The hills around Limanowa in southern Poland have a nickname that suits them perfectly: the Beskid Wyspowy, the Island Beskids. Instead of forming a continuous ridge, the summits rise individually from the surrounding valleys like islands from a sea, each one wooded, rounded and separate. Driving through the area is a constant game of spotting the next hump on the horizon. The famous wooden church of St Leonard stands at Lipnica Murowana, in the hills to the north of here, and it is one of the Wooden Churches of Southern Lesser Poland listed by UNESCO in 2003.
St Leonard's is a small Gothic church built of larch, probably in the late fifteenth century, with a steep shingled roof sweeping almost to the ground and a covered walkway around the base, designed to protect worshippers from the weather. The interior is decorated with painted walls and altars, and it is a quiet, intimate space. The church sits beside a stream on the edge of the village, among old trees, and occasionally the stream floods into the churchyard.
Lipnica Murowana itself has a lively tradition. Every Palm Sunday, the village holds a competition for the tallest Easter palm, made from willow branches, dried flowers and grasses, and some of them reach astonishing heights, raised by teams of men with ropes and poles. The village square is also unusually grand for a small place, a reminder that it once had town rights.
The riding in the Island Beskids is a pleasure. Roads wind between the hills, through woods and farmland, with frequent climbs and descents and plenty of bends. Surfaces vary, and some minor roads are narrow and patched. Traffic is moderate, but tractors and slow vehicles are common, and villages often stretch along the road, so you need to watch for pedestrians and dogs. Autumn is especially beautiful, when the beeches turn gold and copper on every hill.
Limanowa, about eight kilometres away, is the nearest town, with fuel, shops and restaurants. Try pierogi or a bowl of żurek, sour rye soup, in a roadside inn, and look out for oscypek, the smoked sheep's cheese of the Polish mountains, sold at stalls along the roads.