14 Dec Masuria
Masuria is a region in north-eastern Poland. It has population appr. 500,000 and it covers about 10,000 km2. It is well-known for its lake district, which contains over 2,000 lakes and beautiful forests. Forests cover 30 % of the area. Area is popular site for hiking, fishing and birdwatching and it is one of the most beautiful diversities of ecotourism in Central Europe.
Masuria’s center and the main transport hub is Elk, which has appr. 59,000 residents. Other significant towns are Gizycko, Dzialdowo, Mragovo and Olecko.
What to do and see in Masuria
Lake area offers many kind of activities from hiking, kayaking and fly fishing to swimming. There are four boating trails connecting the lakes, one goes from Giżycko to Węgorzewo and Ruciane-Nida, and from Mikołajki to Pisz and Ryn.
There are also five walking trails marked with colors:
- Blue trail of K. I. Galzynskiego
- Yellow trail of K. Mallka
- Green round trail
- Grand Trail of Mazury Garbate
- Blue rail of M. Kajki
AS Tour offers tour canoeing in Krutynia and Pisa rivers.
There is a passenger boat line in Gizycko to Węgorzewo, Mikołajki and Ruciane-Nida.
Masurian canal
Masurian Canal is an about 50 kilometers long unfinished network connecting the Lava River in Kaliningrad Oblast in Russia and Masurian Lake Mamry. There are 5 locks on the Polish side.
Its construction began in 1911, but its use and addition work ceased by World War II and it has been almost abandoned since then. Wegorzewo near Lake Mamry and the canal is a popular tourist town and there is an annual music festival.
Feste Boyen
Gizycko is the town of 28,000 habitants and here lies a remarkable fortress Feste Boyen build on the landtongue between the Lake Mamry and Lake Niegocin. Fortress area covers about 100 hectares
This hexagram-shaped fort with six bastions was built in 1844–1848 and named after the Prussian war-minister Hermann von Boyen. It is a fine example of the 19th-century Prussian-school fortification technique. In 1942–1945 it was the headquarters of the eastern front branch of German military intelligence service.
Today it serves an entertainment center during summers, and concerts and festivals are being held in the shelter of its walls.
Pics: Wikipedia Commons and Flickr with the CC-BY licence / Saskia Heijltjes, Brama Giżycka, Piotr Tysarczyk, Dedal, Qqerim, K4c2m4r and Leszek Kozlowski
| Ełk, Puola |  | 2°C overcast clouds |
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Top 5 Masuria
- Canoeing on the rivers
- Hiking in the lake side
- Gizycko and the fortress
- Elk
- Wegorzewo
How to get in Masuria
Nearest international airport is in Gdansk. Regular train route connects Elk and Gizycko with Gdansk.
Trains from Warsaw goes regularly to / from Elk and Gizycko. Train timetables are visible here
E67 and E77 highways from Warsawa goes to Masuria.