We don't have to fly to Greece to get water, forest and quiet. A little over an hour's drive from home the Augustów Forest begins, and in it lakes we like to come back to.
Our region
We live in Podlasie. The north of the province is the Augustów Lake District and the Suwałki region: forests, glacial lakes, rivers and a canal almost two hundred years old. The Augustów Forest lies in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus and is one of the large forest areas in the country.
Płaska
Płaska is a village in the middle of the forest, about 20 km east of Augustów and not far from the border with Belarus. It lies on Lake Orle, right on the Augustów Canal, next to the Gorczyca lock. For us it's a good base: there are lakes all around, forest roads for walks and bike rides, and a kayak route along the canal.
Lake Serwy
A few kilometres from Płaska lies Lake Serwy. It is about 7 km long and up to 41 m deep, with sandy beaches and three islands; on one of them, Sosnowo, there is a cormorant reserve. The lake is a quiet zone, so on the water you mostly hear oars and birds. The name is said to come from a Yotvingian word meaning „grey”.
The Augustów Canal
The canal was built in 1824-1839 to a design by General Ignacy Prądzyński. It links the Biebrza, part of the Vistula basin, with the Neman. It is 101 km long, 82 km of it in Poland, with 18 locks. Since 2007 it has been a Monument of History.
Around Płaska runs its eastern, wooded part: the Gorczyca, Paniewo, Perkuć and Mikaszówka locks lie between forests and lakes. You can paddle a kayak along the canal, cycle, or simply walk and watch a boat go through a lock.
Augustów
Augustów was granted town rights in 1557 by King Sigismund Augustus, after whom it is named. It lies among seven lakes, including Necko, Białe, Sajno and Studzieniczne, and the canal runs through the town. It has been a spa town since 1993. A few kilometres away is Studzieniczna, with a wooden church from 1847 and a chapel on a small island.
Where to stay
There are plenty of interesting places to stay in the area: houses with Provençal interiors, tiled stoves, hot tubs and saunas. In September we stayed in a house like that: flowery curtains, a kitchen with colourful tiles, a shower behind black grid glass and a hot tub in the garden under a string of lights.
The evenings there were beautiful: first the hot tub, then dinner on the covered terrace and the warmth of the tiled stove. And at sunset we sat on the jetty by the lake.
Warm, beautiful, what water
Our song So Much Pięknie came from our love of water and nature. We wrote it about the Greek islands, but by Lake Serwy the line fits too: warm, beautiful, what water.
