How to get to Elblag?

Transcription

1 How to get to Elblag? Most of the participants will come to the airports in Gdansk or Warsaw. The easiest way to get from the Gdansk airport is to get a taxi to Gromada Hotel in Elblag. You can negotiate the price with the taxi driver it shouldn t exceed 250 PLN (ca. 70 EUR). You can also take a taxi from the Gdansk airport to the bus / railway terminal in Gdansk where you have a connection to Elblag almost every hour. There is also a bus connection to Gdansk city centre, but I do not recommend it. Getting to Elblag from Warsaw is more complicated, because you have to change several times. First you should take a taxi from the airport to the Central Railway Station ( Warszawa Centralna ). There are many taxi corporations at the airport at your service, I would recommend Sawa Taxi as reliable and comparatively cheap (fare should be PLN). Then you take an express train: direction Warsaw Gdansk (Gdynia). You get off in Malbork (after ca. 3.5 hours) and change trains. If you are lucky (depending on the hour you arrive in Malbork) you can catch a direct train to Elblag (journey of ca. 25 min.). If you arrive late, the only choice would be to take a taxi from Malbork to Elblag (it is only 30 km, approximate cost 80 PLN). Elblag Today's Elbląg is a modern city of 128 thousand citizens with as much as 770 years of history - an important economic centre with good conditions for investments and businesses as well as a place with outstanding tourist assets. Elbląg, the second biggest (right after Olsztyn) city of Warminsko-Mazurskie Region (Voivodship), is situated upon the river of the same name, on the western slopes of Elbląg Upland, nearby the fertile Vistula Lowlands. Elbląg is situated on the Elbląg river, connecting the lake Drużno (natural reserve) with the Vistula Bay. The city lies at the point of contact of two geographic lands: depression Żuławy Wiślane (Vistula Lowlands) resembling the landscape of Holland, and the Elbląg Upland which is cut with canyons and ascends over the waters of the Vistula Bay. Elbląg is situated along the road from Warsaw to Gdańsk,

2 and from western Europe to Kaliningrad (Russia) and the Baltic states. Thanks to the port of Elbląg, the city is the starting base to tourist centres in the north of Poland, but also to the Kaliningrad District. Ships of the passenger "white" fleet serve the lines between Elbląg, Krynica Morska, Frombork, Baltijsk, and Kaliningrad, and - through the Elbląg Canal - the area of the Iława Lakeland e.g. to Ostróda. The Old Town in Elbląg is one of the largest areas in Europe in terms of space covered by complex archaeological research. Based on the great number of obtained artefacts, dating from the 13th to the 19th century, it is known what everyday life of Elbląg residents was like; how they lived, worked, played, what they wore and ate. Among hundreds of thousand of artefacts found, the most precious are: eight musical instruments, 23 wax plates, six pilgrim signs, magnificent Moresque medieval plates, toys, weapons, and glass products. The great number and variety of the discovered artefacts is evidence of intensive trade contacts of the old Elbląg residents with almost all Europe from Norway to Spain, England, and Italy, as well as their affluence. The archaeological research in the Old Town in Elbląg has been performed seasonally since 1980 by a group of archaeologists of the Town Archaeology Laboratory at the Museum of Elbląg. The Old Town of Elblag (after reconstruction) - view from the river

3 The Medieval Market Gate in the Old Town of Elblag St. Nicholas Cathedral in the Old Town of Elblag

4 Entrance to the Gromada Hotel in Elblag Atrium of the Gromada Hotel (where plenary sessions will be held)

5 The Old Town of Paslek Aerial view of Paslek

6 Ships travel on grass a unique system of slipways on Elblag Canal Elblag Canal slipway Buczyniec (near Paslek)

7 Malbork Castle Malbork Castle (German: Ordensburg Marienburg) was built in the Middle Ages by the Teutonic Order as an Ordensburg and named Marienburg (literally "Mary's Castle"). The town which grew around it was also named Marienburg. It is now known as Malbork. The castle is a classic example of a medieval fortress; it is the world s largest brick gothic castle and one of the most impressive of its kind in Europe. The castle and its museum are listed as UNESCO's World Heritage Sites, being added to the register in December 1997 as Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork, as one of two sites in the region which owes its origins to the Teutonic Order, the Medieval Town of Toruń being the other, founded in 1231 as the site of their castle Thorn (Toruń).