With your base in Krakow, you must have wondered where the most worthy Lesser Poland cycling spots are. Or in other words: how is this curious region (Lesser Poland = Małopolska) for bikers? Where can you find comfortable routes and where the most charming landscapes? How to get there and what about equipment? Today we will offer you some answers from our experience.
As a region, Lesser Poland can be understood traditionally (first historical mentions in 1411), and then it stretches far into the North and East, or in terms of a modern voivodeship where the local government promotes cycling heavily. The second understanding limits us to the South of Poland and this is what we will take for our subject matter this time. The charms of Swietokrzyskie or Lubelskie will come in later articles.
What kind of land is Lesser Poland?
The answer is: full of routes. In our Lesser Poland cycling spots expect a lot of hills and mountains, plus a guarantee of beautiful views and interesting folk culture. The routes lead thorugh Gorce and Beskidy Mountains, through Jura Krakowsko-Częstochowska and around the Tatras. Along the river Wisla and in the West of Lesser Poland there lies also a lowland with meadows full of storks.
The voivodeship proposes as many as 50 cycling routes, a big opportunity to explore a very varied region. Have a look at the maps and descriptions from their website – VeloMalopolska.
We have chosen 11 most attractive Lesser Poland cycling spots and routes. In a way you can be sure of coming back home from there satisfied and with loads of energy from happy cycling.
1) VeloDunajec
This is a BikeTrip’s favourite. Choosing this route, from Zakopane to the Wisla, you will see all the beauties of Lesser Poland served on a plate – there will be mountains, pine forests, interesting Galician towns and medieval castles. 237 km of an easy ride across place like Biały Dunajec, Niedzica, or Stary Sącz.
We can take you there on a self-guided tour with bikes, service, plenty of sidekicks and luggage transport provided. Just have a look at the offer.
VeloDunajec is all asphalt and with few uphill rides it is a route for everybody (kids welcome!). A bit of history and legends in the Niedzica Castle, views on Lake Czorsztyn, some wooden UNESCO architecture in Dębno and the quaint little town of Stary Sącz. The view of the Tatras will accompany you all the way. Parts of the road lead along a former railway embankment, then you cycle along the Dunajec (silent gurgling water and lonely peaks). Everywhere hides the primeval flora and fauna, just as the relic pines or common eagles.
We write about Top10 attractions of VeloDunajec here.
2) Gorce Mountains MTB
Going into the Gorce is a challenge for cyclists loving heights and a more difficult terrain. Interesting routes are gathered around the towns of Myślenice and Nowy Targ. Easy arrival with our transport or public buses/trains.
Apart from gorgeous MTB routes you will discover ruins of castles in the woods, wooden churches (e.g. Łętownia), views on rolling hills and spas such as Rabka Zdrój with a museum of highland robbers (zbójnicy). 😉 For those exhausted on slopes there is a chance to dream of railway transport in Chabówka’s Railway Museum.
If you ask for a ready tour plan – try this one on the voivodeship website. Or this one and this one. They are full of descriptions and maps.
3) Dulowska and Niepołomice Forests
I call this two forest areas the green lungs of Krakow – they are West and East from the city respectively. They are well-covered with routes : green, blue, red and black cycle signs abide.
Moose and beavers live in the Dulowska Forest of medieval history and its ponds are full of newts and river lampreys. For a thrilling story about lampreys ask me when we meet in Krakow! Strolling in Dulowska or visiting the Chechelskie Lake in hot summers can offer the precious shade. Tenczyn Castle on the other hand imparts some of its Renaissance splendour, as poets like Jan Kochanowski and Mikołaj Rej used to be regular guests there.
The Niepolomice Forest is a milder area. It used to be part of the favourite hunting territories of the Polish kings, however today it is formed mostly of pine planted by the Austrians in the 19th century (times of a partitioned Poland). In the meanders of small rivers you will encounter more leaf trees.
