Holidays in Poland Near the Lakes

Holidays in Poland near the lakes is a wonderful alternative to relaxing by the sea. Lake shores in Poland are wonderful – they come with well-developed infrastructure, good hotels, entertainment for children and many attractions.

The town of Gizycko is very popular among the Poles themselves, and is often called the summer capital of Polish lakes. The Masuria region, which is only a few hours away from the Lithuanian-Polish border by car, is a very favorite destination of Agnė and her family, one of the founders of “Kelionės su vaikais” (“Traveling with Children.”) Agnė with her family and children often go here to have fun and relax. A holiday in Poland by the lakes or a short weekend trip here is exactly what we recommend for families with children looking for a good, quality, fun and cheaper vacation.

Why you should visit the lakes in Masuria

A holiday in Poland by the lakes is what we recommend to families who are asking where to go to relax with family and children. We recommend many parents to choose trips to Poland, especially for their first trips with children. Poland and the Masuria region, which is called the land of a thousand lakes, are just a few hours’ drive from Vilnius, so you can easily get there with children or a baby in one stop. Even if you are going from Klaipėda, you will not need an intermediate overnight stay and you will not be very tired.

Lake towns in Masuria are perfect for recreation. It would be difficult to find a similar alternative in Lithuania. Good hotels with spas, entertainment, lots of activities for children, cafes, well-maintained beaches.

We’ve been here a few weeks ago. And two years ago, we even celebrated Matthew’s birthday.

Gizycko is the perfect lakeside vacation in Poland for a family vacation or weekend

The Masuria region in Poland is also called the land of a thousand lakes. The resort town of Gižycko is less popular and well-known among Lithuanians than Mikolaika or Augustas. But believe me, it can become a great destination for vacations or weekend trips. We really like holidays in Poland near the lakes and Gizycko in particular. There is a wonderful extremely large lake shore – sand, a very sloping shore, changing cabins. There are many cafes and restaurants nearby. Like Mikolaikos or Augustavas, it is perfectly suited for families with children. We have written more about holidays in Poland by the lakes in the article Resting in Poland.

Gižycko, like other towns in the Masuria region, has a well-developed recreation infrastructure near the lakes. Everything is here – a small amusement park (attractions) and rental of bicycles and scooters. There are also many trading points with summer attributes (various toys, inflatable water products, snacks). Boats can be rented right next to the shore of the lake, just like in Mikolaikos. We highly recommend swimming in the lake on your own. Or with excursion boats on the lake or canals. The Polish tourism portal provides statistics that there are a hundred lakes around Gizycko. We haven’t really counted, but it looks like that is true.

And now we share and invite you to read more about everything and plan a wonderful weekend trip or vacation with your family.

Entertainment for Children

Holidays in Poland near the lakes are a real paradise for children. We guarantee that the children will not only have fun here, but it will be even too much. Very close to the city center, there is a wonderful climbing park. There are a lot of different types of ropes here. There are also harnesses for smaller children without carabiners. Very nice place and with really friendly prices. If you like water fun – the Boyen wake park is just for you. Not far from the climbing park by a small lake there is a wake park, bandens trampolines, and a cafe.

There is also an amusement park BAJKA near the beach. For smaller children, there are excellent amusement carousels, and there is also entertainment for older children. The price of attractions is 4-5 euros. There are many trampolines, bicycles, and various machines for rent.

Entertainment for the whole family

The main and funniest entertainment for the whole family is boating in the lake or canals. We highly recommend renting a boat that does not require a pilot’s license and sailing around the lake on your own. They are rented everywhere. Hourly price 150 zlotys, 3 hours – 400 zlotys.

You can also choose different lengths (from an hour to almost a whole day) of waiting on large boats around the lake, canals or to other cities. Water entertainment and boating are the main entertainment here.

What to see in Gizycko

Most of all, we would recommend visiting and seeing Gižycko’s landmark – the revolving bridge. Yes, not a lifting bridge, but a revolving bridge, of which there are only two left in Europe. This eight-meter bridge rotates according to a schedule.

We highly recommend going up the water tower. From the observation deck of this water tower, a great panorama of the city and its surroundings opens up. By the way, there is a small cafe upstairs. The tower is next to the Lidl store, so it is easy to find a parking space.

Take a walk around the town itself and you will see that it’s very small and cozy. Visit the six-pointed star shape as well – that’s the fortress Bojen.

If you are not afraid of heights, we recommend you to see Gižyckos from a height while rotating on the Ferris wheel.

What to see near Gizycko

If you have a little more time – we highly recommend visiting one of the most popular and most visited objects in Northern Lithuania. This is Wolf’s lair. Here in the woods, until the end of the Second World War, in the easternmost province of the German Reich, Adolf Hitler had set up his military headquarters.

