Poland
 

Anybody travelled through Poland by bike?

Is it ok and are there any bike events there this summer?

I went through part of Poland a few years ago. No particular problems. Found that filtering could be difficult because the white line area is often heavily rippled and cracked by heavy trucks, but nothing too taxing....

roads in Poland
 

Hi
Travelled from England to Latvia via Poland last June and the standard of roads and driving is appalling !, but vehicles in front do pull over as far as possible to let you pass
Also plenty of speed cameras but didnt bother slowing for them, but hardly any police.
Having headlights on is a must, as well as good brakes and suspension !!!
Coming back to UK i rode through on a Sunday and left very early in the morning and it was a pleasure until 10.00...............!!

Could you give me some details of the journey/route you took?

I am planning on travelling to vilnius and want to take the quicket route there as i will take my time coming back but want to get to vilnius as easy as poss.

I'm doing it on an R6, not ideal but ok. It has excellent suspension as it has been raced several times at the IoM TT.

Do you think Calais-Vilnius in 18 hours is reasonable?

Cheers

Calais - Vilnius
 

According to Google maps, Calais to Vilnius is 1,200 miles (1,941 kms) and do-able in 21 and a half hours (I'm guessing that's in a nice comfortable car at legal speeds, avg 55mph, and not allowing for any delays at borders, bad roads, etc).

So if you're feeling superhuman, (avg. speed 66mph), it's do-able.

Just.

Good luck.

Google Maps

NO.
Probably take quite a bit longer.

Last year I was in a hurry on a well laden F650 Dakar - cruising at 70-80 mph. I left Calais about 3pm, overnighted in Essen at 10pm. Rode from 10am to 10pm to Warsaw. Started next day at 9am. Crossed into Lithuania mid morning and reached Narva (Estonia/Russia border) well after midnight. I was riding completely non-stop (except fuel and an ice cream every 180 miles) and without meal or snack stops.

Route? The map shows a fairly straight line passing near Antwerp, Dortmund, Hanover, Berlin, Poznan,Warsaw, Kaunas (you turn right - I carried on near Riga, Tartu). There is a new EU funded Toll motorway in Poland in the Poznan area. Same price as cars - usual rant!!

All roads were very good. The border between Poland into Lithuania took 15-20 minutes.

18 hours !!!!!!!
 

Hi
18 hours is possible if you're on a mission !!!, I went from the ferry at Hoek van Holland leaving at 9am and stopping just inside Poland around 5pm.
The 2nd day started at 10am and rode ( on what i thought were bad roads and apalling driving ) stopping at 5pm at the last town before Lithuania.
The border control should of been ''opened'' this year so you should be able to ride without stopping.
Also the clocks gain another hour.
The police are very active, watchout for the flashing of drivers, warning you of a speed check.
Its probably no help but i arrived in Riga at midday, on 3rd day, after leaving Poland at 8am, total travelling of 19 hours, but i had 2 good sleeps, food and beer !!!!!!!!, i'm off to Romania and Ukraine on the 19th May and have bought a gel pad, something i needed on the way to Riga !!!!.
Have fun Dave

Hi there!
I was in Poland on July 2005 and had no problems at all. The worst thing were the roads ... because of the heavy traffic they have the tires marked on the asfalt and sometimes if you are not careful it's a little tricky!
I entered from slovakia and stayed at Krakow and Warsow and then Gdansk\Gdynia on the Baltic and then on the way back on Poznan on the way to Czech Republic. I liked most Krakow and Gdansk!
You can see more info (in Portuguese) here.

The Tatras
 

Hi - went to the Tatra Mountains last year - Zakopane is a good place to head for on the Polish side. Awesome roads, beautiful scenery, friendly people. We have some piccies here... Jon's adventure blog.


Good luck with your trip.

Jon.

southern poland destinations
 

there are mobs of great destinations in the south of poland. great riding, though there is some really crazy driving to contend with. as for destinations, zakopane, as mentioned, but try wroclaw for a beautiful city with good pubs and tucker, klodzko,
the whole of lower silesia is a great ride, and offers mobs of good stuff whether it's architecture, historic sites and museums, or just beer that you are into. there is even a woman on a cross somewhere (a sculpture, of course... different angle on the same old crucifix).
also, just across the border in a pocket of the czech republic, there is a great little national park with strange sandstone columns and canyons, very worth a look. just can't recall name at the mo.
cheers,
andy.

Hey

The name of the National park with the sandstone columns is Ardspach/Teplice. Well worth a visit. It was very busy around the Ardspach entrance but once away from there not many folk.

If you are in that area there is a great little campsite just outside Teplice. The cost of one of the small cabins worked out at £15 for 4 nights. It also has easy access to the above park.

regards
Kev

Not sure a suspension set up for 100mph+ laps at the TT will be quite what you need filtering at 30mph on truck ripples :) I found steering was more of a problem - the tyres tend to follow the ripples and it doesn't have much to do with suspension at those speeds.

I did see police with radar guns near Krakow, and they would have caught me except the scenery was so good I wasn't looking where I was going. I slow down when I do that :)

Looks like I may be driving to Lithuania too, but in a truck which only does about 20mpg... I make that at least £300..... although at least I can sleep in and save a bit of cash that way. Tempting to fly though - but just causes different headaches when I get there.

Hi there Lucky

The guys have given you good info and I wont add to it as I was going to do, except to say - visit Auschwitz. Horrific as it is, it shouldnt be avoided.

The Polish people I found friendly and so helpful.
Have a great time.

Thanks for all the info.

One final thing, what sort of paperwork will I have to take with me?

Thanks

Br careful with speeding i got caught doing 55kph over the limit in Lithuania and they wanted 1000 litas ended up giving them 60 euro in the back pocket, also went for a pee in the forest and had 3 days in hospital when i got home with lymes not very nice but Vilnius is very nice there is a good pub down one of the back streets can't remember the name but they have some good bands on, make sure you visit the KGB museum a real eye opener, Vilnius 18 hours no way it will take you a day from the polish boarder, we went from Amsterdam to just inside Poland in 9 hours 2 up