---
title: "Top 10 Things To Do in Toruń, Poland (2026 Guide) | Wimup"
description: "The 10 best things to do in Toruń, ranked. A Gothic old town that came through the war intact, Copernicus, gingerbread, and the Vistula panorama."
url: https://wimup.com/city/torun
type: City guide
updated: 2026-09-06
publisher: Wimup (https://wimup.com)
---

# Top 10 Things To Do in Toruń

Toruń, Poland · Europe · By Wimup Editorial, 13 min read

Toruń is the Gothic city Poland did not have to rebuild. Its Old Town and New Town came through the Second World War without major damage, so the brick townhouses, gates and church towers are original rather than reconstructed. UNESCO listed the medieval centre in 1997. Copernicus was born here in 1473.

## Quick answer

Start on the Old Town Square: the Gothic town hall, its museum, and 175 steps to a terrace 40 metres up. Then the cathedral for the Tuba Dei bell, the Copernicus house on ulica Kopernika, and a gingerbread workshop on Rabiańska. Cross to Kępa Bazarowa late in the day for the panorama. Two days covers the city. A third buys Chełmno or Golub-Dobrzyń.

## Quick facts

- **Best months:** May · Jun · Sep
- **Ideal length:** 2–3 days
- **Budget per day:** $50–95
- **Language:** Polish
- **Getting around:** The old town on foot, trams and buses beyond it
- **Tourism board:** [Official site](https://visittorun.com/en/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

## The 10 best things to do in Toruń

### 1. Old Town Hall and its tower

Landmark · Rynek Staromiejski 1, 87-100 Toruń

The largest secular Gothic building in the city, raised in stages through the 13th and 14th centuries and rebuilt after it was wrecked in the early 18th. The District Museum holds the interiors, and 175 steps lead to a terrace 40 metres up, level with the church towers.

- **Time:** 1 hr 30 min
- **Cost:** Ticketed
- **Best at:** Late afternoon
- **Tip:** Climb before you walk the streets: the terrace is where the medieval grid reads as one plan

Links: [Website](https://muzeum.torun.pl/en/old-town-hall/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 2. Cathedral of the Two Saints John

Church · Żeglarska 16, 87-100 Toruń

Begun around 1260 and not finished until the end of the 15th century, which is why the tower and the nave read as two buildings. That tower carries the Tuba Dei, cast in Toruń by Martin Schmidt in 1500 and still the second largest historic bell in Poland.

- **Time:** 45 min
- **Cost:** Ticketed
- **Best at:** Morning
- **Tip:** The stair to the bell is single file, and it ends on the best view of the square and the river

### 3. Museum of Toruń Gingerbread

Museum · Strumykowa 4, 87-100 Toruń

The District Museum's gingerbread branch, in the old Kopernik factory buildings on Strumykowa. Seven centuries of a trade the city never stopped practising, from the medieval spice routes to the carved presses that still stamp katarzynki.

- **Time:** 1 hr
- **Cost:** Ticketed
- **Best at:** Morning
- **Tip:** This one is a museum, not a workshop; book Rabiańska 9 if you want to bake your own

Links: [Website](https://muzeum.torun.pl/en/the-museum-of-torun-gingerbread/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 4. Nicolaus Copernicus House

Museum · Kopernika 15/17, 87-100 Toruń

Two Gothic merchant houses on the street that carries his name, one of them held to be where Copernicus was born in 1473. The rooms are dressed as a 15th century burgher household, which is the point: this is the town that produced him, not a shrine to the theory.

- **Time:** 1 hr
- **Cost:** Ticketed
- **Best at:** Morning
- **Tip:** Pair it with the planetarium ten minutes west rather than giving either a whole afternoon

Links: [Website](https://muzeum.torun.pl/en/the-nicolaus-copernicus-house/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 5. The panorama from Kępa Bazarowa

Viewpoint · Kępa Bazarowa, 87-100 Toruń

The island facing the Old Town is a riparian reserve of poplar and willow with a viewing platform on the river edge. From it the walls, the gates and the church towers line up in a single frame. This is the view the city puts on its own postcards.

