I really enjoyed touring... - I really enjoyed touring the castle and learning the history. Boz’ena was a very knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide who kept me riveted as she shared the story of the gallant soldiers at Westerplatte. I loved the dumplings and the warm red wine. I ‘m also particularly fond of Boz’ena’s warmth. She shared Polish dumpling recipes and a funny video reciting Baz Luhrmann’s essay on Sunscreen! It was a memorable tour.

Go on, treat yourself to History, a spa-day for the soul (Spoiler-free) - We would highly recommend this tour from 'Poland by Locals' but before I explain why it's worth pointing out that this is a very small, passionate local family business so if you do intend to book, do so directly with them. The trip is based around 3 locations, first you visit Malbork Castle, then a beautiful restored Mennonite House (Maly Holender) in a stunning rural area and then onto Westerplatte where World War 2 began and thus the horrors that followed. The trip takes a whole day and your guide will collect you around 9am from your accommodation, drop you back around 5pm and you will be given an authentic Polish lunch as part of the trip as well as offers of bottled water. All entrance fees and admissions are covered in the price and there are no further additional costs. There are toilets throughout the tour but depending on when you visit Westerplatte they may or may not be open there so relieve yourself when leaving the Mennonite House. This is very much a Gdansk-region history trip and our guide Bożena's passion and knowledge of her country and region not only fulfilled this prerequisite it also turned it into a political, social, cultural and even (at times) gastronomic tour of the area as well. Bożena herself is funny, engaging and charming but her kindness and welcoming nature coupled with her excellent English speaking skills made this a really authentic trip and at the end of it, my partner and I were both hugged and wished well - lovely. The trip was on our last day in Gdansk and it was an incredible end to the trip, the fact that we visited a castle on Halloween also had a nice symmetry to it. After you are collected from your accommodation there is an approximate 45 minute drive to Malbork where you guide will talk to you about Poland's geography, its history, its wildlife and start to introduce the castle and its surroundings. Upon arrival at the castle you will be taken in, set up on the walking tour (which is somewhat free-roaming and you can do in your own way) and then you are collected 2-3 hours later which is just the right amount of time to see the castle grounds and the high castle cathedral area. I won't write a spoiler-laden review and suggest you just visit and enjoy all there is to offer, we have visited many European Castles of different eras and this is definitely worth visiting. If you like History, Art, Architecture, Weaponry, Landscapes or just whimsical stories you will enjoy all it has to offer. Upon leaving the castle you walk across the impressive Nogat River across a foot bridge and get to see the scale and sprawl of the castle against the river which is a great opportunity to take more photos at the unlimited envy of all your friends left working back at home! You get back into the large and comfortable SUV/4x4 vehicle and then onwards to the Mennonite House to learn about their order and the contributions to the area including a particularly local and famous liqueur which the city of Gdansk will have great pleasure introducing you to. I won't spoil what the lunch on offer is but I can tell you it was the best version I had of it on my trip to Gdansk and if you are good to your guide you may even get to leave with a recipe card on how you can make your own versions at home. If you get Bożena as your guide do ask her about them and she will tell you about her family's relationship to this great polish food! You can also enjoy a delicious drink from a Polish brewery on the tour and it was interesting to hear about Poland's brewing history and how it was hijacked by the Russian occupation. The final place on the tour is Westerplatte and the start, the initiating battle, of the Second World War. As with many of these European monuments to war it is sombre, harrowing and reflective throughout but unlike other trips on this subject it is not German or Hitler-centric in how the war began and is a Polish story in Poland. Continuing the theme of this review and not spoiling the trip, if you are planning to do this in advance of your arrival do not plan this on your last day and leave enough time to visit the Museum of the Second World War and the European Solidarity Centre afterwards which we regret not having time to do and which no doubt continue on and further fill out what we learned on the day. In closing we would highly recommend this trip and it was good value for money. In the spirit of honesty and sharing with travellers we nearly didn't book this trip. It was more expensive than others and we were worried on a private tour that all the attention would be on us, we would have to engage with someone all day even if we weren't in the mood and we had a bit of 'holiday fatigue' by the end of our time there. If you feel the same please ignore this instinct, all the similar tours offer the same places but the personal, local and passionate touch really matters. When you factor in lunch, travel, pick-ups, admissions and authenticity the 'extra' is a bargain. We had the benefit that Bożena was approximately our age and at a similar phase of her life and had we lived locally would have tried to add her to our friend group. Thank you.

