In the 6th century, a Slavic gord existed north of contemporary town, on a hill located on the left bank of the Skrwa Lewa river, along a merchant trail.

In c. 1326, the gord was besieged by Władysław I the Elbow-high, who wanted to control the area of Płock, which was a Bohemian fief.

At that time, a new settlement was established on the right bank of the Skrwa Lewa river, with a market square and a new parish church of St. Martin.

In 1382, Duke Siemowit IV granted town charter to Gostynin, and as a result, ancient gord, located on the left bank of the river declined.

Gostynin continued to prosper - in the period known as the Polish Golden Age, it had 265 houses, inn, mills and a brewery (as for 1564).

In 1824, the government of Russian-controlled Congress Poland invited to Gostynin 124 German cloth makers, who came with their families.

In October–November 1939, the Germans carried out mass arrests of local prominent Poles, as part of the Intelligenzaktion and then massacred 22 prisoners in the nearby forest of Wola Łącka on 1 December 1939.

German authorities opened here a Jewish ghetto, most of whose residents were murdered in the Chełmno extermination camp.

The officially protected distinctive traditional dish of the town and its surroundings is Gostynin fried mushrooms (grzyby smażone gostynińskie), as designated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland.