Through the Ukraine we enter Poland in the South-East. Poland is surprisingly green to us. So many trees, meadows and nature reserves. Besides green it is also a very bicycle-friendly country with a lot of cycle lanes and routes.
Little-Poland
Only the south of Poland has some mountains. The first days we need to climb quite a lot. In one of the cities we are having an interview for the local newspaper. Sylwia, who we met in Greece is born in Sanok and arranged this for us. Her hometown wants to be more bicycle-friendly and is committed to realizing more cycle lanes. In Gorlice we visit bicycle shop Ostrekolo for some maintenance. Since then more and more Polish cyclists are following on Facebook, Instagram and Strava. Thanks again for sharing our adventure!
Auschwitz
Poland has a tremendous amount of history. Due to Covid we couldn’t enter Auschwitz. But even if you can't enter the former concentration camps, it’s a place to stop and be quiet for a while.
City tours
Besides the Wawel Cathedral everything is accessible by bicycle in Krakow. We cycle from the old town via Kazimierz to the former ghetto.
We make photos of all famous murals by Urban Forms Gallery in Lodz.
In Warsaw we visit:
the Uprising Museum
the last piece of wall of the Warsaw Ghetto
the Umschlagplatz-monument
the bronze replica of an elm tree honoring the victims that perished in Pawiak Prison
the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and its eternal flame assisted by a guard post
Warsaw's Mermaid
and the Little Insurrectionist
In the Southern suburbs of Warsaw we are invited to meet a group of cyclists at cycle café Gora Kawiarnia. A real Polish welcome and a ton of good cycling vibes surprise us.
The first 10.000 km
Just outside of Warsaw we celebrate our first 10,000 km. There we also meet Cycleblood who shares our story on his Facebook page. Immediately we get more than 100 new followers on Strava and Facebook. This is great! Tobiasz, thank you too for sharing our adventure. It means a lot to us.
We follow several cycling routes
Vistula Cycling Route (Wiślana Trasa Rowerowa) / Velo Metropolis which goes all the way along the river Wisla from Oświęcim to Krakow.
On the Trail of the Eagle's Nests we cycle along 25 medieval castles between Kraków and Częstochowa. Most of the castles are located on large, tall rocks of the Polish Jura Chain featuring many limestone cliffs, monadnocks and valleys below. Most of the area is protected known as the Eagle Nests Landscape Park.
Green Velo, with a length of nearly 2,000 km, is the longest cycling route in Poland. We cycle a big part of it from Warsaw to Bolcie.
One of a kind
Poland has 13 places classified as Mankind Patrimony but Bialowieza Primeval Forest is the only natural one among them. It’s the last natural primeval forest in Europe. In a primeval forest everything is in balance. There is no human intervention. It’s a magical place. You enter and once you leave it something has changed.