Hel Transportation

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You can reach Hel by various means of transport.
First, you can take a bus from Gdynia or Wladyslawowo. There are a few firms operating there so the buses are frequent and you can see more places along the peninsula by hopping on and off. The road borders on the Pucka Bay at places so you get great views on a clear day.
Secondly, you can take a train from Gdynia - in the summer there is a through train from Warsaw. Trains are infrequent so don't get off before your destination to see the villages unless you choose to continue your journey by bus. The trains have one great advantage over buses though: they don't get stuck in traffic jams, which can be horrendous on the peninsula in the summer months.
And finally, you can take one of the passenger boats from Gdansk or Sopot and go on a round or one-way cruise to Hel. These cruises, however, run only in the high season. For more details and address of their website, see my Things to Do tip.

This picture shows a boat leaving Hel, probably for Gdansk or else one of the other towns on the peninsula. It looks so cool and relaxed on that boat. In retrospect, I think this would have been a far more sensible transport option. It's so easy to be wise after the event!
It takes around three hours to get from Gdansk to Hel and if I had waited until later in the week this is how we would have travelled. A fabulous cruise I'm sure but then three hours each way is a huge chunk to take out of a day's visit. Maybe the bus isn't so bad after all?

Getting to Hel on the bus was great - an uncomplicated ride through lovely countryside and many towns and villages. Leaving Hel by bus was much more complicated. We actually missed the 4.30 bus because we had mis-read the timetable and discovered subsequently that that was the last bus on a Sunday. Just as despair was setting in, a large minibus drew up and some enterprising soul offered transport as far as Wladyslawowo on the top of the peninsula. This seemed like a reprieve and we heaved sighs of relief but relief soon turned to despair as the reality of the afternon traffic set in. It took two hours bumper-to-bumper crawling to get to our destination and at that stage I was beginning to regret my impulse to spend a Sunday in Hel. From Wladyslawowo we could only get a bus as far as Karwia and at that point had to ring our friend in Krokowa and ask for a lift. So, learn from my experience and be extremely wary of how you decide to get to Hel, especially on Sundays in July

You can easily travel between Hel and Gdansk, Gdynia, and Sopot by boat. The ticket costs USD 12.50 and it takes about three hours to go from Hel to Gdansk or the other way around. The boat will make short stops at Gdynia and Sopot as well. It is a relaxing and wonderful way to spend three hours and look at the varied Polish shoreline along the way. Gdansk is great to go to for its history. It has beaches, but they're difficult to get to, and not of the best quality. Hel and Sopot are both beach resort towns, although Hel is a lot more family-oriented than Sopot, and less cosmopolitan. It is a fishing village with fresh sea food and country charm. Sopot is more about night clubs, cafes, and boutiques. Both have great beaches, but Sopot tends to get insanely crowded, while Hel has a lot of space to accomodate its tourists.