How long for Gdansk/Gdynia/Sopot?

We visited Gdańsk and Sopot on a day trip from Warsaw in 2017, so we had at least 8 hours or maybe a bit more. It wasn’t quite enough. Gdańsk itself could easily be one full day alone, so maybe two full days would be good. We went to Sopot for lunch and ate at Meridian Molo at the end of the pier on a very gray, rainy day. Very good meal.
Adding in Gdynia may mean 3 full days. It depends on how you like to travel. We’re more on the slower, see it all rather than quicker hit the high points. There were quite a few Scandinavians visiting which meant to us that travel was pretty easy between the countries.
Baltic jellyfish at the end of the pier were especially interesting.

Gdansk has been gorgeously rebuilt but is very popular. Understand that the historic core will feel a lot more touristy than Warsaw. The two biggest attractions for me were the Solidarity Center, where I spent about an entire day, and the World War II Museum, where I spent twenty hours. Yes, I am odd, but that is one time-consuming historical museum! It really does take 20 hours if you want to read all the information posted in English and watch all the English-accessible videos. I also enjoyed a much quicker visit to the Amber Museum. If you're bothered by crowds and have no particular interest in 20th-century history, you could see the beauty of Gdansk in one full day and might be ready to head to a less mobbed city. If you're into WWII and Cold War history, you'll need at least 3 nights for Gdansk alone, and that will not allow you to absorb everything in the WWII Museum

I didn't go to Sopot for lack of time. I popped over to Gdynia to see the Emigration Museum. It's very modern and would be especially interesting to people with a family history of emigration (even if not from Poland) recent enough that it's part of the family lore. That is not my situation, but I was still glad to see the museum. I recall a long walk from the train station to the museum; I imagine a bus would have taken me at least part of the way, but I like to walk. I'd say the Emigration Museum is skippable if you have limited time and no strong interest in the topic. I'm afraid I don't know what else there is to see; I spent a lot of time in Poland in 2018 and a bit more this year, but it was impossible to see everything.

Finland (more expensive) and the three Baltic countries (don't forget Lithuania) are great destinations. There, too, I spent a lot of time indulging my interests, which include Art Nouveau architecture and art as well as 20th-century history. I ended up spending 9 to 13 days in the various capital cities, plus extra time in some very nice secondary cities. It's a very interesting area. Ground transportation between Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania isn't very fast, so changing cities will take more time than you might expect from the short distances involved.

On my 2023 Nordic/Baltic trip I headed from Lithuania to Poland, but to Bialystok rather than the north. With the current situation involving Russia and Belarus, I didn't have a lot of ground-transportation options. The annoyance that is Kaliningrad may be an issue for you as well.

I am such a museum person i love that you spent 20 hours in the ww2 museum. I adore that. I am spending five nights there. Will all three museums that you mentioned. Emigration, solidarity and ww2. Plus Marlbork castle and then do some massages and little museums like the National Gdańsk museum and art. Thanks for the reinforcements
Two of the days are travel so the st Mary’s basilica also will be a travel day. Looking forward to a new place i have not been

I would say minimum 3 nights to explore Gdańsk and make it out to Sopot, add an extra night if you want to take a day trip to Malbork. I would also highly recommend seeing Turin as well, which can work as a stop over on your way to Warsaw (assuming you’re flying out from there)

We've booked the RS Best of Poland tour and planning on heading into Gdansk a few days earlier to recover from jet lag...thinking about visiting SOPOT once we arrive...fresh sea air and all.

Any thoughts or recommendations?

I found the Emigration Museum quite interesting, especially if you speak Polish as some panels are just in Polish.
If the weather is nice, a walk or bike along the beach between Gdansk and Sopot might be nice.

The Emigration Museum is relatively new and I thought it was very well done. Poland has many historical museums that are highly accessible to English speakers, and this felt like one of them to me. I don't remember specifically about the Emigration Museum, but it's very common for historical museums to have among their displays newspaper clippings, government proclamations and other text-intensive items that aren't translated, while all the explanatory material created by the museum itself appears in two or more languages. I have often stared at a wall full of propaganda posters and wondered what they said, because there just isn't time for a visitor to translate a lot of material like that.

I recently spent four nights in Gdansk - never got to the other two towns. The amount of time needed will depend upon your priorities - allow a day each for the WWII & Solidarity museums - to allow for diminished attention span if you treat each one seriously.

The boat ride out to Westerplatte can add another half day - I believe you could arrange that to return via Gdynia. For Sopot, would you just want to see it and have a meal, or spend a day - or two - at the beach if visiting in summer?

Side trips to Malbork, etc. would require more time.

I recently spent four whole days in Gdansk and never made it to Gdynia or Sopot (one day was spent at Malbork Castle) but, like Acraven, I can spend a long time at museums and both the Solidarity Museum and tbe Museum of WW2 both consumed an entire day each. You could visit Gdansk without visiting those two museums and most likely experience a decent taste of the city in one day if museums aren't your prority and you make it a long day.

The longer the better :) I'd say spend at least four days just in Gdańsk, one day in Sopot, one day in Gdynia.

The Polish Seaside Tricity (Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot) offers loads of attractions.

If you're going to visit Gdańsk, check out this travel guide and these visiting guides:
European Solidarity Centre
Museum Of The Second World War

Consider also visiting the spa facilities in Sopot.

I would recommend 7 nights if you intend to visit all 3 places and maybe time for another place in the same region.

There are two ferry routes connecting Poland with Sweden. A very convenient travel option , the ferry.