June fires the city up on every front: from sacred concerts in the cathedral and the return of summer by the Oder to investments that will change Szczecin for years. A roundup of what the city and its surroundings are talking about now.
Mid-June is the moment Szczecin moves outdoors. The city pools open, summer dances return to the Różanka rose garden, and open-air cinema is back, with film nights under the sky across the districts. It is the kind of summer the city likes best: close to the water, close to the greenery, no ticket required.
The backdrop for the season is the pair of August anchors the city builds towards all summer: the Tall Ships festival on Wały Chrobrego and the Illuminations. But before those, June offers something far quieter and far older.
Music beneath the cathedral vault
The Sacrum Non Profanum festival has begun in the Cathedral Basilica of St. James, one of the most important classical and sacred music events in Western Pomerania. The inaugural programme drew on masterworks by Franck, Vierne, Fauré and Dubois, anchored by the premiere of "Psalm 95" by the Szczecin composer Marek Jasiński. The full concert calendar is in our events.
Szczecin's first five-star hotel
The most striking news on the city's hospitality map: the Park Hotel, a building with over two centuries of history, is set to welcome its first guests in 2026 after a full renovation, and it will be the city's first five-star property. Inside, the CLUE restaurant opens with European cuisine and regional accents. Nearby, on the Piastowski Boulevard, The Greek Ouzeri is back by the Oder after a five-month refit, with a doubled dining room and a glass front onto the river. More such addresses are in our places section.
Investments that will reshape the city
June's list of the most expensive municipal investments for 2026 shows where the money flows, above all into transport:
- 12 bidirectional low-floor trams: PLN 133.4m, the year's largest single rolling-stock purchase;
- rebuilding of Powstańców Wielkopolskich Avenue: PLN 83.2m, due July 2026;
- the final stage of the Northern Route: PLN 78.3m;
- 14 electric buses: PLN 71.2m;
- modernisation of the Castle Route: PLN 28.4m.
A new bridge over the West Oder is also planned, and bus line 70 has changed its route.
A port aiming for the champions' league
The biggest stakes, however, are being played not in Szczecin itself but next door, in Świnoujście. Work is starting on the deep-water container terminal "Przylądek Pomerania": an investment of over PLN 10 billion, with nearly 3 km of new quays, able to handle the largest ships entering the Baltic, up to 400 m long and 15 m draft. Construction is planned for 2026 to 2029.
For the weekend: an escape out of town
The surroundings offer ready destinations: the Bukowa Forest with its trails and Bukowiec, its highest point (over 150 m); the hidden Emerald Lake with its remarkable green water; and, on the other side of the city, Lake Dąbie, one of the largest inland bodies of water in Poland.