Poland

[Gooner1200]

Am planning a trip over to Poland in mid April (was supposed to go last year but had to cancel it due to the Pope - its a long story) and was just wondering what is a reasonable daily milleage. Its just over 1000 miles door to door. What is the view...2 days hard riding or 3 days gentle.....would welcome opinion from people who have been there done that....

 

[Taff]

The security around the Pope nearly buggered up my trip to Auschwitz last May - luckily we got there a few days before he did. I was going clockwise via Denmark, Sweden, Gdansk, Warsaw, Krakow etc but a mate from South Wales rode out direct to meet up in Oswiecim - it took him 2 days, but he did say that if he was to do it again, he would definately spread it over 3 days. I met him at the end of his second day and both he and his pillion looked exhausted. If you're in Hertfordshire, bear in mind that you're that much closer to the tunnel / ferry ports.

 

[STUBBS]

2 days easy riding start early and dont spend to long on the fuel stops 10 > 15 minutes max set goals for diner break and evening stop

 

[dazzer]

We traveled through Poland in 2005,we found the road's to be in very poor condition with deep ruts in the tarmac where the weight of the wagon's had caused the road to sink about 3 inch,so beware of this when stopping at traffic lights .
We also found the very south and North of the country best.
It was very cheap to eat ,and the food was good.
There is a good camp site right next to Auschwitz,at the rear of the new hotel.
Also you may find that people over take even if somthing is coming the other way , you are expected to move out of the way ,In a car it's not to bad as they move over onto the gravel edge of the road, but its not much fun when you have to move onto this on the bike at 60mph
We also came across a number of police with speed traps around Warsaw.The way to get off with a speeding ticket is to fall off you bike right in front of them { name of ride with held }

Have a great Trip.

Dazzer

 

[Pumpy]

2 days from border to border.

From Calais or Dunkerque take the motorway through France, Belgium and the Netherlands - extremely easy going when you stick to the speed limits (which you should do to keep the travel expenses low... ) albeit a bit boring.

Depending on traffic and current road works you can raise you travel speed when you enter Germany. Stick to the A2 ('A' stands for Autobahn = motorway) passing Hannover towards Berlin and on to Frankfurt/Oder - border crossing to Slubice (depending on where you are heading to in Polska).

I went to Poland last October and only had a few more breaks on the way because I visited friends and family in Germany. But two days are absolutely sufficient to cover the distance. If you fancy a little foretaste... If you want to read the whole ride report just click on the link in the right top corner of the page.

Have a good trip - Poland rocks!

Ela

 

[Gooner1200]

The Pope

Glad to hear someone else had the Pope mess with their travel plans. Actually it was a blessing in disguise. last May it was plane, cabs and hotels, this April its GS, maps, planning !!!

Thanks for the advice. Have booked the ferry, booked the leave...really looking forward to it. 500 miles a day will be tough but is doable so have decided on a 2 day trip out and a longer trip back.

Cheers all

 

[Gooner1200]

Great pics Pumpy / Ela

Cheers for the pics....made me even more impatient now. Yours looks like a good trip...am sure mine will be too. The tracks through the forest...where exactly? Am looking at Motorway as much as possible on route to Krakow but fancy it a bit more interesting on the way back.

Ta

Steve

 

[spot]

If you are going down to the south east then one route worth cansidering is to go down to prague using german autobahhns and then come back up to poland through the tatra mountains. We found it an easy route with our first stop in dresden and second ip the south of poland somewhere.

 

[mike6631]

I did a trip to Poland two years ago, taking in Auschwitz, Krakow and Warsaw. I travelled Harwich - Hook of Holland on the overnight boat, and reached Auschwitz about 4.00 pm on day two. First night stop was Berlin (southern side of the city) and I then took the A15 and entered Poland via Cottbus. Two be carefuls! First the roads can be pretty poor, with deep ruts where the HGVs run which makes life interesting, especially if it's wet. Second the standard of driving isn't that great and you will often find Polish drivers pulling alongside you as they try and force their way past the HGV ahead!

That said the people are really friendly, fuel and food readily available at modern service stations and cards quite widely accepted. I never got to grips with the language and didn't find a phrase book was much use (except by pointing to a phrase and hoping the person could read!)

I did enjoy the trip

 

[Pumpy]

Cheers for the pics....made me even more impatient now. Yours looks like a good trip...am sure mine will be too. The tracks through the forest...where exactly? Am looking at Motorway as much as possible on route to Krakow but fancy it a bit more interesting on the way back.

Thanks, Steve.

The first forest tracks are actually very close to the border - after entering Poland in Slubice I followed the E30/A2 for a few miles and then just turned right into the Puszcza Rzepinska (area around Rzepin) to get closer to the river Odra which I followed to Wroclaw.

The muddy and slightly illegal tracks (where I needed some support from the friendly wood workers... ) are located in the Bieszczady Mountains in the most eastern corner of southern Poland (close to the border to Ukraine). We started in Wetlina that day, headed to Tarnica, then north towards the Solina Reservoir. On the way we turned west (sign-posted Zatwarnica) and then north again onto the mentioned cycle track... which took us to Terka on the 894 eventually.

The other tracks are in the Puszcza Bialowieska (border to Belarus) and in Mazury around Lake Sniardwy - maybe a bit too far off your route? If you are interested I can dig a bit deeper and provide further details.

Basically, wherever you leave the beaten track and the main roads in Poland you will find some off road (i.e. unpaved lanes) fun.

Finally some advice from a local (courtesy of CosmoSquiq who organised the Poland rally - he is extremely helpful and knowledgeable; so if you are registered on Advrider just drop him a pm (and say hello from me... )):

Now some info on Polish roads, so that you arrive to Krakow safe:

1. Polish roads suck. First of all they're bumpy. Of course this means poor grip, especially when braking - so make sure you keep your distance from other cars. To make matters worse, the asphalt used here is poor quality - even worse grip, especially when it's wet. I recommend doing some practice in emergency braking once you're here - just to see what this asphalt is about.

2. The white paint used on the roads here is extremely slippery when wet. This type of paint has been forbidden in the EU some time ago, but most of roads here have been built before we joined the EU (some of them were built before we "joined" the Soviet block....). When it's wet - avoid the white paint at all cost. This doesn't apply to some of the roads only, so be careful.

3. Since we don't have many dual-carriage ways, many international roads have only 1 lane in each direction (but they're quite wide). So if you see somobody coming head-on you, just because he's overtaking somebody else, don't panic and go to the right. It's normal here

4. Most roads go through villages. In villages you can meet tractors/cars/dogs entering the road just in front of you, or you can meet hidden policemen with radar. The law says 50km/h in towns, normally you can go up to 69km/h. Anyway, if you see the smurfs (as we call them), slow down to legal speed Fotoradars take pictures only from the front, so don't mind them.

5. Watch the surface in front of you. Avoid sand, oil, etc etc etc.

6. The road signs are a bit like in Italy Sometimes a bit unclear

7. If you see somebody with a broken car, who tries to stop you pretending that he needs help, just keep going. We have the road assistance service quite well developed, and it comes free along with car's insurance. Some of them will try to sell you some stuff (that's they're usual trick), some may want you bike/wallet.

8. If you see somebody behaving strange on the road, presume that he's dead drunk

Okay okay, it's not that bad. Situations 7 and 8 don't happen often. 6 should be a problem. 1-5 are worth bearing in mind.

But don't let this scare you off - we had loads of fun and even found some incredible smooth roads (EU money well spent...). Just remember that Tourances and mud don't go together well...

Have a safe journey!