Świnoujście

Świnoujście, perched at the north-western tip of Poland on the Baltic Sea, extends across three principal islands—Usedom, Wolin and Karsibór—and 41 smaller islets, enveloping 202.7 km² of land and water. Home to 38 728 inhabitants in 2024, the city commands a unique position at the mouth of the Świna River, which links the Szczecin Lagoon to the Pomeranian Bay. Since 1999 it has held the status of a city with county rights within the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. With its broad, ever-expanding beach—currently the widest in Poland at 200 m—and a shoreline advanced seaward by some 1.5 km over two centuries of sedimentary accretion, Świnoujście combines strategic maritime importance with a singular seaside charm.

The story of Świnoujście is inseparable from its geography. Situated at 53° 54′ N and 14° 14′ E, the city straddles the strait of the Świna, whose northern channel opens onto the Baltic Sea and whose southern arm feeds into the Szczecin Lagoon. The interplay of currents has borne sand onto the beaches at a steady rate of approximately 1.5 m per year, so that successive generations have witnessed the shore advance ever farther from the historic promenades built more than a century ago. Far from a passive backdrop, this shifting coastline has shaped both the urban fabric and the leisure life of the community, reconnecting the land to the sea in subtle but unceasing ways.

Administratively, Świnoujście’s elevation to a city-county in 1999 affirmed its regional significance, linking it more closely with the urban orbit of Szczecin and marking it as a cornerstone of Poland’s north-western frontier. The West Pomeranian Voivodeship, within whose bounds the city lies, has fostered its growth through investments in energy and transport infrastructure. The liquefied natural gas terminal, inaugurated in 2015, stands as a testament to Poland’s drive for energy diversification. More recently, the underwater tunnel completed in 2023 at a cost of €191 million has for the first time provided a permanent road link between the islands of Usedom and Wolin, knitting the city’s two halves together and ending centuries of reliance on ferry services for vehicular crossing.

Indeed, for most of its modern history transport within Świnoujście has depended upon ferries. The Bielik boats run continuously across the Świna between the city centre on Wolin and Warszów on Usedom, carrying pedestrians, cyclists and motor vehicles without charge to Polish residents. A second ferry links Karsibór to southern Uznam, serving both local traffic and commercial operators. Until the tunnel’s opening, these services were the only fixed connection to the western districts; their gratuitous nature reflects the city’s insularity and the state’s recognition of its divided geography.

Beyond local crossings, Świnoujście stands at the terminus of the national road 3—soon to be upgraded to expressway S3—and thus at the northern end of the European route E65, which spans from Malmö to Crete. National road 93 threads southward to Garz, tracing an old border route now rendered obsolete by modern bridges and Schengen’s abolition of land controls in December 2007. The extension of the railway line from Ahlbeck into Świnoujście in 2008 completed the city’s reintegration into the German railway network, offering direct links to Berlin and beyond. Four stations on Wolin island—Świnoujście Port, Przytór, Warszów and the main station—handle regional trains to Szczecin, Poznań and Koszalin, as well as intercity services to Katowice, Kraków, Katowice and Warsaw. On Usedom the Świnoujście Centrum station connects seasonally to Heringsdorf, Stralsund and, at peak times, Berlin, underlining the city’s dual role as both a local hub and a node in a wider European web.

The city’s port facilities underscore its maritime heritage. The ferry terminal is the most modern in Poland, linking regularly to Sweden’s Trelleborg and Ystad via Polferries, Unity Line and TT-Line. In concert with Szczecin, whose deeper but less accessible harbor complements Świnoujście’s coastal position, the port complex handles more than a quarter of all cargo throughput in Polish ports. The waterway to the city requires regular dredging, a fact made more urgent by a long-running dispute with Germany over the northern approach channel. In May 2023 the decision to carve a new eastern fairway, free of that dispute, opened a 70 km route with a technical depth of 17 m, ensuring that ever-larger vessels may reach the piers without diplomatic friction. The port’s gas terminals, naval docks and plans for a container terminal further reflect the multifaceted nature of its economy, which balances heavy industry on Wolin’s shores with tourism and spa services to the east.

