Travelling to Poland with a bike

[grldtnr]

Thinking about going to Poland by train, any suggestions travelling with a bike, I expect to use my recumbent trike, but might use an upwrong.
My avatar would be my trike, likely be using b&b type lodgings but might camp.
Of course this very much depends if we have freedom of movement to travel with the Panic demic as it is.

 

[IaninSheffield]

Seat61 is always a good source of information https://www.seat61.com/Poland.htm

 

[mjr]

Seat61 is always a good source of information https://www.seat61.com/Poland.htm

Also https://www.seat61.com/bike-by-train.htm but it's more on upright than recumbents. I suspect you may need to pack it down into a bike bag if possible.

 

[Iorek]

I was thinking of doing this recently, but in a combination of cycling and going by train. If I wanted to get to Poland (mostly) by train I'd first take a ferry to the Netherlands, then train to Berlin and then train to Warsaw. You should be able to get direct connections Amsterdam-Berlin and Berlin-Warsaw. If you want to skip the ferry, it's Eurostar to Brussels and then direct train to Berlin.

 

[grldtnr]

I was thinking of doing this recently, but in a combination of cycling and going by train. If I wanted to get to Poland (mostly) by train I'd first take a ferry to the Netherlands, then train to Berlin and then train to Warsaw. You should be able to get direct connections Amsterdam-Berlin and Berlin-Warsaw. If you want to skip the ferry, it's Eurostar to Brussels and then direct train to Berlin.

Speaking to an East German friend of mine, he has lived here for a few years,and says the Dutch ferry, then connection to Poland via Berlin, isn't difficult.
What is, is talking with the Poles, English isn't commonly spoken, and Polish isn't that easy a language to speak & understand.
But expect some dubious driving on the main routes, but generally the roads are not busy, some are rough , but no more than here.
The local rail services, can be difficult to board with a bike ,but intercity services generally are fairly easy to board .

 

[KnittyNorah]

Thinking about going to Poland by train, any suggestions travelling with a bike, I expect to use my recumbent trike, but might use an upwrong.
My avatar would be my trike, likely be using b&b type lodgings but might camp.
Of course this very much depends if we have freedom of movement to travel with the Panic demic as it is.

Where in Poland are you thinking of going? It's a BIG country. I've always fancied doing the bike path around the Szczecin/Stettin Lagoon or something similar; when I lived in Berlin I visited parts of that area a few times and was very taken with it. How would you take your recumbent on the train, does it break down into parts you could carry as luggage?
You can get a train direct from Berlin to Ueckermuende - it's only a couple of hours - and from there, a ferry across the Stettiner Haff directly to Świnoujście (Swinemunde) in Poland, and start along the Baltic Sea Cycle Route...

 

[grldtnr]

Where in Poland are you thinking of going? It's a BIG country. I've always fancied doing the bike path around the Szczecin/Stettin Lagoon or something similar; when I lived in Berlin I visited parts of that area a few times and was very taken with it. How would you take your recumbent on the train, does it break down into parts you could carry as luggage?
You can get a train direct from Berlin to Ueckermuende - it's only a couple of hours - and from there, a ferry across the Stettiner Haff directly to Świnoujście (Swinemunde) in Poland, and start along the Baltic Sea Cycle Route...

I would like to take the recumbent
trike, it does fold, but still is an unwildely package, if I do go I will have to take the 'upwrong' ( what 'we' layabout riders call conventional bikes).
Just for the ease of carrying, the trike isn't practical especially loaded , for lugging about on and of trains,they are about supreme comfort not ease of lugging around.
I have no idea where I would go, at the moment, but across one of the forests along the Dunjac river perhaps.

 

[Ripple]

I cycled across Poland 3 times. Kostrzyn - various routes to Suwalki/Sejny. Bike/trains every time, boarding trains in cities and small villages.

Language isn't a massive problem because many young people speak English or German. You probably won't get into deep conversations but you will be able to ask the route/buy food etc. Of couse it's always better to know at least few words in Polish because that will make locals incredibly friendly. But don't worry!

You can board any train anywhere with your bike but I'm talking about normal bicycle. Don't know their attitude to trikes though that probably will be your advantage because it's so exotic.

Most of the trains will require you to buy one ticket for you and one for your bike. Bike ticket cost a bit less than a ticket for you. Anyway, train tickets in Poland are cheap.

Roads in Poland are OK. In some places you may find yourself in the middle of nowhere but the tarmac will be new and of perfect quality. Beware - you also can appear on the road that looks like 2 World War ended just yesterday (don't ask me how I know this ) and it's easier to push your bike instead of trying to ride it.

Cycling on motorways (E roads on Google maps) is forbidden. Some A roads also don't want to see a cyclist using them. I also recommend to check which roads are motorways because Polish are constantly building new roads (like a new motorway near Bydgoszcz in 2019 and it's probably already built).

Main roads are super busy but many of them have got very wide hard shoulder. This has to be checked on Google maps.

I would advise to use small country roads because they are almost traffic free. Car drivers are ok in my experience - they will give you a wide berth when overtaking you.

Also don't be surprised to face unpaved road. For me it was quite fun to cycle on them after a constant tarmac.

Prepare yourself for lose dogs. And they are not friendly - if they catch you they will bite you. Always have a knife easy to access or pepper spray.

Poland roads have got petrol stations every 15 - 20 miles so don't bother yourself with bags of food and drinks. Orlen petrol stations sell nice hot dogs/ice cream/coffee etc. If you will cycle on tiny country lanes then every tiniest village has got a shop (sklep in Polish, you're welcome).

Also you may meet some unfriendly people. Angry drivers. Dogs. Crap roads. Grumpy cashier at the till. Whatever. These things also add up to the adventure.