The Sopot pier stretches 511 metres out into the Gulf of Gdansk, easily the longest wooden pier in Europe. Walking its length in either direction takes about ten minutes and gives you open sea views with the sweep of the bay to the north and south. At the end, a small pavilion hosts a café and a viewing platform.
The pier and the street behind it, Bohaterów Monte Cassino — known universally as Monciak — form the centre of Sopot's summer social life. Monciak is a pedestrian street lined with restaurants, ice cream shops, and bars that stays animated until well after midnight during July and August. The beach below is broad, sandy, and popular, with its characteristic wooden changing cabins and the distinctive smell of sunscreen and pine resin.
Sopot also has the Forest Opera, a beautiful open-air concert venue set among trees that hosts the annual Sopot International Song Festival, one of the oldest and most prestigious pop music competitions in Europe, dating to 1961.