EV10/13 – Stage 6

Logistics

Unfortunately, the last section of EuroVelo 10/13 cannot be reached by rail from the Pomorskie Voivodeship. However, you can plan to cover this part of the route from Elblag, which has rail connections, for example with Gdansk, Olsztyn or Warsaw. It is about 15 km from the railway station in Elblag to the border of the Pomorskie Voivodeship at the level of the Nogat River. During the holiday season, the narrow-gauge railway runs from Nowy Dwor Gdanski.

Characteristics, mileage, tips

The entire section runs through the Low Lands (Stegna and Nowy Dwor Gdanski communes), presenting the cultural and landscape values of this valuable and underestimated area. Particularly attractive are the sections on the flood embankments of the Tuga River between Tujsk and Nowy Dwor Gdanski, diversified with drawbridges and intimate mooring platforms. Here and there, old Low Lands homesteads, churches and hydrotechnical monuments have been preserved. For many cyclists, the good news will probably be that it is finally “flat”. Low Lands is a depressive area and basically there are no elevations here. There are also no forest areas (except the Vistula Spit), so it is difficult to find shelter in the shade during hot days. The open and flat terrain, however, is conducive to winds, so while in summer it can be an advantage, in early spring or autumn it will be a nuisance.

There is no extensive bicycle infrastructure in Low Lands and the surface of the route is diverse. Vehicle traffic on local roads is rather low, although in the season some of them, especially those near the sea, can be jammed. However, EuroVelo 10/13 uses roads with low vehicle traffic: Jantar – Rybina (approx. 9 km), Tujsk (approx. 1.2 km), Kmiecin (approx. 1.2 km). The nearly seven-kilometre section from Kmiecin to the border with the Warmia-Mazury Voivodeship leads along the bicycle lane along the former national road 7. Currently, it is a lower category road and the traffic here is low enough that safe bicycle lanes have been separated on both sides. A variant of access to the voivodeship border is a picturesque fragment of the local road from Jazowa to Kepki. The section, over 5 km long, uses the former flood embankment along the Nogat River. Vehicle traffic is negligible here and the landscape values are extraordinary. The end of the Pomorskie section is on the bridge in Kepki. The route to Elblag leads along local roads and a fragment of the mentioned bicycle lane along the former national road No. 7.

Possible difficulties

Stage 7 of EuroVelo 10/13 uses public roads with low vehicle traffic in several places, which may be a slight difficulty for some. Always use extreme caution on these sections. As for the surfaces, specially designed concrete slabs were used on the flood embankments, which are adapted to both bicycle traffic and agricultural vehicles or flood protection services. It is not asphalt, but the quality and arrangement are at a satisfactory level and there are no major reasons to complain here. Driving through Kmiecin can be a nuisance, because the roadway is made of old cobblestones. Fortunately, it is only a little over 1 km.

Download the section map in PDF format here

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Dedicated parking spaces

• Jantar – recreational area by the lake next to the intersection with the provincial road 501 (Gdanska Street) and the district road to Rybina (canopy, bench, bicycle racks, information board).
• Rybina Marina – the area of the sailing harbour on the Szkarpawa River (canopy, bench, bicycle racks, information board).
• Nowy Dwor Gdanski Nad Tugą – Portowa Street on the river bank (canopy, bench, bicycle racks, repair kit for bicycles, information board).
• Solnica – on the banks of the Izbowa Lacha Canal (canopy, bench, bicycle racks, information board).

You will see on the Eurovelo 10/13 route and its vicinity.

• Jantar (Stegna commune) – a seaside resort with good accommodation and catering facilities, a wide and clean beach, a cosy fishing harbour, a mini-zoo with attractions for children.
• Rybina (Stegna commune) – a complex of historic hydrotechnical structures: two road drawbridges from the 1930s and one revolving bridge from 1906, intended for railway traffic (the only railway bridge in Poland that can be rotated manually), in the vicinity a unique Chlodniewo pumping station with 1931, equipped with original devices from the time of construction and a sailing marina of the Low Land Loop.
• Oschenka (Nowy Dwor Gdanski commune) – a historic pumping station built during World War II in 1943, a sailing marina of the Low Land Loop.
• Tujsk (Stegna commune) – a drawbridge on the Tuga River, a small sailing and canoeing marina in the vicinity.
• Marzecino (Nowy Dwor Gdanski commune) – half-timbered church of the 19th century with an original silhouette, a historic sluice from 1884.
• Zelichowo (Nowy Dwor Gdanski commune) – an arcaded house with an inn, the Little Dutchman, a Gothic church from the 14th century, currently the Greek Catholic church of St. Nicolas, the cemetery of 11 villages – a lapidarium of found elements of old tombstones from the 17th – 19th centuries, a canoe marina with a camping site (a perfect place to rest or camp).
• Nowy Dwor Gdanski – railway bridge over the Tuga ( Portowa Street), drawbridge road over the Tuga from 1936 (Sikorskiego Street), Low Land Historical Park (Low Land Museum) in the building of the former dairy from the beginning of the 19th century. 20th century, narrow-gauge tourist railway running on the line Nowy Dwor Gdanski – Stegna – Mikoszewo – Sztutowo), water tower from 1909 (one of the oldest reinforced concrete buildings in Europe).
• Kmiecin (Nowy Dwor Gdanski commune) – a Gothic church with a wooden tower and a characteristic arcade called Saturday (a unique element of sacral architecture in northern Poland, popular in the Podkarpacie region).

Other bike trails and excursion suggestions

• The Mennonites Trail – running through the Low Land villages, where the cultural heritage of the Mennonites (former inhabitants of the Low Lands, responsible for drainage works in this area in the 16th-19th centuries) has been preserved.
• Nowy Dwor Gdanski – Nowy Staw bicycle route – partly along the former narrow-gauge railway line (Nowy Dwor Gdanski – Tuja), along the way several interesting monuments: arcaded houses (Orlowo, Tuja, Nowy Staw), the Gothic St. Jackob church in Tuja, market square in Nowy Staw (neo-Gothic Evangelical church – currently an art gallery and the Gothic church of St. Matthew).