Oh we do like to be beside the seaside.....

One of the delights of Poland, one that never gets the recognition it deserves in my view, is the quality of its Baltic Sea coastal resorts. Personally, I love them. Here is why.

First and foremost, the beaches are superb along the entire length of the coast from the German border to that of the Russian enclave at Kaliningrad. They have a character like no other I have come across elsewhere – kilometre after kilometre of golden sands, with hardly any pebbles or stones anywhere, backed up by forests that vary in width between a hundred metres to perhaps a kilometre before you come to a road. Between the trees, that give a welcome shade from what can be a surprisingly hot summer sun, there are sandy dunes criss-crossed by networks of foot- and cycle-paths winding in and out of the trees making for a pleasant walk before and after your beach lounging. There is plenty of grass and heathers and forest flowers as well. Lovely.

Where the beaches are close to a town or resort village, every 50 metres or so in the sand there are blue refuse sacks, which people use to keep the beach pristine (unlike other places I’ve been to where you have to pick your way through the trash on your way to and from the beach). It’s rare to find junk just dumped and left in the sand, buried cigarette butts notwithstanding, and even they seem to be less common these days. In these areas too there are usually two or three beach bars scattered around the beach entrances, serving a variety of hot and cold food and the local beers, always cold and cheap in comparison with the price you would pay elsewhere. There are also squads of vendors traipsing along the sands selling bags of popcorn and nachos and corn-on-the-cob, and usually soft drinks. They do good business, but I don’t envy them – it must be hard work, especially on the hotter summer days, slogging along acres of sand for little reward.

The beaches all have steps or paths leading in from the adjoining woods every half kilometre or so, so access is safe and easy. For town beaches there are generally plenty of free parking spaces in the streets, as well as secure and paid car parks. The beaches here tend to be quite crowded, with acres of colourful windbreaks marking your section of precious sand, and as the tide line never seems to vary by more than a couple of feet per tide, you can park yourself right on the surf line. Out of town beaches tend to be emptier, though rarely deserted, and lack the beach bars and hawkers (though often there are still trash bags). I’m not a fan of crowded beaches, so we tend to drive perhaps three or four kilometres (say half a dozen beach entrances – most are numbered and all clearly signed), park at the side of the road and just under the shade of the forest, then walk to find a bit more elbow room. Well worth the effort.

The Baltic has a deserved reputation as one of the coldest seas in the world, but in the summer, especially the hotter and sunnier ones that we are blessed with in these days of global warming (and I know that in itself is a curse) it’s still fine for bathing. I would suggest it is no colder than the English Channel or North Sea that I was used to for most of my life, and I’m happy to go in for a dip. It can be quite rough, with big waves and strong currents, so care has to be taken, but for all that, great fun. The busier or more dangerous beaches are well known and well patrolled by lifeguards, but that still does not prevent regular drowning tragedies. But I don’t think any more than elsewhere.

Second, the resorts themselves, whether the stolid Germanic and well paved towns and villages in the far west of the coast, in what was once part of Prussia, or the shabbier places to the east where a Communist influence and poorer roads and footpaths prevail, are full of cheap and cheerful restaurants offering a huge variety of fresh fish dishes and traditional, filling Polish fare like pierogi, zapikanki, chicken and pork cutlets with potatoes in various styles (chips, of course, boiled, or ground up and fried as pancakes), fresh vegetables and salads alongside the ubiquitous pizzas, burgers (but not McDonalds) and kebabs.

And then there are the ice-creams. Forget the good old Walls’ 99s with their Cadbury’s chocolate flakes stuffed into the ice cream, or the Magnum lollies and other British favourites, and enjoy delicious cornets stuffed full of spiralled ice cream three or four inches high, maybe more if you’re a regular customer at a particular stall, in vanilla, chocolate or a mix of both, or lovely soft Italian style cornets in the same flavour mixes. Then there are Polish family brands like Grycan offering a huge range of flavoured ice-creams and sorbets. Every one delicious – and that’s without adding a selection of toppings like ground nuts, chocolate chips, and coloured chips (in England, hundreds-and-thousands) or sauces (strawberry and chocolate are favourites).

Let’s not forget the Polish speciality – gofry (it’s pronounced go-free), which is a sweet waffle topped with powdered sugar, or Nutella chocolate sauce, or whipped squirty cream smothered in fresh fruits (finely chopped strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants, blueberries, pineapples and peaches) with again a dousing in fruit sauces. With food of this quality and value it’s no wonder I regularly put on a few kilos each trip!

Finally, there is the shopping.   Again common to any resort is the huge numbers of gift shops and jewellery stalls, and clothing stalls typically run or sponsored by major Polish brands like 4F, or internationals like cropp, house and adidas. The goods in these are the same as you would find in one of their city mall locations but cheaper – they have kept me in shorts and tee-shirts for years. In the gift shops there are the usual fridge magnets, invariably tailored for the resort you’re in, and coffee mugs, similarly decorated, a variety of ornaments made from glass, seashells and stuff, all with a distinctly nautical flavour as you would expect. There are also earrings and necklaces made from locally sourced amber (the Baltic coast is world famous for it) and again small seashells, plus a huge range of bracelets and hippy beads. There are even stalls selling proper gold and silver stuff. All sensibly priced and decent quality.

Much as I have enjoyed (and will hopefully continue to enjoy) my overseas trips to places like Croatia and Spain, Portugal and the Greek islands, where I can usually rely on a couple of weeks’ decent weather and a sea as warm as bathwater, I find something comforting in coming back to the coast here. Whether westerly Mrzeżyno (where we have stayed this last couple of weeks), centrally located Rowy, Ustka and our old favourite Jastrębia Góra, or easterly Sztutowo and Krynica Morska, within a few kilometres of the border with Russian Kaliningrad, they are lovely places well worth a visit – and visit them I will!