Gallery of Old Toys

What to expect

The Gallery of Old Toys (Galeria Starych Zabawek) in Gdansk is a private museum devoted to one narrowly defined collection: it shows only toys made in Poland between 1920 and 1989. It is run by Bernadeta and Wojciech Szymański, in premises at ul. Piwna 19/21.

You will see old dolls, teddy bears, doll’s-house furnishings, cars, farm vehicles, aeroplanes and toy pistols. According to the gallery’s Facebook page, the collection numbers more than 4000 Polish toys. The exhibition is complemented by original old catalogues and photographs that show the exhibits and confirm their provenance.

This is not a museum of toys in general: there are no foreign toys here and none older than 1920, and the youngest date from 1989 at the latest. That is what lets the collection tell a single story: that of toy-making in Poland over almost 70 years.

Visitors rate the gallery well: on Google Maps it has 4.3 out of 5 from 1074 reviews (read on 25 October 2026). In an article by Klaudia Cichocka of 23 December 2021, the news site Trojmiasto.pl wrote that the place will appeal not only to adults but also to children.

Who it suits: families with children, and best of all a three-generation outing. As the museum puts it, its youngest guests get to know the toys their parents, grandparents and even great-grandparents played with. Adults who grew up in Poland before 1989 will find the toys of their own childhood.

Who should skip it: anyone looking for toys from other countries or from before 1920, because the collection has none. Skip it too if you have a single afternoon in Gdansk and are mainly interested in the city’s history: the gallery tells the story of Polish toys, not of Gdansk.

How long: allow about an hour. That is how long a group visit with a museum lesson lasts; for a visit on your own, take the same as a starting point.

Tips

• The family ticket pays off. A family of two adults and two or three children can buy a separate family ticket, cheaper than the standard and reduced tickets for the same people added together. The prices are in the price list on the gallery’s website (linked in the practical information box).
• Reduced tickets for students too. The reduced ticket (10 PLN (about 2 EUR)) is for children, school pupils, students up to the age of 26, and old-age and disability pensioners; the standard ticket costs 20 PLN (about 5 EUR).
• Plan the day of your visit. Remember the weekly closing day: the gallery is closed on Mondays. On Saturdays and Sundays the gallery closes later than from Tuesday to Friday (on Fridays 11:00-17:00, on Saturdays 11:00-18:00). For a longer visit, choose the weekend.
• Do not skip the catalogues. The original old catalogues and photographs that complement the exhibition show the exhibits and confirm their provenance. Set aside a few minutes for them before you move on.
• Bring the grandparents. The museum itself is built around the meeting of generations: children look at the toys their parents and grandparents played with. Visiting with someone who remembers these toys from their own childhood gives the children a guide on the spot.
• School groups by booking only. A group must have at least 15 people and book its visit in advance; two carers enter without a ticket. The visit lasts an hour and takes the form of a museum lesson adapted to the participants’ age, on the history of toys made in Poland in 1920-1989.
• Groups pay the standard rate. A group ticket costs as much per person as a standard ticket, which is more than the reduced ticket that school pupils are entitled to. In return, the group gets a one-hour guided lesson.

Getting there

• Address: ul. Piwna 19/21, 80-831 Gdańsk.
• Nearest stops: according to the ZTM Gdańsk timetable, the stops closest to the gallery are “Targ Chlebowy 01” (about 121 m) and “Targ Drzewny 01” (about 233 m); both are served by line 100.
• Stops further away: “Brama Wyżynna 03” (about 329 m; lines 108, 183, 208, N8, N9, N14 and N78), “Brama Wyżynna 05” (about 329 m; lines 106, 111, 112, 123, 132, 138, 154, 166, 178, 186, 189, 212, 289, M32, N1, N4, N5 and N89) and “Żabi Kruk 03” (about 346 m; lines 112, 138, 166, 178, 186, 212, C80 and N8). The choice of lines here is much wider than at Targ Chlebowy.

Nearby

Within about 500 m of the gallery in a straight line lie, among others, these museums, so a visit here, planned at about an hour, is easy to combine with one of them:

• Artus Court, Długi Targ 43/44 - about 190 m in a straight line.
• Maritime Culture Centre, ul. Tokarska 21-25 - about 400 m in a straight line.
• Amber Museum , Wielkie Młyny 16 - about 470 m in a straight line. For families with children it has educational corners with amber puzzles and games; a visit to the two floors of the permanent exhibition takes about two hours.

Background

The collection you see today on ul. Piwna started out in a much tighter space. The gallery was founded in 2011 at ul. Ogarna 117/118: the owners rented a small, 30-square-metre unit there, and in July 2011, while the renovation was under way, the newspaper Dziennik Bałtycki announced the opening for August.

When the collection no longer fitted there, Bernadeta and Wojciech Szymański began looking for larger premises. In February 2013 the gallery moved to ul. Piwna 19/21, where it still operates today as a private museum.