Mazury Lakes Road

North-east of Warsaw into the lake district: avenues of lime trees, water on both sides and roads that were never straightened.

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Why this ride

From Ostróda it runs 165 km to Giżycko; allow about 3 h 10 of riding. The stops in between: Mrągowo and Mikołajki. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.

Roadbook

1. Ostróda start

   Ostróda is where the day begins.

2. Mrągowo scenic

   Mrągowo is the biggest town in the heart of Masuria, a district in north-eastern Poland where glaciers left a maze of lakes, forests and low hills that Poles call the land of a thousand lakes. Until 1945 this was East Prussia, and the town was known as Sensburg; its Polish name and its present population came after the Second World War, when borders were redrawn and people moved. You can still find German-built brick churches and old villas in the older streets, and the layers of history are part of the town's character.

   It sits on the shore of Lake Czos, with a pleasant promenade and a park, and it has become a holiday centre with an annual country music festival, the Piknik Country, which draws crowds from across Poland every summer. Outside the festival it is a calm, practical lake town of about twenty-two thousand people, with supermarkets, petrol stations and restaurants, and it makes a sensible base for exploring the surrounding area. The lakes are warm enough to swim in by July, and the forests hold mushroom pickers in autumn.

   The roads of Masuria are gentle rather than dramatic, and that is their charm. They run through avenues of old lime and maple trees, past farms, lakes and small villages, with long straight sections broken by bends around the water. Surfaces are generally good, though patched in places, and the main hazards are tractors, slow-moving holiday traffic and, in summer, cyclists. Deer and wild boar cross at dusk, and storks nest on the village rooftops from spring to late summer. The old tree-lined roads can be dappled in sun and shade, which makes it hard to see the surface clearly, so ride a little slower than you might think.

   Mrągowo has fuel, plenty of it, and it is the place to fill up before running the smaller villages and lake roads to the north and east. If you want a meal, the town has both quick cafes and more serious Polish kitchens, serving pierogi, grilled fish from the lakes and the heavy soups that suit a cold day. The best months are late spring and early autumn, when the weather is mild and the lakes are quiet.

3. Mikołajki scenic

   Mikołajki calls itself the pearl of Masuria, and for once the claim is not entirely marketing. The town is a small, well-kept place on a narrow strip of land between two lakes, Mikołajskie and Tałty, and a short canal away is Śniardwy, the largest lake in Poland. In summer the harbour is a forest of masts, as sailors from all over Poland and Germany move between the lakes, and the waterfront is full of people with ice cream and sunburn. A bronze statue of the King of the Whitefish, a creature from local legend, stands beside the water.

   The history is mostly German, because until 1945 this was East Prussia, and the town was called Nikolaiken. The Masurian people who lived here were mostly Protestant and spoke a Polish dialect mixed with German, and a wave of resettlement after the war changed the population almost completely. The octagonal Protestant church, with its distinctive spire, is a landmark that you can see from the water. Near the town lies Lake Łuknajno, a nature reserve and part of a UNESCO biosphere reserve, known for its large colony of mute swans, which gather in the hundreds.

   On a motorcycle, the roads around Mikołajki are easy and scenic rather than exciting. They run along the lakes through forest and farmland, with tree-lined avenues and long, gentle bends, and the surface is mostly good. The real challenge is the volume of summer traffic, which on weekends can bring the road to a crawl, especially near the harbour and the ferry points. If you can, visit on a weekday, in the morning or in September, when the town is calm and the light is clear. A swim from one of the public beaches is a good break, though the water stays cold until well into June.

   Mikołajki has fuel and a good range of restaurants, serving fish from the lakes, including smoked and fried varieties, and the usual Polish dishes. Mrągowo, nineteen kilometres away, is the larger town if you need more choice. Accommodation fills quickly in July and August, so book ahead if you are staying. Mosquitoes can be fierce around the water in the evening, and a light jacket is useful when the wind blows across the lake.

4. Giżycko finish

   Giżycko lies on a narrow strip of land between two big lakes, Niegocin and Kisajno, in the middle of the Masurian Lake District, and the setting is the whole story. The region, Mazury, has some two thousand lakes, linked by canals and rivers, scattered among forests and fields in the north-east of Poland, and Giżycko is its sailing capital, with a harbor full of yachts, a pier and a lakeside promenade where families eat ice cream in summer.

   The town's German name was Lötzen, and for centuries this was part of East Prussia. The Prussians built a star-shaped fortress here in the mid-nineteenth century, the Boyen Fortress, named for a Prussian general, with thick brick walls and bastions that now form a park. After 1945 the area became Polish, and the town was renamed after Gustaw Gizewiusz, a Lutheran pastor who championed Masurian culture. A rotating bridge over the canal, still turned by hand, is a curious attraction. The Wolf's Lair, Hitler's wartime headquarters, lies in the forest near Kętrzyn, about forty kilometers away, where the 1944 bomb plot against him took place.

   For riding, the lakes area is flat to gently rolling, with straight roads through forests of pine and birch, tree-lined avenues of old oaks and lindens, and glimpses of water between the trees. National roads 59 and 63 run through the area, with moderate traffic, and the side roads are quieter. It is a peaceful, restful kind of riding, and the storks that nest on poles and chimneys in the villages add to the charm. Tractors and horse carts are common, and in Poland you must use dipped headlights at all times.

   Giżycko has fuel, supermarkets, restaurants and many guesthouses, and it is a good base for exploring. The local cuisine features freshwater fish, smoked eel, pierogi and mushroom dishes. The best months are June to September, with warm days and long light, though July and August bring crowds. Spring and autumn are quieter, and winter freezes the lakes, with ice sailing on the Masurian waters. Deer and wild boar cross the roads at dusk, so slow down in forested stretches.

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