- **Time:** 1 hr
- **Cost:** Free
- **Best at:** Sunset
- **Tip:** Walk over from plac Rapackiego, or take the Katarzynka boat from Philadelphia Boulevard in summer

Links: [Website](https://visittorun.com/en/content/vistula-river-viewing-point?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 6. The Leaning Tower

Landmark · Pod Krzywą Wieżą 1/3, 87-100 Toruń

A 13th century brick tower in the town wall, built to defend it and now 1.5 metres off vertical at the top. Legend hands the lean to a penitent Teutonic knight. The loamy ground under the foundations is the actual answer.

- **Time:** 15 min
- **Cost:** Free
- **Best at:** Any time
- **Tip:** It stands on the riverside run of wall, so pick it up between the castle ruins and the boulevard

Links: [Website](https://hansadays.torun.pl/en/atrakcje/the-leaning-tower/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 7. Teutonic Castle ruins

Ruins · Przedzamcze 3, 87-100 Toruń

The townspeople pulled the Order's castle down in the rebellion of 1454 and nobody rebuilt it. What is left is the ground plan and a run of vaulted cellars intact enough to walk through, tied into the same stretch of wall as the Leaning Tower.

- **Time:** 45 min
- **Cost:** Ticketed
- **Best at:** Afternoon
- **Tip:** The underground passages are the reason to come; above ground the ruins read as foundations

### 8. Planetarium Toruń

Attraction · Franciszkańska 15/21, 87-100 Toruń

A fulldome planetarium in a rotunda on the western edge of the Old Town, opened in 1994 with its first public show on the anniversary of Copernicus's birth. Projections run about 40 minutes, with two interactive rooms, Geodium and the MARS#17 base, alongside.

- **Time:** 1 hr
- **Cost:** 30 zł, 25 zł reduced
- **Best at:** Midday
- **Tip:** Shows run to a fixed timetable, so read the day's listing before you plan an afternoon around it

Links: [Website](https://www.planetarium.torun.pl/o-planetarium.html?lang=en&utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 9. Ethnographic Museum

Museum · Wały gen. Sikorskiego 19, 87-100 Toruń

Maria Znamierowska-Prüfferowa founded it in 1959 and it now holds more than 70,000 objects. The permanent show, Secrets of Everyday Life, reconstructs village and small-town Poland of a century and a half ago, five minutes from the square on the old ramparts.

- **Time:** 1 hr 30 min
- **Cost:** Ticketed
- **Best at:** Morning
- **Tip:** It closes at 16:00 on Wednesday and Friday and 18:00 at weekends, so save it for a Saturday if you are running late

Links: [Website](https://etnomuzeum.pl/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 10. Fort IV

Fortress · Chrobrego 86, 87-100 Toruń

One of 15 Prussian forts thrown around Toruń in the 19th century, part of a belt some 22 km long with more than 200 smaller works in it. The route runs through the underground passages and up onto the artillery ramparts.

- **Time:** 1 hr 30 min
- **Cost:** Ticketed
- **Best at:** Midday
- **Tip:** A guide takes you deeper into the tunnels than the self-guided route, so check the guided times first

Links: [Website](https://www.fort.torun.pl/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

## Best gothic landmarks in Toruń

Six buildings that explain why the whole centre is listed.

1. **Old Town Hall** (13th–14th century · Rynek Staromiejski): Civic Gothic at full scale, with a terrace 40 metres up. [Website](https://muzeum.torun.pl/en/old-town-hall/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
2. **Cathedral of the Two Saints John** (Cathedral · Żeglarska): Begun around 1260, and holding the Tuba Dei bell of 1500.
3. **Church of St James** (Parish church · Rynek Nowomiejski): The New Town's Gothic parish church, on its own square.
4. **Teutonic Castle ruins** (Ruins · Przedzamcze): Levelled by the townspeople in 1454. The cellars survived.
5. **Monastery Gate** (City gate · Ducha Świętego): One of three medieval gates still standing, down by the water.
6. **The Leaning Tower** (Defensive tower · Pod Krzywą Wieżą): A wall tower 1.5 metres off vertical, and honest about why. [Website](https://hansadays.torun.pl/en/atrakcje/the-leaning-tower/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

## Best museums in Toruń

Five District Museum branches and the ethnographers, all inside the walls or just outside them.

