By bike through Kashuby

Just before Brusy, it is worth finding the farm of the famous Kashubian artist, Józef Chełmowski, hidden in dense trees behind the beautiful building of the Kashubian Cottage. The sculptor, painter and visionary, who died several years ago, left behind a beautiful legacy of his life in the form of handmade sculptures, paintings and everyday objects. The artist’s family makes his house, workshop and garden available to visitors, where you can see hundreds of various works of Kashubian folk art.

This is where the second of Kashubia’s landscape parks begins, through which our bicycle route runs – Wdzydzki Landscape Park. The central part of the park is occupied by four connected lakes – Radolne, Gołuń, Jelenie and Wdzydze – forming the so-called Cross of the Wdzydze Lakes. It is a popular place for weekend relaxation among the inhabitants of the Tricity, who come here to relax, among others, on the bicycle trail leading around the Wdzydze lakes through Kashubians, called the Kashubian Sea.

If we have a bicycle whose tires can cope with the sometimes sandy roads of the Tuchola Forest, the route from Lake Wdzydze should lead through two small villages located near Kościerzyna – Juszki and Lizaki. In the first one, the most striking features are traditional wooden cottages, examples of Kashubian folk architecture. In the 1990s, a small half-timbered church with intricately carved wooden doors was moved to the second village.

For years competing with Gdańsk and Kartuzy for the title of the capital of Kashubia, this is the finish line of the second day of the bicycle route. In addition to an evening walk around the market square, your stay in Kościerzyna will be enriched by visiting local museums. One of them is the Kościerzyna Land Museum, which collects traces of memory about the region. Guests can also visit the Accordion Museum and the Railway Museum, formerly known as the Kościerzyna Open-Air Museum. Both have rich, unique collections in their fields.

After visiting the railway open-air museum, we set off from Kościerzyna along the former railway trail. For several kilometers, the bicycle route leads along the embankment of the former railway line towards Gołubie, located above the famous Raduński Circle and on the border of the Kashubian Landscape Park. Although it is still only a trace of the former railway line with a gravel, slightly dusty surface, it is certainly one of the pleasant parts of the route. An interesting fact is the two viaducts of the line dismantled in 1930, which was replaced by the railway main line connecting Gdynia with Upper Silesia, which was built in those years.

Near the end of the post-railway section of the route there is a manor house in Sikorzyn, once the property of the Sikorski family, and then the Wybicki family. Józef Wybicki, the author of the words of the Polish national anthem, comes from there, more often associated with Będomin, 10 kilometers away. Currently, the manor is owned by a conservator from Gdańsk, who bought the devastated building to renovate and restore its former atmosphere for the next 10 years. The passion for conservation helped create a place full of courtly atmosphere with an exhibition of the original interiors, a tea room and even guest rooms. All this is hidden under a 300-year-old oak tree in a dense, natural park.

A ride along the lakes of the Raduńskie Circle can be considered the most attractive part of a cycling weekend in Kashubia in terms of views. Although the route runs along a public road, the need for increased attention is compensated by views of the most beautiful Kashubian sites. During the approximately twenty-kilometer section between Gołubie and Chmielno, the bicycle route passes as many as seven lakes. Each of them can delight, but the most impressive place is the wide arc of Lake Ostrzyckie, located near the highest peak of the Polish lake district – Wieżyca. For those looking for additional experiences, a short bicycle climb to Wieżyca may be an interesting route variant – a new bicycle path leads from Gołubie to the parking lot under the peak.

For tourists interested in Kashubian folk culture, there is a museum of Kashubian ceramics in Chmielno, run by the Kashubian Necel family, which has been producing Kashubian vessels for several generations. The first ceramics factory of Franciszek Necel was established here a hundred years ago. In his works, Necel relied on seven basic motifs that still distinguish Kashubian porcelain from Chmielno – a lilac wand, a small and large tulip, a Kashubian star, a fish scale, a Kashubian wreath and a lily. Please note – the Necel Kashubian Ceramics Museum in Chmielno is closed on Sunday.

Łapalice, located on the other side of Lake Rekowo, can be reached either by a shorter, more demanding route through the Kartuski Forest, or by a gentler, although longer and less comfortable section on concrete slabs. It is customary to call the building that has been standing here for almost thirty years a castle, although the characteristics of the building clearly indicate that it had a palace function. Thousands of tourists for whom Łapalice is a permanent place in Kashubia certainly do not think about the issue of naming. Interestingly, recent months have brought information about the possible completion of the suspended construction. However, when visiting this place, please remember that the gate opened by vandals does not mean official permission to visit the private facility, nor does it ensure safety inside the abandoned facility.

An interesting fact is that the Bilowo clearing in the Kartuski Forest, a few minutes’ bike ride from Łapalice, is the second most popular center for cross-country skiing after Tricity. The microclimate that is created in this clearing near Kartuzy in winter favors maintaining a cross-country ski trail here in winter and attracts runners from the entire region, including the Tricity.

The three-day bicycle journey ends with Kartuzy, one of the most important cultural centers on the map of Kashubia. A must-see during your visit to the city should be visiting the Kashubian Museum, which will well summarize your stay in this unique region. You should also find time to visit the Collegiate Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The most frequently mentioned feature of the temple is the coffin-shaped roof, which refers to the words “memento mori”, which is the credo of the local Carthusian order. Inside, it is also worth paying attention to the kurdyban – gilded leather used to decorate the walls of the collegiate church.

A convenient means of transport to get to the Kashubian bicycle route is the train. Access to the beginning of the route to Chojnice will be provided by connections from the Tricity, Bydgoszcz, Poznań and Szczecin. The return from Kartuzy to Tricity will be ensured by the Pomeranian Metropolitan Railway and the possibility of changing to the next connection in Gdańsk or Gdynia. In all larger towns along the route – Chojnice, Charzykowy, Swornegacie, Brusy, Wielu, Kościerzyna, Chmielno and Kartuzy – there is a very developed accommodation base. From campsites and agritourism farms to three-star hotels – there will certainly be a place for every cycling tourist that meets his needs.