Cycle Touring Poland & Lithuania

Route Overview

Since my main interest on this trip was to spend some time exploring the cities, I didn't want to do huge rides every day. I also wanted to do most of my riding in the Masuria region, which was quite far from my arrival point of Poznan - so I took a couple of short train journeys to get there sooner.

I began by spending two days in Poznan, before catching the first train to Inowroclaw. From there I cycled to the historic town of Torun, where I spent all afternoon and the next morning exploring. I then took another train to Ostroda and did a relatively short ride from there to Olsztyn, where I stayed for a couple of nights.

Olsztyn is more or less the gateway to the Masuria Lake District, so from there I cycled all the way through to Lithuania, staying overnight in the smallish touristy towns of Mragowo and Gizycko.



I crossed into Lithuania and again took a train to shorten the riding, as I wanted to have time to explore Kaunas. From Kaunas I cycled for two days to Vilnius, spending a night at the historic site of Kernave. The tour ended with a short ride to Vilnius airport where I packed up my bike and flew to Kutaisi in Georgia, where I would undertake my main cycling tour of the summer.

I averaged riding around 75km per day. The terrain was mostly quite flat, with a few rolling sections, but I never did more than 1,000m of elevation gain, even on the longest rides. However, much of the riding was off-road, with some of the trails a bit slow going due to sand or obstacles. This meant than on many days I was still spending quite a few hours in the saddle.

Cycle Touring in Poland & Lithuania

Communicating

It was easy to get by in both countries. I have to been Poland several times before, and I feel very comfortable there getting around and interacting with people.

I lived in Prague for four years and have a reasonable understanding of Czech, which is similar enough to be able to read a lot of Polish and to get by in basic interactions. In truth, this wasn't even necessary because English is pretty widely spoken, especially in any tourist areas. In Lithuania, English was spoken even more commonly, often to a very high level. Which was great, because I know precisely zero Lithuanian!

Both countries are in the EU, so I could freely use my Spanish SIM card. It's easy to book train tickets online in both countries. In fact, its very easy to do a lot of things online, particularly in Lithuania which I read somewhere has the highest computer programming literate population in the world!

Food & Water

As I do pretty much everywhere in Europe, I drank the tap water and had no problems. I did have a slight stomach upset in Magrowo, but I'm very sceptical that was from the tap water.

On the route in both countries there are fountains at times where you can fill up, and also plenty of small shops and cafes where you can buy refreshments.



I have to be honest, that I wasn't expect great food on this trip. I actually quite like Polish food, particularly pierogi and some of the soups. However, I thought it might be difficult to find good food in the touristy places I was staying, and also had some concerns about the variety of cuisine I could enjoy.

I didn't really know what to expect of Lithuanian food, only that I don't ever recall seeing a Lithuanian restaurant in another country. Which may or may not tell you something.

Roads, Trails and Traffic

In Poland there is a huge network of signed and partially signed cycle routes, both on road and on trails. You have to be a bit cautious with these as they will often send you on quite busy roads for a section, or on trails that are not really suitable for riding a loaded bike - but they make a good starting point for route planning.

The paved roads were generally of very good quality in Poland outside the cities, but could be quite bumpy and broken within towns. The gravel roads were mostly good, but had a tendency to get sandy at times, particularly around Olsztyn it was sometimes deep enough that it was hard work to peddle.

In Poland I avoided main roads because I've experienced some very fast and erratic driving in Poland before. On the minor roads the car drivers were generally very good with cyclists. There is still the odd close pass, but most drivers gave plenty of space, even though it was holiday season and the roads were probably a bit busier than normal.

In Lithuania the paved roads were in very good condition, but the gravel roads and dirt trails were not very enjoyable for cycling. The gravel roads were often frequented by cars and tractors so had a washboard surface and could get dusty. The dirt trails were pleasant, but there was a very high incidence of large fallen trees blocking the trail, which made them very slow going and forced me to lift my bike over them. As in Poland, the trails were often very sandy at times.

There were quite a few cycle lanes in Kaunas, Vilnius and around Trakai, which was just as well, because it didn't feel particularly safe riding on the road. Cars would drive very fast and would give you enough space if the road was empty, but if it was busy they would still squeeze past, often getting very close at high speed. After a few unpleasant passes I tried to make sure I stayed on very quiet roads even more than usual.

I was riding through the most densely populated part of Lithuania, but even that was mostly forest and open countryside, so it generally wasn't too difficult to find quiet roads and trails.

