We are driving our motorhome Vanni, on a road trip around northern and eastern Europe for 6 months, and just spent time in Lithuania. Then we crossed the border into Poland, heading for the Masurian Lakes where there are over 4000 sparkling bodies of water shaped by the Pleistocene ice age, covering 52,000 sq km (20,000 sq mi).
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| Masurian Lakes area near Giżycko, Poland |
The Lakes are a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in north-eastern Poland. They are home to wetlands, walking tracks, water activities, and historic villages and towns, including the town of Giżycko which sits on a strip of land between Lakes Kisajno and Niegocin. Giżycko is considered to be the centre of the Lakes area so we based ourselves there for a few days.
We had a list of local campsites for the area, and chose one on the Łuczański Channel which runs through the centre of Giżycko. But when we arrived, we found it could only be accessed by a small bridge, and we needed to be less than 2 metres high. Oops, that’s far too low for Vanni as she is over 3 metres high!
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| Marg at out campsite on Lake Niegocin, Giżycko, Poland |
So, we drove around a bit more and found a lovely campsite right beside Lake Niegocin. Settling in for a longish break alongside lots of Polish folk on holiday, we slowly got to know our neighbours.
The family next door eventually became very friendly, and the family opposite would greet us after initial reservations. This is our second time in Poland and we have noticed that Polish people first appear very reserved, and won’t look you in the eye. But we persisted with saying hello to all, and everyone was much more friendly by the time we left.
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| Łuczański Channel bridge swinging open for water traffic in Giżycko, Poland |
Built in 1889, it is operated manually, and is one of only two such bridges still functioning in Europe. We watched as lots of yachts and boats lined up in the Channel on both sides of the bridge, waiting for the operator to open it.
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| Marg at Boyen Fortress, Giżycko, Poland |
Next, we found a banking machine to exchange our Lithuanian Litas for Polish Złoty. That done, we made our way to the Boyen Fortress, a 19th century former Prussian fort. It played a strategic role in both world wars.
Leaving there, we walked around the town, then stopped for lunch at a water-side restaurant where we enjoyed a meal of the local lake fish. After that, we visited the old Giżycko Castle, and the very tall red-brick water tower, before heading back to camp for a swim.
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| Rain storm coming across Lake Niegocin, Giżycko, Poland |
That night for dinner, we had delicious lake fish again; this time smoked, and bought from a man selling them at the campsite. During our meal, the sky became very dark and a huge thunder and lightning storm began over the other side of the lake. We had a great view of it as we sat outside Vanni eating our dinner.
Then we noticed that suddenly, the rain was sweeping over the lake toward us...whoops, time to pack up! But before we could, a ferocious wind blew in and we struggled to save Vanni’s awning. Thank goodness we were able to get it down quickly and get everything inside, as the skies opened and it absolutely poured with rain! Fortunately, there was no damage.
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| Leigh at Hitler's Bunker, Gierłoż, Poland |
A few days later, we left Giżycko and drove through some very small villages, and past several lakes to Gierłoż to see the remains of Hitler’s headquarters, ‘Wolfschanze’ (Wolf’s Lair). It was originally a town of 80 buildings of which 50 were concrete bunkers, all heavily camouflaged, and set deep in a forest.
Hitler spent a lot of his time there between 1941 and 1944 along with over 2000 soldiers, cooks, secretaries etc. He made many of his key decisions regarding the WW II at Wolfschanze, and was almost assassinated by a bomb left in a suitcase there. The construction was an amazing feat of engineering for the times, but it felt evil.
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| Marg at the docks in Mikołajki, Poland |
Leaving Wolfschanze, we drove through more small villages and past many more lakes, to the town of Mikołajki on Lake Mikołajskie. It was full of Polish tourists and big boats, and is known as the Pearl of Masuria. We walked around admiring the town and its lovely waterfront area with its many boats, taverns, and restaurants.
Several more villages and pretty lakes later, we arrived in Olsztyn where we found an isolated little campsite accessed through a forest, and sitting on a clifftop overlooking the Łyna River. It was so peaceful there, and we could walk a couple of kilometres to the local shop for basic provisions, so we planned a long stay.
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| The Castle at Olsztyn, Poland |
While there, we made the trip into Olsztyn, a town surrounded by lakes and built on the Łyna River. Its history goes back to the Teutonic Knights and there is a castle there from that Order, that we visited. We found Olsztyn quite pretty, and particularly enjoyed the Old Town and its historic architecture.
Returning to camp, a heavy rain began, so we stayed in Vanni and caught up on the blog and emails etc. In such a quiet and pleasant camp, we were initially happy to stay and linger in the area…. but the rain just kept coming, day after day, and it was heavy and persistent.
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| View of the Łyna River from our camping site in Olsztyn, Poland |
So, even though we were parked with a great view of the slow-moving Łyna River and its birdlife, we decided to leave. Unfortunately, the rain had made the camping ground very muddy, and we had quite some difficulty driving up the muddy, sloping ground to get out.
We drove diagonally to zig-zag our way across the slope, but it was nail-biting stuff because we were constantly slipping back and sideways toward the cliff edge and the river! After a lot of sliding and mud splattering, we eventually made it to the top.
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| Reconstructed tenement houses in Elbląg, Poland |
After washing the huge amount of mud-spatter off Vanni, we headed north toward Elbląg, still in the Masurian Lakes area. We’d heard that Elbląg had been largely destroyed in WW II then reconstructed in the style of its original architecture, and we were looking forward to seeing it. But we didn’t get there on our first try!
The route was closed due to roadworks, so we parked to consult our paper map. Then two men in a van pulled up beside us and spoke to us in rapid Polish. We guessed that, seeing the map, they were asking us where we were going, so we blurted out...“Elbląg”.
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| Marg at Market Gate, Elbląg, Poland |
They seemed to understand us, then indicated that we should follow them. So we did….through a convoluted series of never-ending back roads....until suddenly, there was the sign and road to Elbląg. Fantastic! We gave them a beep for thanks; they blinked their indicators and zoomed off. What wonderful people.
Elbląg is one of the oldest cities in Poland dating back to 1237. It turned out to be a very pretty town and we found it very easy to walk around. We explored it thoroughly, managing to see its famous Market Gate, and some interesting architecture.
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| Church Path in old town Elbląg, Poland |
We visited the rebuilt tenement houses, the attractive riverfront, several significant churches including Church Path that used to link three ancient churches, museums, bridges, and some charming old trams. We really liked it.
Leaving Elbląg, we drove north toward Poland’s Baltic coast, which will be our next stop, but that story is in the next blog.
This blog describes part of our 6-month motorhome trip around north-eastern Europe, which began in Prague.