You must also pay a visit to the Benedictine monastery in Staniątki. It has been famous with monastic polyphonic music since at least 1586. The songs and anthems from here are now sung by ensembles like Quattro Voce. Listen to it here.
4) The spas – Piwniczna, Muszyna, Krynica
When exhausted after a long trip and thirsty in a hot Polish summer, there is nothing better than to relax with rich mineral waters of one of Lesser Poland spas. For the first try we would recommend Piwniczna (a king’s town that changed little in its layout since 1300s), Muszyna (good infrastructure) and Krynica (plenty of cycling spots).
River Poprad offer perfect opportunities for a ride along the lively waters guarded by dippers and kingfishers. You will cross the river three times on newly built cycling bridges.
For dirt and mud and slopes, try a trip to Łabowska Hala, Rytro and Barcice. Some history looms around Muszyna: members of the Bar confederation used to operate here in the 18th century. Wielki Rogacz (1182 m) and Jaworzyna Krynicka (1114 m) are two interesting peaks with cyclable paths and for woods go to the linden reserve in Obrożyska.
Relaxed and clean sipping mineral water or smelling of earth after MTB, do write us about your spa experience or ask us at Zwierzyniecka 30 in Krakow to organize an excursion.
5) Wisła Cycling Route
Wisla Cycling Route remains one of the best investments of the Lesser Poland local government and its pride. It leads thorugh the most interesting river lowlands, 230 km from Jawiszowice to Szczucin.
The larger part of the route runs along floodbanks, which allows to skip car traffic and watch the richly inhabited landscape from an elevated observation point. The emblematic storks and buzzards patrol the meadows while the ponds abound in fish. Wisla Cycling Route is well marked with orange signs and full of comfortable places for a rest.
To taste an etnographic adventure go to Zalipie. The village wooden houses are adorned with beautiful flower motives and every year there is a festive competition of painters organized. The painful 20th century history is still present in Auschwitz-Birkenau, while the more glorious part in the king’s castle in Niepołomice. On the way you will also pass the ages old monastery in Tyniec and the Museum of Roadworks in Szczucin.
6) Wooden Architecture Route
The characteristic climate of Lesser Poland depends much on wooden architecture of churches (kościoły), houses (chałupy), and manors (dwory). Six of them have been listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List: Binarowa, Blizne, Dębno (where we take you on our tour of VeloDunajec), Haczów, Lipnica Murowana and Sęków. You will realize that Lesser Poland, in its poorer parts, still has not emerged into full modernity, and this is what we love it for.
There is no better solution to see the wooden Małopolska than a cycling tour in a reasonable slow tempo. The Wooden Architecture Route is a resource for years of coming back to explore – stretching all across the region from Oświęcim to Gorlice. Parts of it wrestle with hills, some are flatter, however always bringing you closer to the essence of historical and contemporary “Polishness”.
The churches can be as old as the Jagiellonian state (the one in our photo, Haczów, dates back to 1388) or newer, 19th century. The smell of varnish and the choir song inside will always tell you how important faith is in this green country.
We will write bountifully about cycling spots and wooden architecture – stay with us through FB, Instagram and the blog.
7) Kraków-Częstochowa Upland – Ojców and Kraków Valleys
Right nearby Kraków, in an extraordinary calcareous Jurassic area, lies the smallest National Park of Poland – Ojcowski. The surface of 22 km2 is enough to hide a myriad of attractions like climbing rocks, the Władysław Łokietek Cave (with a legend which was one my first in childhood), and two castles.
The Trail of the Eagle’s Nests (25 medieval castles on the border with Silesia) runs through this area and a bicycle trip will be pleasant thanks to greenery and calming views. The castle in Ojców, built on king’s Kazimierz Wielki order, comes from the 14th century. Its heavily rebuilt counterpart, Pieskowa Skała, looks more Renaissance now.
Geologists-amateurs will have plenty of fun in the Upland – just find the 50 springs, the inselbergs, gorges and alluvial fans. We would also send you for that to the Kraków Valleys, a small landscape park full of mystery and right outside a crowded city. Witches? Who knows…For sure, you can climb the rocks jump into streams or see the Carmelite monastery in Czerna.
