In 2013 I will be cycling from Eindhoven in the Netherlands to the North Cape via the Baltic countries. I have been putting together a planned cycle route from different sources on the internet, generating a gpx file of the route.
After speaking to a Polish guy, writing on some Polish cycle blogs, and doing some more internet research, I have decided to change my route through Poland to follow the coast, and pass through Gdansk.
Here is my new route.
To reach the coast Baltic Sea coast in Poland, I also changed my route through Germany, using a cool bike route finder called Naviki.
18.11.2012: I updated the German route following recommendations by a German cycling forum.
My route through Poland now follows the EuroVelo 10 path, passes down an amazing looking sand peninsula to a place called Hel, and passes through Gdansk.
Thanks to Pawel for inspiring me to cycle along the coast, and to check out the Polish cycling forums. And thanks to all the people on the cycling forum that helped me out.
The new Polish route is a concatination of routes obtained from bikemap.net. The main one was the EuroVelo R10 route.
arctic-cycler.com 
Hi there! 🙂 You have at least two places that you should be aware of in your Polish route. First one is the shortest road between Kluki and Izbica – the shortest, but the most time taking. Don’t even think about it 😉
The second one is R10 track right after Łeba. Don’t try it, unless you are MTB biker 😉 – search for ‘R10’ on page below to see the ‘quality’ of the track R10 track over the Sarbsko lake:
http://www.znajkraj.pl/majowe-dwory-i-palace-polnocnych-kaszub
It’s better to go through Nowecin, Ulinia, Sasino, and get back to the forest somewhere near Lubiatowo. Btw, this is the place where a nuclear power plant probably will show up…
When you reach Hel Peninsula, keep your eyes open for WWII buildings:
http://www.znajkraj.pl/fortyfikacje-mierzei-helskiej
The cities of Tricity (Gdansk, Sopot, Gdynia) have not decided yet about the ‘water tram’ from Hel next summer. But there will be train going for sure, so your plan to visit Hel is fine.
And, finally, if you are a Garmin user, grab the very good (and free, as it’s social map) map called UMP – there are all the bike paths and interesting objects included. Look for ‘topo’ version:
http://ump.waw.pl/wszystkie.html
Feel free to ask, if you have more questions :]
Wow! This is really great information. I’m about to run off to work now, but will integrate this into my planned route soon. Thanks a lot for your help!! 🙂
Hi Szymon. When you mention the shortest road from Kluki to Izbica, you don’t mean the road I have on my planned path, do you? The planned path is the ‘official’ R10. I saw photos of the shortest road in another blog: http://www.traseo.pl/trasa/swinoujscie-hel-z-dziewieciolatkiem . It doesn’t look like easy going, judging by the pictures in the blog. 🙂
I have also now adapted the path I plan to take after Łeba according to your recommendation. Is the new route what you would recommend? https://lambchopeindhoven.wordpress.com/biking-2013/poland-2013/
The picture you had in your blog of the R10 after Łeba didn’t look that bad. Is the surface hard, or is there a lot of soft sand? I don’t mind hard sand and a bit of short grass. Soft sand and mud is a different matter.. 🙂
Thanks for your help!!
Matthew
Looks amazing. I look forward to following your progress
Thanks Andrew. I am certainly excited about it!
Matthew
Obviously, the theme tune for your trip will be “The Road To Hel” by Chris Rea 🙂
Or “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC.. 🙂 Hehe
I had an idea to ride all Polish coast sleeping as close as it’s possible to the lighhouses and having enough time to discover all litlle villages with its tastes but today I’m not sure that I will make it in 2013.
Anyway, I’d recommend town that I love – Niechorze – pier, lighthouse, narrow-gauge track and the ruins of the church in Trzęsacz – just last wall, all the rest was taken by the sea.
Good luck!
Hey! Thanks for the tip! I see that the route I am using passes through Niechorze and Trzęsacz, so I will be able to see them. There are some nice pictures of these places on Google Maps. Looking forward to visiting!
All the best!!
Matthew