Malbourk Castle and Westerplatte tour - Rozena is the best tour guide. She is timely, friendly and very well educated. Her knowledge of Poland is second to none. She took us to a family owned restaurant that had excellent dumplings (pierogi). We would never have found this gem on our own. I would highly recommend her.

Best Castle in Northern Europe and Better Food - Fantastic private tour with pickup at the cruise port in Gdynia. Had a wonderful local guide who picked us up and took us through Sopot, Gdansk and the Polish country side to Malbork Castle. Malbork castle was brilliant. Well worth a visit if staying in Gdansk. The castle is beautiful and massive to walk around with plenty to see. Beautiful grounds. Normally don't like self guided tours, but the electronics used on this tour made it easy and the flexibility to stop or repeat when you wanted was great. The best part of the this tour was our guide Michael (a lawyer on holiday) and lunch at a local country restaurant (Maly Holender) where our guide made recommendations for beer and local Polish favorites. Great choices! Traffic between Gydnia and Gdansk can be heavy and slow going and our guide adjusted accordingly so we were back to the ship well before the all aboard time.

A wonderful day - Historically informative. After a nice tour, enjoy a delicious meal at the castle and shop at the market. You can also browse the small shops.

Great dat - Great tour of the castle, informative guide. Westerplatte is interesting too. Door to door service. Great food and experience at Maly Holender restaurant - what a historically interesting spot (Polish Mennonite culture!)

Bozena is the best! - Our travel guide was wonderful! Her knowledge and kindness was appreciated. The lunch she shared with us was incredible. She is very good at making people feel welcome.

Wiki Tour-de-Gdansk - Our day began with a little bit of stress because the tour operator was ~15 minutes late due to traffic (she tried texting me, but I have no int’l data). If this happens to you… Have faith — they are coming. The tour guide, Bozena, quickly recovered. She picked us up in her 8-person VW van, and took us on a lovely Baltic tour. I ask hard questions — obscure factoids on all sorts of things — Bozena had answers. True to its name, this was a tour of ‘Poland by Locals’. Does Gdansk have a native beer? Why yes, Jopenbier, which botanical archaeologists reconstructed recipes from a hidden stash of forgotten 15th century bottles. Why don’t I see more oak trees? I only see Linden and Locusts… she knew the history of trade deals that describe the Polish lumber market. Why was Westerplatte the opening salvo for WW2? Why Gdansk and not Danzig? … She knew. AND — she was kind and tolerant of the two-tweens with us. Also — the ‘lunch’ mentioned here is a pretty bland advertisement for the really neat, local spot they take you. I had no ideas that they had a Mennonite Enclave that has excellent pierogi as well as… Crawdads like the Mississippi Delta (!!) because, Gdansk (whose name is derived from lower wetlands!), is that kind of place, too. 100% Recommend.

Highly recommended! - What a lovely time through the Polish countryside and seeing a truly remarkable medieval complex. Our guide was fantastic and super friendly. Highly recommended!

A day in Gdańsk!! - This company is awesome! I received email of my Guide and a contact number days before!! Bożena was amazing!!! She is so knowledgeable about Gdańsk!!! She was prompt at pick up from my hotel lobby as agreed!! Her directions and meeting locations were clear and I felt the trip was well organized! Malbork was an audio guide which is a once in a life time experience! It really felt like an adventure! Westerplatte was rich in history, and the lunch was the best pierogis. Just a great day! I feel like I rode around with a long time friend!!