Tourism itself is woven into the city’s identity. Beach facilities stretch some ten kilometres along the shores of Usedom and Wolin, shallow waters lapping onto fine sands that warm more quickly than elsewhere on the Polish coast, thanks to the city’s westerly position and the shelter of the Pomeranian Bay. The Świnoujście bathing area has held the Blue Flag designation every year since 2006, a mark of water purity and safety. Sunbathers, swimmers and families find the shallow gradient reassuring, while adventurous visitors may hire jet skis or embark on trampolines and water slides near the marina. Year-round information points in the ferry terminal and at the former Ahlbeck border crossing guide guests toward excursions by catamaran to the island of Rügen or cultural forays to nearby German resorts of Ahlbeck, Heringsdorf and Bansin, reachable also by the cross-border promenade opened in 2011—a nearly four-kilometre path for cyclists and pedestrians that has achieved recognition as one of the seven wonders of European Funds.

Leisure in Świnoujście is not confined to seaside pastimes. The city’s spa tradition dates to 1824, when the area was declared a seaside resort, and was enhanced in 1897 by the discovery of healing brine springs. Today fifteen health-resort facilities—two hospitals, eleven sanatoriums, a natural medicine institute and a clinic—offer treatments ranging from balneotherapy and hydrotherapy to kinesitherapy and phototherapy. Mineral waters rich in chloride, sodium, iodide, bromide and iron are drawn from the Jantar and Teresa intakes, while the Płachcin peat deposit yields therapeutic mud. Specialties include cardiological rehabilitation, musculoskeletal therapy, endocrine and pulmonary care, dermatology and post-mastectomy rehabilitation. The natural assets of this lowland peat and brine underpin a health tourism sector that complements the city’s maritime and industrial activities.

The promenades of Świnoujście exemplify the city’s layered history. The Historic Promenade, founded at the turn of the twentieth century and first lit by electric lamps in 1910, now sits more than 150 m inland from the waterline. Recent renovations have extended its length to 1.5 km and introduced salt graduation towers, a water clock and new leisure pavilions at a cost of over PLN 18.3 million. Parallel to it lies the Health Promenade, completed in 2019 at a similar expense, where gym stations, sensory gardens, pétanque courts and a maze offer active recreation amid plantings chosen for their seasonal interest. A planned Forest Promenade, funded with PLN 5 million from the Polish Deal Government Fund, will extend the green corridor eastward by another 800 m, knitting together the spa district with the woodland on Wolin island. The Footbridge on the Dunes, built between 2007 and 2011 and now slated for extension toward the Stawa Młyny beacon, affords panoramic views of sea and shore, testifying to the city’s ongoing dialogue between land and water.

Connectivity beyond the road and rail networks includes air links via Heringsdorf Airport, thirteen kilometres to the west across the German border, which offers seasonal flights to German cities and, since 2009, to Zürich and Warsaw. For year-round service, the Szczecin-Goleniów “Solidarność” Airport lies some 80 km to the southeast, connecting Świnoujście with Dublin, London and other major European capitals. Local public transport is managed by the municipal bus company, whose routes traverse all three inhabited islands and extend to Międzyzdroje, while since 2004 Ostseebus and local operators have run cross-border lines into German resorts.

The economic landscape of Świnoujście is calculated along dual axes. On the right bank of the Świna, heavy industry, transport and energy installations dominate; on the left bank, tourism, spa services and commerce flourish among the hotels, cafes and oceanarium that line the promenades. The liquefied natural gas terminal and naval port signal the city’s significance to national energy security and maritime defence, while the beach, spa and promenades attest to a century and a half of wellness and leisure traditions.

As the city looks ahead, plans for a container terminal, further dredging of the fairway, extensions of rail lines to Heringsdorf Airport and Ducherow, and completion of the Forest Promenade illustrate a commitment to diversified growth. The interplay of sediment and surf that widens the beaches each year is a reminder that nature—not politics or economics—remains the ultimate architect of this place. Yet human ingenuity has harnessed those shifting sands to build one of Poland’s most expansive cities by area, a transnational bridge between east and west, industry and tourism, tradition and innovation.

In an era when seaside resorts often vie for novelty, Świnoujście’s appeal lies in its blend of elemental forces and deliberate design. Its beaches, widening ever outward, invite contemplation of time’s inexorable flow, even as its tunnels and terminals accelerate the rhythms of trade and travel. The salt on the promenade, the brine in the spa, the ferry horn at dawn and the lantern light at dusk entwine in a narrative as layered as the geological strata beneath the sand. Here the Baltic’s breath is felt in every wind-sculpted dune, every ferry wake and every inhalation at the spa; Świnoujście endures as a testament to the enduring dialogue between city and sea.