Best Place to Exchange Money in Gdansk

01Exchange

Where to change money in Gdańsk

In Poland, cash is usually changed at a kantor (exchange office), and in Gdańsk a kantor in town is a better bet than the airport desks covered below. Rates differ from board to board, so compare two before a large exchange.

• Tavex, Galeria Bałtycka ↗A currency and investment-gold chain with a branch at Aleja Grunwaldzka 141 in Wrzeszcz, on level +1 of the shopping centre, opposite H&M. Its website gives opening hours of 09:00 to 21:00 from Monday to Saturday; the branch is closed on Sundays.
• Bank branchesTreat a bank as a back-up. Wise's Polish guide to bank exchange points out that some branches keep no foreign banknotes, so currency may have to be ordered in advance, and that banks tend to build a wide spread into their rates.

02On arrival

Changing money at the airport

Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport has exchange desks and cash machines in the terminal, but rates there are geared to convenience. In a guide dated November 2024, Monito, a money-comparison site, gave an example in which the airport desk bought euros at 3.90 zł and sold them at 4.90 zł when ordinary kantors quoted the euro at 4.30 zł. Cestee, a Polish travel site, calls the airport's exchange rates very poor in its July 2026 guide and suggests waiting until you reach the city, since public transport can be paid by card.

03Cash machines and cards

ATMs and cards in Gdańsk

Trams and buses in Gdańsk take bank cards, so local transport needs no cash. Cash machines may offer dynamic currency conversion, turning the withdrawal into your card's currency and showing the rate and the sum to be debited. Euronet's Polish FAQ says this can cost more than a withdrawal in the local currency and that accepting it means agreeing to a conversion fee; refuse it at a Gdańsk machine and your card issuer converts the złoty instead.

04Getting around

Paying for transport in Gdańsk

FALA readers on ZTM Gdańsk's trams, and since February 2024 on its buses too, accept contactless bank cards. Touching your card to the reader as you board counts as buying one full-fare single-journey ticket, and you only tap in, not out; the falomat machine on board sells other ticket types, also by card. SKM commuter trains to Sopot and Gdynia sell tickets through ticket machines, ticket offices and apps, and charge extra for a ticket bought on the train.

05Local know-how

Good to know

• On a Gdańsk kantor's board, 'kupno' is the rate the kantor pays when it buys your pounds or euros and 'sprzedaż' is the rate at which it sells foreign cash, so compare the kupno figures when turning sterling into złoty.
• In Gdańsk, as elsewhere in Poland, around 10% is the usual restaurant tip, according to the food blog Polish Foodies; some large, upmarket restaurants put a service charge on the bill, so check before adding more.