E11 European Long Distance Path - E11 in Poland (1177 Km)

E11 in Poland (1177 Km)

In Poland, E11 continues east, then northeast, to pass the cities of Międzychód, Poznań, Gniezno, Toruń, Brodnica, Iława, Olsztyn and Gołdap to the township of Ogrodniki, Sejny County on the Lithuanian border. As 30% of Poland is covered with forest, it is not surprising that most of E11 crosses through vast areas with trees (mostly planted and exploited commercially), and various wild areas, such as lakes and dunes. Near Poznań, however, the rambler walks for days through agrarian and semi-industrial land, made pleasant by some ancient towns and buildings. As Poland is rather thinly populated, ramblers without tents must be prepared for daily distances between 25 and 35 kilometers.

No Polish regional trail is, as a whole, part of E11. The trail rather jumps from one existing trail to another, generally after following such a trail for only a short distance. Moreover, E11 is not itself waymarked on the route, with a few exceptions which may amount to one sign every 100 km. The regional trails are marked, however, although not always well enough to enable the rambler to follow E11 without a map.

Some topographical maps show sections of E11, but others may only show the trails that form the basis of it. So one must fall back on documents describing which sections of which trails make up E11. Unfortunately, these are hardly accessible or incomplete:

1. A German book, now out of sale, and summarizing the routing of all eleven European long distance paths.

2. A series of Polish topographical maps (with legend in English) showing hiking trails, but not always indicating which of these belong to E11. These and some more detailed maps may be ordered from abroad at the specialized map shop Grupa.18 in Poznań.

3. Later changes in the Polish routing can be found (in Polish) in the offices of PTTK, the Polish tourist organization. and (in English) at the secretariat of the European Ramblers Association in Prague.