1. **Nicolaus Copernicus House** (Biography · 1473 · ulica Kopernika): Two Gothic houses, one of them his birthplace. [Website](https://muzeum.torun.pl/en/the-nicolaus-copernicus-house/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
2. **Museum of Toruń Gingerbread** (Food history · Strumykowa): Seven centuries of the trade, in the old factory. [Website](https://muzeum.torun.pl/en/the-museum-of-torun-gingerbread/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
3. **Museum of the History of Toruń** (City history · Łazienna): The city's own story, in the Esken merchant house. [Website](https://muzeum.torun.pl/en/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
4. **Museum of Far Eastern Art** (Asian art · Rynek Staromiejski): Asian collections behind a painted Baroque façade. [Website](https://muzeum.torun.pl/en/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
5. **Tony Halik Travellers' Museum** (Travel · Franciszkańska): What Poland's best known traveller brought home. [Website](https://muzeum.torun.pl/en/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
6. **Ethnographic Museum** (Ethnography · 1959 · Wały gen. Sikorskiego): More than 70,000 objects of rural and small-town life. [Website](https://etnomuzeum.pl/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

## Best restaurants in Toruń

Six tables in the old town, from a pancake house to a granary cellar.

1. **Karczma Spichrz** (Polish · Mostowa): Old Polish recipes in the cellar of a converted granary.
2. **Manekin** (Pancakes · Rynek Staromiejski): The pancake house the national chain grew out of.
3. **U Kucharzy** (Polish · Rynek Staromiejski): Magda Gessler's Toruń room, on the main square.
4. **Jan Olbracht Browar Staromiejski** (Brewery kitchen · Szczytna): A working brewery over four floors, kitchen included. [Website](https://www.browar-olbracht.pl/en/the-restaurant?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
5. **Chleb i Wino** (Italian · Old Town): Italian plates and a long European wine list.
6. **Kuranty** (Polish and international · Rynek Staromiejski): Bar upstairs, bistro downstairs, beer garden in summer.

## Best bars & cafes in Toruń

Gothic cellars, a jazz room, and the cafes that get you through a wet afternoon.

1. **Jan Olbracht Browar Staromiejski** (Brewpub · Szczytna): Unfiltered house beers, including a gingerbread dark. [Website](https://www.browar-olbracht.pl/en/the-brewery?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
2. **Piwnica Pod Antałkiem** (Pub · Old Town): A cellar pub that takes wine and whisky as seriously as craft beer.
3. **Tutu Whiskey & Jazz Club** (Jazz bar · Old Town): Live jazz and cocktails, and the latest room in the centre.
4. **Café Lenkiewicz** (Cafe · 1945 · Wielkie Garbary): A 1945 confectioner that still makes the best ice cream in town. [Website](https://visittorun.com/en/content/caf%C3%A9-lenkiewicz?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
5. **Kona Coast Cafe** (Specialty coffee · Old Town): AeroPress and Chemex, deckchairs outside, wifi that works.
6. **Grande Coffee** (Cafe · Rynek Staromiejski): Coffee and smoothies on the square, for when the queue at Manekin is out the door.

## Best gingerbread stops in Toruń

Four places to understand, bake, or simply buy the thing the city is known for.

1. **Living Museum of Gingerbread** (Workshop · Rabiańska): Mix, roll and press your own in a 19th century granary. [Website](https://muzeumpiernika.pl/en/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
2. **Museum of Toruń Gingerbread** (Museum · Strumykowa): The District Museum's account of the trade, on the factory site. [Website](https://muzeum.torun.pl/en/the-museum-of-torun-gingerbread/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
3. **Kopernik factory shop** (Shop · 1763 · Old Town): The 1763 works, and the tins everyone takes home. [Website](https://visittorun.com/en/content/kopernik-factory-store-1?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
4. **Piernikowe Miasteczko** (For children · Podmurna): A gingerbread-themed playground, and the answer to a wet afternoon with children.

## Best neighborhoods in Toruń

The listed area is two medieval towns and a castle. The suburbs came later.

