Malbork And their trick to avoid the crowds at the tower

Have you been to Malbork? I was there for the first time last year and I have a story that always amuses me. Namely, I bought tickets online for the entire facility (I read the options carefully) with a recorded guide.

During the trip (the two of us) we wondered why there were no people on the high balconies/tower and whether it was possible to go there at all. When we got there, it turned out that you had to have a separate ticket (PLN 16) to go to the tower, which we didn’t have. I asked the gentleman if I could buy it online now. He said yes, but I would have to pay again for the entire castle + PLN 16 (over PLN 100 for two people) and that if we wanted to enter, it was better to go to the ticket office and then come back.

Since my partner loves castles, I decided that’s what we would do, while understanding why there are practically no people there. After returning with tickets to the tower, I asked the gentleman how many people returned today. He said we were the first 😅 and it was less than 2 hours before closing time. We spent 40 minutes on the tower and during that time only one couple appeared there.

I still think about the genius of the person who planned it this way. Well, because:

And – if they limited the number of tickets, people would be angry that “what is it?! 300 people to the castle and only 30 to the tower?!”

B – if everyone could enter, there would be a terrible queue and crowding in these tiny corridors and everyone could only spend a few minutes there.

So option C – make people give up on their own because they have to walk 10 minutes each way to the ticket counter and climb the stairs back.

So only those who weren’t lazy and really cared did it. Pure genius!

It was worth it, not only did we feel good "especially" so we talked to an older gentleman who has been working there for 20 years. He told us how to get around the renovation part and see some things that were excluded from the recordings in the guide.

I recommend