsmen's tools old and new,
• a model of the Great Mill and of an amber worker's house,
• contemporary jewelry and art.

Some exhibits can be touched, and multimedia installations appear throughout.

How long to stay and is it worth visiting?

The museum recommends at least 60 minutes; if you like detail, plan 1.5–2 hours. It is well worth it – arguably the most family-friendly museum in central Gdańsk. Go early on a weekday in summer to avoid crowds. Admission is free on Mondays, which makes that day busier. Your barcode ticket opens the gates to the exhibition, so keep it handy. No food or drink inside, and no flash photography.

Accessibility and families

The interiors are fully adapted. The main entrance on Rajska Street involves a few steps down; visitors who need the elevator use the rear entrance, reached from Na Piaskach Street across Hevelius Square. There are two elevators, accessible restrooms with baby-changing tables, an induction loop, and free noise-canceling headphones (including children's sizes). Visitors with disabilities enter free; their companions pay the reduced rate.

Opening hours and tickets (as of October 2026)

• Address: Wielkie Młyny 16, 80-849 Gdańsk
• Hours: Monday 10am–6pm (free), Tuesday closed, Wednesday–Sunday 10am–6pm; tickets sold until 60 minutes before closing. No separate winter hours for 2026/27 have been announced.
• Closed: November 1, December 24–26 and 31, January 1 and 6.
• Tickets: 37 PLN regular, 26 PLN reduced, 99 PLN family (up to 2 adults and 6 children); 90-day pass to all Museum of Gdańsk branches 160/110 PLN.
• Contact: kontakt@muzeumgdansk.pl

How to get there

Gdańsk is on Poland's Baltic coast, about three hours from Warsaw by express train; Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport is roughly 15 km away. The Great Mill is just a few minutes' walk from Gdańsk Główny station and about 10 minutes from Long Street. The SKM commuter train links Sopot and Gdynia with central Gdańsk. The center is a paid parking zone, so public transport is the easier option.

Nearby

• St Catherine's Church, right opposite, burial place of astronomer Johannes Hevelius.
• St Bridget's Basilica with its huge amber altar – a perfect follow-up.
• Hevelius Square with the astronomer's statue.
• The Main Town with the Town Hall and Artus Court.