1. **Stare Miasto** (Old Town · Centre): Laid out from 1236, and holding most of what you came for.
2. **Nowe Miasto** (New Town · East of the centre): Founded 1264 on a strict grid, quieter and cheaper one square east.
3. **Bydgoskie Przedmieście** (Suburb · 1880s · West): Late 19th century villas and tenements, the prettiest streets outside the walls.
4. **Jakubskie Przedmieście** (Suburb · East): Old workers' housing east of the centre, now mostly new apartments.

## Best day trips from Toruń

Four trips, none more than about 50 km, and each of them most of a day.

1. **Chełmno** (40 km north · Kuyavia-Pomerania): A walled medieval town 40 km north, and far quieter than this one.
2. **Golub-Dobrzyń** (40 km east · Kuyavia-Pomerania): A Teutonic castle on a river hill, begun after 1293. [Website](https://visittorun.com/en/content/castle-golub-dobrzy%C5%84?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
3. **Ciechocinek** (50 km south · Kuyavia): A spa town built around graduation towers, about 50 km south.
4. **Bydgoszcz** (45 min by rail · Kuyavia-Pomerania): The other half of the province, under an hour away by train.

## Festivals & annual events in Toruń (2026)

- **Probaltica** (May): Chamber music and fine art from the Baltic states, with most of the programme free to attend.
- **Toruń City Days** (19–28 June 2026): Ten days and about 70 events, from open-air concerts to the Hanseatic fair on the square.
- **Tofifest** (Late June): An independent film festival with a taste for first features. The 2026 edition opens on 27 June.
- **Feast of Gingerbread** (June): The Kopernik confectionery works throws the city a party around the thing it bakes.
- **Copernicon** (18–20 September 2026): Three days of fantasy, gaming and pop culture across the Old Town, the region's largest convention.
- **ToruńCAMERIMAGE** (7–14 November 2026): The cinematography festival, running since 1993 and now the city's biggest international date.
- **Toruń Christmas Fair** (Late November to late December): More than 100 stalls on the Old Town Square, opened by a parade from the New Town.
- **Bella Skyway Festival** (August, every second year): Light installations across the Gothic facades. It moved to a two-year cycle after 2024, so check first.

## Must-try dishes in Toruń, Poland

- **Piernik toruński**: Spiced gingerbread, baked here since the Middle Ages and pressed in carved moulds.
- **Katarzynki**: Six soft lobes joined in a ring and glazed. The city's own gingerbread shape.
- **Gęsina**: Kuyavian goose, at its best around St Martin's Day in November.
- **Pierogi kujawskie**: Buckwheat and curd cheese instead of potato, a holiday-table filling.
- **Czernina**: Duck blood soup with dried fruit, sweet and sour at once.
- **Żurek**: Sour rye soup on ham stock, with white sausage in it.
- **Biały barszcz kujawski**: Soured with rye leaven and sauerkraut brine, sharper than żurek.
- **Ruchanki**: Kuyavian yeast fritters, fried and dusted with sugar.

## Toruń transport & airports

- **Bydgoszcz Airport** (BZG): The nearest airport, about 50 km west and roughly 50 minutes by road. A FlixBus runs into Toruń in about 1 hour 20 minutes.
- **Rail** (PKP): Toruń Główny sits across the river from the Old Town. PKP Intercity runs from Warszawa Centralna in about 2 hours 10 minutes, and Bydgoszcz is roughly 36 minutes away.
- **Trams and buses** (MZK): MZK Toruń runs 8 tram lines and 58 bus routes, plus three night buses after 23:00. The trams do not reach the main station, so arrivals take a bus or a taxi. [Website](https://mzk-torun.pl/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- **On foot** (Old Town): The Old Town, the New Town and the castle ruins form one continuous walkable core. Kępa Bazarowa is a bridge walk from plac Rapackiego, or a boat from Philadelphia Boulevard in summer. [Website](https://visittorun.com/en/page/public-transport?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

## Toruń at a glance

- **Country:** Poland
- **Region:** Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship
- **Population:** About 193,000 (Statistics Poland, 2025)
- **Founded:** Old Town laid out from 1236; New Town founded 1264
- **Nickname:** The gingerbread city
- **Language:** Polish
- **Currency:** Polish złoty (zł)
- **Time zone:** CET (UTC+1), CEST (UTC+2) in summer
- **Calling code:** +48 56
- **Airports:** Bydgoszcz (BZG) about 50 km west; Warsaw Chopin (WAW) about two hours by train
- **Power:** 230V, 50Hz, Type C/E sockets
- **Emergency:** 112

## Interesting facts

- Toruń came through the Second World War without major damage, so its Gothic houses are original rather than rebuilt.
- UNESCO inscribed the medieval town on 4 December 1997: the Old Town, the New Town and the castle together.
- Nicolaus Copernicus was born here in 1473, and the city has been trading on it ever since.
- The Kopernik confectionery works, founded in 1763, is the oldest confectionery company in Poland.
- Prussia ringed the city with 15 forts and more than 200 smaller works, a belt some 22 km around.

