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!