8) Kraków-Częstochowa Upland – the remaining part
This upland region of calcite rocks is a sea of attractive sights. You can explore it on marked routes, from the North or from Kraków – it is conveniently linked. Search for monumental castles, clean ponds and valleys of shade for the summer. The Olkusz Land has also a rich history of 19th century uprisings.
BikeTrip’s favourite castles are Mirów and Bobolice and the biggest stone castle in Poland – Ogrodzieniec. On the mountain of Birów there stands a wooden reconstruction of a medieval burgh (burgwall). Quad-excursions wander the land (if you prefer not to pedal! 😉) and children get diverted in ropes courses.
Błędów Desert, a very interesting phenomenon with dunes and sand plants, would remind you of Star Wars’ Tatooine planet or Frank Herbert’s Dune. Just wait for a gigantic sandworm to emerge and carry you into the “nowhere made of sand”.
9) Low Beskids
As long ago as the previous generation remembers “the unknown wild land” for the Polish was located in the Bieszczady Mountains. It is there that Lech Wałęsa was detained and the men-of-power in the communist regime used to hunt bears. Today all corporate employees dream of “quitting everything and going into the Bieszczady” (this has grown to a common phrase in Polish) and these mountains are well-explored and well-known. For us, the Low Beskids can be a peaceful wilder alternative: with weaker infrastructure but with the charm of the undiscovered.
Streams and valleys are ready for cross-country cycling and peaks such as Magura Małastowska offer some bike climbing challenges. The First World War has left here numerous cemeteries while the Second led to the total depopulation of the region. Lonely orchards bear witness to ethno-historical difficulties of the region (I do hope to write you more about it in an article or two!).
In Zyndranowa there is a Museum of the Lemko culture and wooden Orthodox/Greek Catholic churches stand here and there (try Czarna and Mochnaczka). It is unbelievalble how densely populated and culturally varied the region was in the 19th century while it lies forgotten now. I will invite you here with BikeTrip to share the past among the greenery, which is my favourite sport.
10) VeloTatra
The Tatras on bike is a classic among Lesser Poland cycling spots and has earned its own Instagram hashtag (#tatraonbike). Well-prepared routes are crowded by bikers and they remain unbeatable for views and terrain experience. Expect some particular info from us soon.
BikeTrip, however, can take you on a scenic tour around the Tatras, through Poland and Slovakia. From Nowy Targ across the border to Liptovsky Mikulas and Poprad, back to Szczawnica and Lake Czorsztyn, where the loop closes.
The Alpine climate of the mountains leaves an impression of freshness, plus the views while squeezing between Nizke Tatry and Wysokie Tatry will stay indelibly in memory or on your photos. The route is slightly more demanding than VeloDunajec but full of happy uphill challenges. Become a biking chamois. 😉
11) Enduro Trails
Enduro Trails were marked in Zakopane, Beskid Żywiecki and Gorce. We take our guests often to Bielsko-Biała or to Szczyrk, Węgierska Górka and Pilsko.
This is an experience both for beginners and the advanced riders. In Bielsko-Biała there is gondola taking you to the top and the routes are perfectly planned and executed. Our “hi” from Enduro will reach you not once, Przemo likes to come back there…
A short description of enduro trails in Lesser Poland exists here – mtbenduro.pl.
To run (or ride) through all Lesser Poland cycling spots in one article is truly an impossible task. The 11 places we presented are just a piece of a bigger cake. We can take you there on our tailored trips, so don’t hesitate to write at biuro@biketrip.pl.
We will also serve practical info and reports from our own excursions – check the FB, vlog and Instagram.
Tomasz, Kraków
Images on CC BY SA license by: Artur Kozioł, Merlin, K4animation, Mariuszjbie, Jakub Hałun, Aniceta, Jersz, Laima Gutmane, Pudelek.
