Experience the best of Szczecin

Szczecin was German Stettin until 1945, and its history reflects Pomeranian dukes, Prussian rule and the rebuilding that followed the war. The Chrobry Embankment, a long riverside promenade, overlooks the Oder, and the Castle of the Pomeranian Dukes, a Renaissance palace, houses a museum. The Philharmonic Hall, a white building in the city centre, won a European architecture prize in 2015.

The Szczecin Lagoon, a shallow inland sea fed by the Oder, lies to the north of the city, and its shores hold birds and wetland. Wolin Island, across the lagoon, is home to Wolin National Park, with forests, cliffs and the Baltic coast, and Międzyzdroje, a seaside resort on Wolin, lies on the shore.

Polish food here includes smoked fish from the lagoon and the coast, pierogi, żurek, a sour rye soup, and the Szczecin pasztecik, a fried pastry with a savoury filling. The winters are cold and the summers mild, and the best months for walking along the river are May to September.