Poland's Masurian Lake District

Masurian Lakes area

We were crossing the border from Lithuania into Poland in our motorhome Vanni. Our destination was the Masurian Lakes in north-eastern Poland, where there are over 4000 lakes. 

Our first stop there, was a little place called Giżycko, which is a holiday town located on a narrow strip of land between lakes Mamry and Niegocin.

We had a list of local campsites and decided on one at the Łuczański Channel. Unfortunately, it could only be accessed by a small bridge, and only if we were less than 2 metres high. Oops, that’s far too low for Vanni which is over 3 metres high!

Marg at out lakeside campsite in Giżycko, Poland

So, we headed back to the first camp we’d seen, and found a lovely parking spot right on the lakeside. 

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. 

Łuczański Channel swing bridge, open for traffic

One day, we biked into the charming centre of Giżycko, and spotted a swing bridge that crossed the narrow Łuczański Channel. The Channel runs through the middle of town joining Lake Niegocin with Lake Mamry. 

The bridge swings sideways to allow vessels to pass down the Channel between the lakes. It is one of only two such bridges still functioning in Europe and is operated manually. 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.

Next, we found a machine to exchange our Lithuanian Litas for Polish Złoty.

Marg at Boyen Fortress, Giżycko, Poland

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 visited more sights around town, then stopped for lunch at a canal-side restaurant where we enjoyed a meal of the local lake fish. 

After that, we visited the 14th century Giżycko Castle, the red-brick water tower and several other sights, before heading back to camp for a swim.

That night for dinner, we had delicious lake fish again; this time smoked and bought from a man selling them at the campsite.

Rain storm coming across the lake in Giżycko, Poland

During our meal, the sky became very dark and a huge thunder and lightning storm began over the other side of the lake. It was spectacular, and we had a great view of it as we comfortably sat outside Vanni eating our dinner. 

Then we noticed that the rain was suddenly 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 our awning. 

Thank goodness we were able to get it down pretty quickly and get everything inside, as the skies opened and it absolutely poured! Fortunately, no harm done.

Leigh at Hitler's Bunker, Gierłoż, Poland

Leaving Giżycko a few days later, we drove through some very small villages to Gierłoż to see the remains of Hitler’s headquarters, ‘Wolfschanze’ (Wolf’s Lair). 

It was originally a city 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 Second World War there, and was almost assassinated by a bomb left in a case there. 

The construction was an amazing feat of engineering for the time, but we thought it still felt evil.

Marg at Mikołajki docks, Poland

Our next stop was Mikołajki, a town known as the Pearl of Masuria. Being a Polish holiday destination, it was full of Polish tourists and big boats. 

Located beside Lake Śniardwy, the largest lake in Poland, this pretty little town is known as a Sailor's Village, with taverns frequented by boaters from all over Masuria. 

After a quick look around, we headed on to just past Olsztyn, and an isolated little campsite accessed through a forest. 

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.

The Castle at Olsztyn, Poland

While there, we made the trip into Olsztyn to check it out. Olsztyn is on the river Łyna and there are 15 lakes within its borders. Its history goes back to the Teutonic Knights and there is a castle there from that Order which we visited. 

Walking around Olsztyn, we found it quite pretty, and particularly enjoyed the Old Town, Saint Jacob Apostle’s Church dating back to the XIV century, and the architecture of other significant churches.

After a few days a heavy rain began, so we relaxed at the camp and caught up on the blog and emails. But the rain was also making the camping ground really muddy. 

View of the Łyna River from our clifftop camping site

Our parking site was on a sloping clifftop, overlooking the very dark slow-moving Łyna River. With such an attractive view, we were happy to stay and linger in the area – except for the rain! 

It was heavy and persistent - so we decided to leave. Unfortunately, we had quite some difficulty driving up the muddy sloping ground to get out.

We drove diagonally, and zig-zagged our way across the slope. After a lot of sliding and mud splatter, we eventually made it to flat ground. It was nail-biting stuff because we were constantly slipping back and sideways toward the cliff and the river! Beware front-wheel drive motorhomes we say!

Reconstructed tenement houses in Elblag, Poland

After washing the huge amount of mud-spatter off Vanni, we headed north toward Elblag. We’d heard that it had been largely destroyed in WW II, then reconstructed in the old style, and we were looking forward to seeing it.

We got to nearby Paslek, then found the route closed due to roadworks. Parking on the side of the road to consult our map, a delivery van pulled up beside us and the occupants spoke to us in rapid Polish. 

We guessed that, seeing the map, they were asking us where we were going, so we blurted out...“Elblag”. They seemed to understand us, then indicated that we should follow them. So we did....through a convoluted series of never-ending back roads.....

Marg at Market Gate, Elblag, Poland

...until suddenly, there was the sign and road to Elblag. Fantastic! We gave them a beep for thanks; they blinked their indicators and zoomed off. What wonderful people.

Elblag turned out to be a very pretty town and we found it very easy to walk around. We managed to see its famous Market Gate, several significant churches, the tenement houses, their charming old trams, and the attractive riverfront. We really like it.

It is one of the oldest cities in Poland dating back to 1237. Settled by the Teutonic Knights, it has a strong German heritage which shows in its architecture.

After a short stop, we decided to keep driving north toward Poland’s Baltic coast, which will be our next stop.

This blog describes part of our 6-month motorhome trip around northern and eastern Europe, which began in Prague.