Two weeks of sailing in Polish waters, every day in a different place ... A dream? Yes, but from the genre to fulfill. Just connect two amazing routes to the north of our country. In fact, you do not need to combine anything, because they are connected at least from the second half of the nineteenth century. The first of these has existed since time immemorial, the second, marked by human hand, overcoming unimaginable obstacles, invites boats to its waters from 1872. The first is the Żuławy Loop, which uses the natural river routes of the Vistula estuary, the second, contrary to the laws of physics connecting the Iławskie Lake District with the Baltic Sea, appears on the maps as the Elbląg Canal.
It is in Elbląg that the door is for one and the other. From this point on the map, it's best to start the two water routes in one voyage. And there is a lot to wander - the Żuławy Loop itself is 200 kilometers long, along with the amazing Elbląg Canal, it's 351 kilometers of waterways. To cross them, you should devote two weeks of watery life to the adventure - but for what! The roads of the Loop and Canal will lead us to the most unusual corners of the still undiscovered lands - Żuławy Wiślane, Wysoczyzna Elbląska and Pojezierze Iławskiego. Long ago there were the lands of Pomorzans and Prussians, and then the rule of the Teutonic Order extended. Sailors with the privilege of swimming in sea waters are also invited to the Vistula Lagoon with the ports and marinas of the Vistula Spit and unlimited access to golden beaches on the Gulf of Gdańsk.

Zulawy Loop - history with water and written work.

When we find ourselves on the Elbląg quay, all these roads are open to us. By the Elbląg River to the north we quickly reach the Vistula Lagoon, an ideal reservoir for a weekly voyage, but not everyone can affect the internal sea waters. For this we have unlimited access to the picturesque and beautiful meandering branches of the Vistula delta - Szkarpawa and Nogat. We'll reach there with the Jagielloński Canal, dating back to the Middle Ages. Do not be afraid to swim against the Nogat current - today you will find in it only 15 percent of the Vistula waters. Thanks to the Żuławy Loop, we will not miss the unique view - the impressive shape of the Malbork castle, emerging majestically behind the port side. Thanks to the water journey, a visit to one of the most important monuments in Poland will be remembered for a longer time, the more so when we moor for a night on the Nogat opposite the illuminated building.
Another unique place is an impressive work of hydrotechnics, a sluice in Biała Góra, regulating the flow of both arms of the Vistula. It is only thanks to the cruise that we will appreciate the enormity of this masterpiece of engineering, also known as the water castle. It is this gate that will let us onto the wide, Vistula highway. The episode of the Vistula to the lock in Przegalin or Gdańska Głłów (we have to turn somewhere, because the Vistula's Drain will lead us now only to the Baltic) makes us remember why we call the Vistula the Queen of Polish Rivers. After leaving the angry castle on the left side and sailing under the famous bridges in Tczew, we can go on a tour of Gdańsk from the water side. Above us is the unique Sobieszewo Island, the waters of the Martwa Wisła and Motława, and the unique old Gdańsk with Żuraw, Długi Targ and St. Mary's Basilica.
However, if we stopped before the gates of the lock in Gdańsk Head, we have Szkarpawa and Wisla Królewiecka in front of us. Żuławy opens before us, in which we discover the traces of the past, significant life and work of the Mennonites and other settlers who have turned the wild springs into the land of milk and honey flowing. At Szkarpawa, in Drewnica, we will see a windmill, one of the few that remained, even though hundreds of them were in the landscape of this land. The village of Żuławki on the opposite bank will allow us to imagine how formerly Żuławy villages with characteristic arcaded houses were. The marina in Rybin, at the intersection of four rivers, if we want to look carefully, it will show us unique bridges: two drawers and one rotary. In Sztutowo, on the Vistula River, we will benefit from the proximity of the open sea and a charming beach on the Gulf of Gdansk. Before returning to Elbląg, we will not forget to stop for a moment at Ujście Nogat, because of the wild, natural landscape, with rushes and a lot of water birds, and in the case of anglers also for the abundant catch.
Among the multitude of impressions, after a week of swimming, perhaps we will miss that we could moor each of these places in modern marinas or near comfortable jetties. Each stop also gives you the opportunity to look around the area where other attractions await. Perhaps that is why it is worth taking bicycles with you, especially as you can mount them on the hausbot just like in a car.

The Elblag Canal - a miracle of technology and nature.

When we are again at Elbląg port, this time for the night, do not forget to visit the climatic old town. The next day, sailing south through shallow and reed-covered Druzno Lake, we will be at the gate of the Elbląg Canal, at once the biggest challenge: how to overcome a hundred meters difference between the depression of Żuławy and Lake Piniewski just 14 kilometers east of it? It will be possible thanks to a system of five slipways, which, like stairs, will lead our boats to the next levels, up to Buczyniec. Driven solely by the water energy of the turbine on special wagons, they pull up more units or bring them down, which looks from a distance as if we were sailing on a yacht!
Behind the slipways, next experiences await us. In Miłomłyn, a beautiful town with two marinas, the Canal again invites us to choose one of two roads. Of course we choose both, we just have to set the order. If we go straight ahead, just behind the first, the Miłomlynski lock we will find three more, including one in the heart of a large city with many tourist values, namely Ostróda. Still further is the gutter lake Szeląg Wielki, which connects with Mały in Stare Jabłonki with a channel passing in a tunnel under the culvert. Such a crossing is the dream of every helmsman. In addition to larger cities and marinas at the fork of the trail, we can count on the truly natural circumstances of the trip.
We can also turn into Miłomłyn to the Iławski Canal, which will surprise us with the Aqueduct Karnicki, an amazing section of the canal let into a dyke in the middle of the lake. The old flood gates are the real gate to the longest lake in Poland - Jeziorak. There in the north another waterway, this time excavated in the fifteenth century by the Teutonic Knights, leading to the lake Ewingi and Zalewa Channel Dobrzycki, which also looks as if it led through a tunnel, this time green, with trees and shrubs. On the west bank we will get to the summer village of Siemiany, although we can also decide to moor in one of the many natural marinas in the bay or on the island. In the area you can not overlook Lake Jasna, the cleanest water reservoir in Poland with turquoise water, and while in the capital of the lake district, Iława, we can visit the romantic ruins of the Teutonic castle in Szymbark. On motor yachts - hausbots, the basic means of communication on these very diverse routes, you can also often see mounted bicycle racks, due to the huge number of bicycle routes nearby.
For two weeks, we will sail well over three hundred kilometers of water routes. Very diversified - we include calm waters of the canals, lazy current of the Nogat, rapid currents of the Vistula, winding of Szkarpawa among Żuławy willows, covered with reeds of Ujście water, shallow Druzno lake, extensive and narrow Jeziorak, Gdańsk waterfront and Elbląg. We will go through ramps, sluices, drawbridges and permanent, or even revolving bridges, not to mention the roads among open fields and overgrown with lush greenery, about the passage of the tunnel and the aqueduct. Two weeks, which will allow us to greet a completely different landscape every day, admire the candid fields and pearls of architecture, forest nooks and priceless monuments of technical engineering. If someone told us that there is such a place in Poland ...