In the Picturesque Lake Land near Prabuty
Total length of the route: 38 kilometers
The route: Prabuty - Gonty - Górowychy - Rodowo - Stążki - Perklice - Dworek - Balewo - Linki - Cieszymowo Wielkie - Obrzynowo - Prabuty
Time: 5-6 h (including about 2h for visiting places)
Recommended type of bicycles: trekking or mountain bicycles (MTB/ATB)
Road surface and a difficulty level: Most of the route runs along the hard-surfaced ground roads with some asphalted sections. An easy route
Route marking: The whole trip follows the red and blue bicycle route of Prabuty, the red-marked “Route of Gothic Castles” and the black-marked “Route of Balewskie Lake"
Route description:
The route loops the biggest lakes near Prabuty – Liwieniec Lake (a natural reserve) and Sowica Lake with its swimming sites. A nice beach can be also found on Balewskie Lake. However, the picturesque Dzierzgoń Lake is the biggest water area here. The route runs mostly along the lakeside so it is good to have your sunbathing gear with you. There are numerous places worth visiting along this route: monuments of sacral architecture, manors and palaces.
The most convenient point to start your trip is Prabuty. A silhouette of a huge cathedral steeple from the 14th century dominates over the town. There are also some remnants of a castle, ancient ramparts, the gothic Kwidzyńska Gate (Brama Kwidzyńska), so called Polish Church and a model of the castle of Prabuty which is situated near the ramparts. Urban aqueducts built in 1728 come as an unusual attraction. Riding out of the town to the north you need to turn right along Dzierzgoń Lake to Rodowo. In this village you can find some extraordinary sculptures. They have been made by artists and students of Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk who often come here for outdoor sculpturing or painting sessions.
Then the route takes you to Balewskie Lake. In Stążki you can see a manor from the 18th century which was built on the place of a medieval fort. Riding around the lake, you reach Cieszymowo Wielkie where you should visit a manor from the 19th century. Then the route runs along a disused railway embankment as far as to Sowica Lake, where you go down the embankment and return to Prabuty.
The trip (with particular legs and kilometers)
0,0 |
38,0 |
Prabuty: railway station |
1,8 |
36,2 |
Prabuty: the ruins of the ramparts, some remnants of the Pomesanian Chapter Castle with models of medieval buildings, a historical urban arrangement with a market square and Roland’s Fountain, urban aqueducts from the 18th century, three historical churches |
5,3 |
32,7 |
Gonty |
7,2 |
30,8 |
Górowychy |
11,0 |
27,0 |
Rodowo Wielkie: an eclectic church, “The Village of Wonders” – a great number of sculptures installed around the whole village; the sculptures have been made by students of Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk during their outdoor sessions |
12,3 |
25,7 |
Stążki: a renovated mansion built on the place where a medieval Teutonic manor once was |
14,6 |
23,4 |
Perklice |
16,6 |
21,4 |
Dworek |
19,3 |
18,7 |
Balewo |
19,8 |
18,2 |
Balewo (swimming site) about 200 meters from the route |
22,5 |
15,5 |
Linki |
24,0 |
14,0 |
Cieszymowo Wielkie: the remnants of the former manor estate, a chapel in a former carriage house; disused railway road from Prabuty to Cieszymowo Wielkie: the remnants of viaducts, picturesque views from the railway embankments |
27,9 |
10,1 |
Jakubowo: a former railway station, an unguarded swimming site on Dzierzgoń Lake |
31,7 |
6,3 |
Obrzynowo: a reconstructed gothic church |
36,0 |
2,0 |
Sowica Lake: a swimming site |
38,0 |
0,0 |
Prabuty railway station |