Cycle Camping in Poland

[tapan]

I normally do an extended cycle camping tour every late spring for about 4 to 6 weeks Europe.

This year ( I shall be 74 in June) I am finally beginning to feel my years a bit and want to try for a last final fling.

I 2009 I cycled from Rotterdaam to Berlin and it was part of my plan to cycle on from Berlin into Poland. That didn't happen!

What I am vaguely thinking about is to travel Hull to Rotterdam by ferry, Rotterdam to Berlin by train. Spend 1 evening with friends in Berlin before heading off into Poland for a couple of weeks and then return by the same route.

The research I have done so far ( but not very much) seems to indicate that camp sites in Poland are few and far between.

I am really still very much at the beginning of ideas -- not real plans yet. I am thinking of heading east from Berlin towards Warsaw ( but not necessarily going that far) then turning North and making for Gdansk then turning back West along the coast to the border before returning Southwards to Berlin.

Has anyone got any experience of cycling in Poland at all -- self supported -- not on an orgainesd "bike tour".

If anyone can give me any experiences or even steer me in the direction of information. It would be much appreciated

 

[snorri]

I cycled solo along from Rostock to Szczecin then along the coast to Gydnia/Gdansk in 2009 and enjoyed the experience, although camp sites ranged from luxurious to primitive. Then I headed south and things turned bad, flat boring scenery, very poor road surfaces on side roads, reckless/inexperienced drivers, main roads very busy, it ceased to be fun so I took a train back to Szczecin and cycled from there to Berlin which restored my joy of cycle touring. The rail journey was across mile after mile of flat land, quite monotonous were it not for the company of a group of German cyclists I met on the train.
Perhaps it was a localised thing, but I just felt quite uneasy at the number of young men seen performing stunts in cars on the public roads. There were an incredible number of cars with L plates in northern Poland!

 

[tapan]

Tkx. It sort of agrees with what i have discovered so far! I certainly don't want to get involved with "mad traffic" and I have heard that roads of the main drgs are indifferent.

Still early days yet This is the first time in many yeas that I have not yet decided on exactly what i am going to do by this time!

 

[psmiffy]

I tend to agree with snorri - I cycled across Poland in 2009- I am glad I did it but it is unlikely that I am going back to northern Poland

Campsites can be difficult to find - I wild camped most of the time in western Poland

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

If you go to Wolsztyn (more or less parallel with Berlin), then you can get one of the last GENUINE steam services to either Poznan or Leszno.
The terrain is flat around there in Weilkopolska, I agree, but the train itself is worth the effort just to see (although it is just a normal train), especially as, if you book early enough, you can actually drive it (I kid you not):

http://www.thewolsztynexperience.org/

You can do either weekend or week long courses, I did it in 2005 and thoroughly recommend it. Just take plenty of clean clothes though!
Oh and you have accomodation provided too.

It is a bit pricey, I agree, but hey, how many chances do you ever get of driving a steam loco on the mainline at 50mph+ speeds??

 

[psmiffy]

Ive been to Wolsztyn and a steam train would definetly have been a major highlight of cycling through the area