There are a great variety of activities to enjoy while visiting Poland during any season of the year there is a multitude of great activities to participate in.

Walking
In Poland walkers can enjoy nearly 30,000 kilometres of marked walking trails, including the Polish sections of the trans-European trails.

The E-9 trail runs from France across Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany to Świnoujście in Poland, and follows the coast of the Baltic Sea up to Braniewo. The E-11 trail starts from the Netherlands and continues across Germany to Słubice in Poland, running across the Polish lakeland areas to reach Ogrodniki, at the border with Latvia.

The Polish trails run across the most beautiful areas of the country, with exciting wildlife, excellent views and places of historic value to be found, in, among others, all the twenty-three national parks a wealth of experiences and sensations is fully guaranteed. There are walks across the giant, moving dunes in the Słowiński National Parks in the north of Poland, and the effortful hiking tours in the shadows of the rocky mountain tops in the Tatra National Park in the south. You can pay a visit to the kingdom of the bird world in the Warta Mouth National Park at the western border of the country, or take a walk through the primeval forest of the Białowieski National Park at the eastern border.

Biking
There is definitely more to biking than the short rides within your neighbourhood. Weekend and holiday trips, country tours and competitions attract crowds of enthusiasts. Bike-drive trips are also becoming more and more popular. Poland offers a wealth of spots for practising biking.

There is definitely more to biking than the short rides within your neighbourhood. Weekend and holiday trips, country tours and competitions attract crowds of enthusiasts. Bike-drive trips are also becoming more and more popular. Poland offers a wealth of spots for practising biking.

Most national parks feature exeptionally beautiful biking trails running through areas of natural scenery with charming views of country vegetation. One of them, in the Słowiński National Park, along the coast of the Baltic Sea, runs through Czołpino, where you can enjoy spectacular views of dunes and the sea from the very top of a lighthouse, and countinues into Kluki, where you can visit the Słowiński Countryside Museum. In the Wigierski National Park, the circuit trails round Lake Wigry and in the heart of the Piska Primeval Forest are as long as 145 kilometres. Even in the woodland areas of the Narwiański National Park a 90-km marked biking route runs along the protection forest and is crossed by many other trails.

Horseback-riding
Over the last fifty years, the horse has been used not only for working (the working horse) on farms and in transport, but has become man’s friend and recreational partner. Apart from the old, famous stables, such as that in Janów Podlaski, horses began to appear in many ecotourist farms (holiday farms). The choice is wide, both for those at the starting point of their horse-riding adventures, and those ready to test their skills and abilities in competitions. There are many shops offering all the necessary equipment, including the world’s leading brands.

Kayaking
Tourists who enjoy kayaking often seek the sober harmony of nature as well. Water sports often combine adventure with peace and quiet which is only broken by the sough of trees, rustle of bulrushes, and the splatter of waves against the kayak. The water mirrors the sky and trees, and in its depths one can perceive aquatic plants and life such as fish, crayfish and snails. Everything seems to work together. That harmony is also shared by people.

Sailing
The Great Mazurian Lakes is a unique region in Europe. It is there that you can experience the real sailing adventure, spending several days on the water trails running through an area of exuberant forests. In Poland there are nearly 9 300 lakes with an area of more than one hectare. The most spectacular ones include Lake Wigry in the Suwalskie Lake District, Lake Jeziorak in the Iławskie Lake District, Lake Wdzydze and Lake Charzykowskie, both in the Charzykowska Lowland, or Lake Drawsko and its secondary lakes in the Drawskie Lake District. On the west coast of the Baltic Sea, there is the vast Szczecińskie Lake that links with many other lakes, around which numerous marinas and sailing clubs are located.

Windsurfing
Windsurfing was born nearly forty years ago and immediately captured the hearts of millions of enthusiasts. It has been a passion for some and an olympic competition for others, while many have made it their lifestyle or simply a favourite way of relaxing. With little equipment needed, it offers incomparable adventures in the natural world. It is an enjoyable way of experiencing your fitness, freedom and fantasy.

In Poland, windsurfing can be practised in all the places where sailing facilities are available , with the Great Mazury Lakedistrict in the forefront. However, the mecca for lovers of windsurfing is the Hel Peninsula, a 34-km spit of narrow, sandy land, constantly shaped by the wind and sea water, and separating the Pucka Bay from the Baltic Sea. Covering the area of 104 sq. kms and up to 9 metres deep is the inner part of the Pucka Bay, also called the Small Pucka Bay. Shallow water which gets warm very quickly, low waves, and mainly west, onshore winds make the waters of the Pucka Bay ideal for both beginners and the more advanced and experienced amateurs of windsurfing. The Hel Peninsula has a lot to offer to the visitor: beautiful woodlands and golden beaches, hospitable campsites, good shops and sports equipment hire centres. Windsurfing instructors offer professional help and support for beginners.

Fishing
No doubt, Polish rivers and lakes are still abundant in superb specimen of fish. All anglers can be satisfied. The huge number of angling fans in Poland is not an obstacle here, and the Polish Angling Association reportedly outnumbers other social organizations in Poland.