Located near the town of Ketrzyn, the complex, which consisted of 50 bunkers, 70 barracks, two airfields and a railway station, was built between 1940 and 1944. The walls of the concrete structures were five to seven meters thick. As the Red Army approached, in 1945 January 24 the German Wehrmacht blew up the headquarters. However, a number of buildings and interesting objects have survived here. Since 2017, “Wolf’s lair” has been taken over by the state and it has become a highly visited object.

Even if you are not a believer or a fan of churches or religious objects, we recommend visiting Šventa Lipka. It is a very popular and visited object by tourists. Along with the monastery complex here, there is a great 17th century. Baroque Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, where organ concerts are held. This church is famous for its playing and dancing organ. We recommend that you find out what time the organ playing takes place before you go.

We also recommend a visit to the Mikolaikai town and Elk town.

Another very popular place to visit in this region is the Stančika Bridges. These are two dismantled narrow gauge railway bridges. Both bridges have five arches, both are 180 m long and 31.5 m high. These are the highest bridges in Poland. The Stančikai observation tower is also nearby. Very beautiful places. We definitely recommend adding it to your itinerary when going to or from Gižycko.

Where to stay and where to eat

Food portions in Poland are significantly larger than in Lithuania, at least 80 percent cafes and restaurants. So keep that in mind when ordering food.

If you are looking for more traditional food, look no further than Karczma.

In Gizycko, we really like the Browar Chmury cafe. On the shore of the lake, near the beach. It has a wonderful terrace with a view of the boats and the lake. Brews its own beer locally.

The white bear coffee is in a very nice stylish cafe with delicious desserts. Very Instagrammable interior.

Boyen Tavern – a very fun place with delicious food nearby the fortress Bojen.

For the night, we can recommend a place that we have tried ourselves. This is St. Bruno Hotel. The hotel is really impressive – it is located in a castle and has a swimming pool. The price is not very low, but the place is really impressive for the night. Located right next to the main canal. The hotel has a great games room. There is a campsite on the other side of the swing bridge and we’ve heard great reviews about it.

This time, while visiting Gižycko, we booked a night stay not in Gižycko itself, but in the small town of Wilkasy, which is 5 kilometers outside of Gižycko. A very small and cozy town with a great marina, a beach suitable for swimming, and several cozy cafes. We liked it a lot.

Most accommodation in Gižycko is in the private sector. So feel free to search on the Booking platform!

We are traveling in Poland with a baby

We get a lot of questions about how we travel with a baby that we have already started feeding. What do we do when we travel when it’s time for Paula to eat. The answer is very simple. PONN purees always travel with us. We are very happy that after Paula started formula feeding, we made friends with organic PONN purees, which perfectly suited and pleased Paula.

When we cannot offer home-made food, organic PONN purees come to our aid. Matthew grew up with these purees and snacks, and now Paulė tastes them too.

Practical advice

If you plan to visit Gizycko, we recommend that you look into accommodation a little in advance, because during the summer the town is very popular, with a lot of Poles on vacation with their families. Don’t be afraid to look for accommodation in nearby towns around Lake Niegocin. The infrastructure is well developed everywhere.

Since these are resort towns, grocery stores here are open longer than usual. Usually until 11:00 p.m. Also, remember that large food and household goods stores are closed on Sundays. If you live further from the center of Gizycko or in a nearby town, the most convenient and closest to the center is to park your car in the parking lot at Kolejowa 18.

If you’re like us, you would want to save on travel and holidays in Poland – use the myTU payment card, because:

• We can withdraw up to 200 EUR free of charge, and withdrawing money in local currency at an ATM is cheaper than exchanging euros at exchange offices.
• When paying abroad, we always choose to “pay in local currency”. When we are asked whether we want to pay in euros or local currency when withdrawing cash or paying with a payment card – we always choose to pay in local currency to avoid additional currency conversion fees!
• When paying with myTU card, there are no additional fees for paying in non-euro (as other traditional banks usually do). Standard exchange rates apply to non-euro card payments.

Read about entertainment and shopping in Suvalkai in the article TOP entertainment for children in Suwalki and Shopping and entertainment in Poland in Suwalki.

Read about vacationing in Poland by the sea in the article A trip to the Polish seaside with children and A trip to Gdańsk with children.

This article is author’s work and was prepared by “Traveling with Children ®”. Copying and using without permission is strictly prohibited.

You can find more information about places of interest throughout Lithuania on our website, on the Facebook account “Traveling with Children” and on the Instagram account “Traveling with Children”.

Don’t forget to follow us on social networks.

Information about traveling around the world can be found on the Facebook account “Traveling with children around the world” and on the Instagram account “Traveling with children around the world”.

Looking for more places to visit with kids in Poland, travel tips and recommendations?! Join the group Traveling with children. POLAND. Here we also invite you to share your impressions of your travels in Poland.

Want to share your trip or experience traveling with children? email us.