No nature left in Europe? You need to get out more often. North East Poland, sometimes thought of as the “forgotten” Poland, is natural and wild. NE Poland borders Lithuania, Belarus & Ukraine.

I brought food, first question? why? The citizens built the Green Velo route, hoping you’ll camp in their yard or eat in their restaurant. I don’t want to eat in my tent, I want to go out.

THE PHONE HOLDER IS GREAT

IT’S SUMMER FLOWER SEASON HERE

MANY HOUSES HAD THESE “GHOST” BIKES IN THEIR YARDS

PATH ALONG VISTULA LAGOON, SUPER NATURAL AREA

DAY 1 videos

DAY 2 TO PIENIEZNO

I stayed on the Green Velo route, but can see trying something different. Like Romania, the storks have giant nest everywhere.

LOTS OF BRICK BUILDINGS, SOME WITH NESTS

THESE ARE EVERYWHERE, I’VE SEEN 2 NESTING

FIELDS OF FLOWERS 💐

I STOPPED FOR A BREAK, THAT WAS THE BUSIEST BIKE/PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE

BLUEBERRIES (my favorite) ARE IN SEASON

MAYBE SOME PATHS ARE OVERGROWN, MOST IS WELL MAINTAINED

SOME VIDEO FROM DAY 2

I’m feeling a little more confident, blogging using the phone.

I’m getting off the GREEN VELO tomorrow. Most roads in this part of Poland seem pretty car free.

Jeff

Next: Biking to Lidzbark Warminski

Finally found a window of free-time😃. I haven’t bike toured since Czech, last year! I wanted to ride Budapest to Belgrade, but the weather was too hot for me. So I chose Climate friendly Poland with average summer temperatures of 20-25.

I grabbed the train in Ljubljana to Vienna, arriving at 22, I stayed the night in Vienna.

Only bike on the train from Ljubljana

I’ve been to Vienna a couple times, so I tried to catch the early train to Gdańsk the next morning. Booked!, so I booked an evening Flix bus & 50€ cheaper!

So I had a full day to play in Vienna and I did. Went back to the hostel, stored my bike stuff and did some exploring. Of course I found the local beer festival 🍺. No garbage cans anywhere?, all the food was served with real dishes👍

It’s a 14 hour bus ride to Gdańsk 😒

Gdańsk is the biggest city in Poland and has some awesome bike infrastructure. I rode to Sopot beach, making a giant loop ride out of it.

THE PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE GOES UP & DOWN EVERY 1/2 hour.

LOVE BIKE THEMED BUSINESS’S

THEY ADDED THE LEFT BIKE LANES, THE SHARED ONE WAS TOO PACKED

NICE COFFEE SET-UP

THE BIKE PATH ALONG THE BEACH

BEST BIKE RACKS EVER👍

THERE ARE SOME “HUGE” APARTMENT COMPLEXES

THE “OLD TOWN” IS BEAUTIFUL

I MET THE BREWER & SALESMAN, THEY SHOWED ME AROUND GDAŃSK

GDAŃSK IS HAVING A MONTH LONG PARTY IN TOWN

MORE ANTIQUE MARKET

I COULDN’T DECIDE WHICH “ONE”

THERE ARE VEGAN RESTAURANTS EVERYWHERE GUGA SWEET & SPICY👍

LA GUITARRA HOSTEL, GOOD TIMES!

I don’t like riding out of big cities. The Green Velo route starts in Elblag, about 50km

from Gdańsk, so I take the train to start

This is my first attempt using my phone to make a blog post. It’s not as easy as using a real computer.

Hopefully it gets easier and faster

Next: Green Velo route with tons of nature

Jeff