There is nowhere else in lowland Europe quite like Białowieża. The forest straddles the border between Poland and Belarus, and it is the last large remnant of the primeval woodland that once covered the plains of the continent. Some of its trees are centuries old, towering oaks, limes, hornbeams and spruces, and the ground is littered with fallen trunks, which are left to rot as they would be in nature, and which feed an astonishing variety of fungi, beetles and birds. UNESCO listed it in 1979 and later extended the listing to include the Belarusian side.
The star is the European bison, the żubr, a heavy, shaggy animal that was hunted to extinction in the wild in the early twentieth century. A few animals survived in zoos, and breeding programmes returned them to this forest in the 1950s, so that today several hundred roam the Polish side. They are shy, and you are more likely to meet one by chance on a forest path than on a planned walk, but a show reserve near the village keeps some animals in large enclosures. Wolves, lynx, elk and a long list of woodpeckers, including the white-backed, also live here.
The village of Białowieża, with fewer than three thousand people, has wooden houses with carved trims, a small museum, a palace park and a spirit of calm. Part of the forest is a national park, which can be entered only on foot with a licensed guide, and the rest is accessible on marked trails and bicycle routes. A lime-lined road leads in from the east, and the air is damp and cool beneath the trees.
For motorcyclists the roads are quiet, with gentle bends and long straights through forest, and traffic is light, though tourist buses can be slow in summer. Watch for animals at dusk, especially deer and wild boar, and for ruts in the surface after winter frosts. Be aware that the area near the Belarusian border has been subject to restrictions in recent years, so check current rules before you set out.
Fuel is not available in the forest itself, and the nearest town with services is Hajnówka, about twenty-one kilometres away. Fill up there, and bring food and water.
Come in late May or early autumn, when the light is soft and the forest is full of birdsong.