Weather

The weather was almost ideal for cycling in July and August, with daytime temperatures generally between 20°C and 25°C. I had one day of rain, riding into Magrowo, but otherwise it was mostly sunny and very pleasant. There was some wind occasionally, but it was very rarely strong enough to be bothersome.

Safety

Both Poland and Lithuania are very safe countries in terms of violent crime. I never once felt threatened, and have never done so on any of my previous visits to Poland. People are not always the most smiley or outwordly friendly (particularly in Lithuania), but that is a cultural thing and not indicative of any threat or even rudeness.

I was told there is quite a high risk of bike theft in the larger cities, so I ensured my bike was locked safely inside in Poznan and Vilnius.

The biggest potential danger I experienced on the trip (apart from the traffic - nearly always the number one threat on any cycling tour), was from ticks. A lot of the riding was through forests and at times there were short sections through longer grass or thicker vegetation.

I twice brushed ticks of my arm in Lithuania and checked for them every day in both countries. There are very high incidences of Lyme Disease and the more serious tick borne encephalitis in both countries - so it's a threat to take seriously. Having seen how common ticks were, particularly in Lithuania, I would get vaccinated against tick borne encephalitis if I were to do this route again.

There were some mosquitoes at times as well, more in the forests than by the lakes. However, as far as I am aware, these are just annoying rather than major disease carriers in this region.

Finally, there are wolves, brown bears and bison roaming around some of the forests on the route - but I didn't see any sign of them.

Logistics

Logistically, Poland and Lithuania are both very easy countries to travel around. There are airports in every reasonably sized city with flights across Europe - many of them low cost with reasonable bike policies.

Trains are also easy to use. They can be booked online and most have space for bikes. Some buses also have bike racks on the rear.

My bike for this trip was a custom built Sardinha Nordest, with titanium frame and carbon fibre fork. It had a 1x12 Shimano SLX grouset (34 tooth chainring) and I put on 2.6" Maxxis Forekaster tyres which I ran tubeless. I was planning to do a lot of off-road riding, both here and on my following trip (in Georgia & Armenia so I wanted pretty wide tyres, especially since I have no suspension on the bike.

I didn't carry a tent, but had quite a lot of clothing with me, as I was planning to ride in the high mountains in the Caucasus, so needed warm gear which was probably unnecessary for this trip.

Overall, I was happy with the set up and would go with something similar if I did this tour again.

Alternative Routes

Although I planned this trip at quite short notice I considered quite a few different options. I initially planned to fly into Gdansk and ride down through Malbork into Masuria. However, I was put off by how busy it seemed to be in the height of summer.

From Poznan I was tempted to ride to Bydgoszcz as well as to cycle all the way to Olsztyn instead of taking the train. There were some nice looking cycle routes, but I'm glad I chose to do a bit less riding and have more time to look around the cities - particularly Torun.

In the lake district part of Masuria there were lots of interesting small towns that I would have liked to have visited, such as Mikolajki, Reszel and Pisz. I didn't have time to visit everywhere though and didn't want to rush through, so settled on Mragowo and Gizycko as my main bases. My initial plan was to ride across to Augustow and cross into Lithuania close to Druskininkai. From there I could take the Baltic Trail up to Kaunas.

After researching more closely, I decided against this as the Baltic Trail didn't look ideal for cycling, and the route would feel quite rushed. Given my experience riding unpaved cycle routes in Lithuania, I would be very cautious about planning to do long distances on gravel roads or trails. To be honest, I don't regret my decision to do less riding in Lithuania.

If I did the route again I would probably spend more time in the Masuria district, doing some circular rides or staying in different towns. The cycling was the most interesting here, and the towns were fun to explore.

Overall Thoughts

I enjoyed this tour, but perhaps more for the towns than the actual cycling. The riding was mostly pleasant and there were some fun off-road sections, but it wasn't spectacular. Even the views of the lakes were nice, rather than amazing. I think the lack of elevation in the region makes it difficult to really appreciate the environment.

The best riding was on trails through the forests. These felt very remote at times, particularly close to the border with Russia, and I enjoyed the calmness contrasting with the imposing nature of the forest.

Culturally, I really enjoyed the trip. Poznan, Torun and Olsztyn all exceeded my expectation in terms of their historic centres and relaxed vibes. Kaunas and Vilnius were also pleasant, although they felt a bit less welcoming than their Polish counterparts.




You can find much more detailed information about the routes and what I enjoyed in the links below.


Part 1 - Poznan & Torun


Part 2 - Masuria Lake District


Part 3 - Kaunas & Vilnius


Cycle Touring Guides