It is in the Polish Angling Association and its branches where the information on the opportunities, conditions and rules of angling in Polish waters as well as on angling competitions and contest can be easily found.

Anglers should hold an angler’s identity card and a permit to angle issued by the fishing host of the waters on which an angler wants to fish. And usually the hosts are the Polish Angling Association, fishing farms and private owners. Foreigners, who live in Poland temporarily and purchased an angler’s licence as well as persons fishing in waters of a private person entitled to fish, are released from the obligation to hold such a card While angling, you should unconditionally comply with the law on fishing and related governmental regulations.

Golf
The number of golfers all over the world is estimated at tens of millions, and these include not only the wealthy but also the so-called middle-class people. Golf rouses a feeling of excitement, and the mastery of the game earns high admiration. Although in Poland golf is a relatively new phenomenon, the number of golfers is estimated at several thousand, and the game is gaining interest refected in an increasing number of players and golf courses.

Golf seems to be one of the best ways of relaxing: solo, with your family or with your friends. As there are no requirements as to age or skills, it is suitable for both beginners and experienced players. It is the only sport in which, thanks to the handicap system, a true beginner can challenge an advanced player.

There is no shortage of things to do in the winter months either:

Skiing
The majority of people who spend their holidays in winter, treat winter sports as a form of spending their leisure time, as a good way to enhance their physical shape and improve the state of their health. They are not tempted by skiing on ski runs and steep slopes. We have another offer for such people, so fasten cross-country skis to your ski boots. Snow and scenic ski runs are abundant in Poland, and skiing adventures await you.

The most renowned skiing resorts such as Zakopane, Szczyrk, Wisła, Szklarska Poręba, Karpacz, Zieleniec are adjacent not only to towering peaks, but also small and flat hills and charming valleys. These are one of the most beautiful ski runs providing a breath-taking panorama of mountain ranges.

Horse-riding
Also today, studs frequently hold such events for tourists. Sleigh cavalcades if held in the evening, are lit with torches, and if organized in other times of the day, they are only colourful spectacles but also a stirring adventure. Habitually, the sleigh cavalcade is combined with a bonfire and grilling a boar as well as performances of folk groups.

Studs also offer winter horse rides and outings. For horse-riding fans it is a good opportunity to have a rest and relax. One of the most attractive events are offered by the largest Polish stud of horses of a breed kept by the highlanders inhabiting the East Carpathians, so called huculskie horses, in Gładyszów (the Beskid Niski range). Also, the seaside studs and in Pomerania invite tourists in wintertime and offer various horse, sleigh and britzka rides.

Dog-sleighing
Readers of books by Jack London are surely familiar with the taste of adventure which the literary characters experienced in the wilderness of the Far North, where dog-sledges were the only way to travel, and walking across the vast snows was made possible only with the use of snowshoes. In Poland as well as in other European countries there are many breeders of dogs of the North European origin which are used in dog-sledging. There are also numerous clubs, organisations and associations of dog-sledging enthusiasts.

The ideal conditions for dog-sledging are to be found in the land of forests and lakes of north-east Poland, in the Bieszczady Mountains, where packs of wolves living at large can still be found, and in the vicinity of some skiing resorts both in the Bieszczady Mountains and in the Sudety Mountains. At the International Dog-Sledging Competition, which has been organised in Zawoja for over a decade, various breeds of sledge dogs are represented: Siberian Husky, Alaskan Malamute, Samoyeed and the Greenland dog.

Skating
Lakes and channels, so typical in the north-east of Poland, in winter turn into huge natural ice skating rinks – flat and snow-capped ground. And they are in abundance – over 2,000 lakes of various areas (the largest ones are Śniardwy, Mamry, Niegocin, Bełdany, Nidzkie) and, to top it off, hundreds of kilometres of the biggest rivers and channels. In the north-eastern part of the country, there are also scores of lakes, with smaller areas, which in winter are also covered with ice. In addition, the waters of artificial reservoirs, which were created on rivers originating in the mountains also get iced up.

Hunting
Darz bór – this is how hunters used to welcome one another in an Old Polish fashion, wishing at the same time successful hunting. Hunting in Poland is characterised by very old, rich and colourful traditions. In Jan Długosz’ chronicles we can make ourselves acquainted with, among other things, a description of an eight-day hunting, performed in 1409 by King Ladislas-Jagiello with his retinue within the area of the Białowieża Forest. Let us just add that this wonderful, primeval forest was a hunting area rigorously reserved for sovereigns and their guests over a number of centuries.

Today’s hunters – gathered in the Polish Hunting Association which has recently celebrated its eightieth birthday – cultivate old customs and ceremonials with care. They accept novices into the hunting circle in a very solemn manner, including an oath, a hunting baptism and an acknowledgement as a hunter, similarly to a knight. The hunting’s king is grandly announced and given a rousing welcome and so is, naturally, the season’s king. Every hunting begins with signals given out by a hunting horn, the same one being used for centuries. The association holds various training courses, for example for trumpeters, falconers and those decoying game as well as several hunting competitions and championships – regional, nationwide and international ones. Simultaneously, it stands on guard of hunting law which is binding in Poland.