## Toruń travel FAQ

### How many days do you need in Toruń?

Two days covers the centre properly: the town hall tower, the cathedral, the Copernicus house, a gingerbread workshop and the panorama from Kępa Bazarowa. Add a third for Chełmno, Golub-Dobrzyń or Ciechocinek, because each takes most of a day.

### Is Toruń worth visiting?

Yes, for a reason most Polish cities cannot offer. Warsaw and Gdańsk were rebuilt after 1945 and Toruń was not, so the brick facades, the gates and the vaulted cellars are the ones the Hanseatic merchants put up. UNESCO listed the whole centre in 1997.

### What is Toruń famous for?

Copernicus, who was born here in 1473, and gingerbread, which the city has baked since the Middle Ages. The Gothic old town on the Vistula is the third answer, and the one you actually travel for.

### When is the best time to visit Toruń?

May, June and September. July and August are the warmest months, with highs around 25°C, but they are also the wettest and the busiest. For a winter trip, the Christmas fair on the Old Town Square runs from late November.

### How do you get to Toruń?

By train. PKP Intercity reaches Toruń Główny from Warszawa Centralna in about 2 hours 10 minutes, and Bydgoszcz is roughly 36 minutes away. The nearest airport is Bydgoszcz (BZG), about 50 km west, with a bus in around 1 hour 20 minutes.

## Nearby guides

- [Łódź](https://wimup.com/city/lodz.md): Poland · 10 picks
- [Sopot](https://wimup.com/city/sopot.md): Poland · 10 picks
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- [All of Europe →](https://wimup.com/europe): 156 cities

Part of the [Poland guide](https://wimup.com/country/poland.md) · [Europe](https://wimup.com/europe.md)

## Sources

- [Toruń tourism board](https://visittorun.com/en/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Old Town Hall and its tower (official site)](https://muzeum.torun.pl/en/old-town-hall/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Museum of Toruń Gingerbread (official site)](https://muzeum.torun.pl/en/the-museum-of-torun-gingerbread/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Nicolaus Copernicus House (official site)](https://muzeum.torun.pl/en/the-nicolaus-copernicus-house/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [The panorama from Kępa Bazarowa (official site)](https://visittorun.com/en/content/vistula-river-viewing-point?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [The Leaning Tower (official site)](https://hansadays.torun.pl/en/atrakcje/the-leaning-tower/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Planetarium Toruń (official site)](https://www.planetarium.torun.pl/o-planetarium.html?lang=en&utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Ethnographic Museum (official site)](https://etnomuzeum.pl/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Fort IV (official site)](https://www.fort.torun.pl/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Museum of the History of Toruń (official site)](https://muzeum.torun.pl/en/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Jan Olbracht Browar Staromiejski (official site)](https://www.browar-olbracht.pl/en/the-restaurant?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Jan Olbracht Browar Staromiejski (official site)](https://www.browar-olbracht.pl/en/the-brewery?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Café Lenkiewicz (official site)](https://visittorun.com/en/content/caf%C3%A9-lenkiewicz?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Living Museum of Gingerbread (official site)](https://muzeumpiernika.pl/en/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Kopernik factory shop (official site)](https://visittorun.com/en/content/kopernik-factory-store-1?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Golub-Dobrzyń (official site)](https://visittorun.com/en/content/castle-golub-dobrzy%C5%84?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Trams and buses (official site)](https://mzk-torun.pl/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [On foot (official site)](https://visittorun.com/en/page/public-transport?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- Rankings are Wimup editorial picks. Prices, durations and budgets are editorial estimates, not live quotes; check the official site before you go.