Cycling Through Poland, 2026
In my free time, I enjoy going on multi-day cycling trips in Germany and abroad. In summer 2026, I decided to explore Poland. I also took the opportunity to visit the land of our ancestors in the Vistula–Nogat Delta. One reason for this idea was that the Polish border is relatively easy to reach from East Westphalia. The train journey from Gütersloh or Bielefeld to Berlin takes about three hours, and there are regular trains east from Berlin. There is also a regular train from Gdańsk to Berlin for the return journey. I travelled from Bielefeld to Berlin by train on Thursday evening. After spending the night there, I took the S-Bahn out of the city to Strausberg the next morning. That was where the actual cycling trip began. I intended to cover the entire route by bicycle. A few breakdowns meant that this did not quite work out, and I had to use the Polish railway several times.
For the most part, the cycling trip went according to plan, and it lived up to my expectations. The quality of the cycle routes varies: there are well-maintained paths, notorious sandy tracks, quiet country roads and concrete slab roads, as well as roads full of potholes. Poland's road infrastructure has improved considerably in recent decades, but cycle routes are still not as well developed as they are in Germany.
I have divided the account into four parts. A note on place names: I use the current Polish names, with the former German names in parentheses.
