If you follow the VeloMalopolska profile on FB, you probably noticed that in 2020 I often posted rich reports from the Świętokrzyskie section of the EuroVelo11 route between Lekszyce and Wiślica that was under construction. What stood behind that interest? First of all, this is a brilliant 36 km piece of new ‘cycleway’ built along the former narrow-gauge railway, and secondly, it’ll also (hopefully soon) continue towards Kraków (another 35 km). There are also plans to continue this route further to Pińczów (30 km) and even to Kielce in the longer perspective. For me, the vision of such a 100-kilometre-long cycling route linking the capital of Małopolska with Ponidzie, using the course of the former railway tracks, is very attractive and I can’t wait to ride it one day!
However, it’ll certainly take a couple of years before this happens, whereas this proposal is intended to show how this can be done NOW and how to plan a perfect cycle loop connecting the two voivodeships. In addition to the completed cycle routes built as part of the Małopolska Vistula Bicycle Route and EuroVelo 11, it also uses the new road bridge (with a cycle section) that connected Borusowa with Nowy Korczyn in December 2020. The sections without cycling infrastructure, i.e., the approximately 15-kilometre-long links Nowy Korczyn–Koniecmosty and Lekszyce–Ispina will follow ordinary roads with car traffic, mostly of low intensity, so take this into account when planning your trip. I’ve ridden it a couple of times in search of the best variants for these links and I think the suggestions given are not only optimal, but also very picturesque, as they lead, for example, through the ponds in Pławowice and Górki.
Now, some ‘technical’ comments.
- The entire proposed tour is accessible even for a road bike. I can recommend it even to beginners, although there are also a few gentle hills, mainly in the Świętokrzyskie region, where the track meanders gently between the hills.
- Instead of a riding the whole loop, you can also cover some sections by train and, for example, go to Bogumiłowice station and from there follow on bicycle the VeloDunajec trail to Wietrzychowice, take the ferry across the Dunajec and continue along the Vistula Bicycle Route to the new bridge Borusowa–Nowy Korczyn. After crossing the Świętokrzyskie part, we return via the bridge in Ispinia to the Vistula Bicycle Route and follow it up to Kraków. On this section, the WTR is mostly routed along the Vistula embankments, but 10 km before Kraków we still have to take a bypass running on regular roads. The ‘bypassing’ GPXs of both routes can be found under the route links. This variant is about 150 km long, but it’s also possible to diversify it and leave the VeloDunajec a little earlier to ride through Zalipie (I would then recommend the ferry in Nieszawa). Here, you’ll find a proposal for a ‘Zalipie’ turn.
- On the route, it is worth visiting, for example, Nowy Korczyn with its old synagogue and marina on the Nida River, or Wiślica, which was the historical cradle of the state of the Vistulans. Generally, all these areas of the Ponidzie region are worthy of deeper exploration by bicycle. For the moment, I would recommend it to those who would fancy a gravel adventure along the banks of the Nida River or wavy roads through the picturesque ‘Windows wallpapers’, argh, I mean through the fields. If one day a continuation of the EV11 up to Pińczów is built, it’ll be possible even for entire families to travel all the way from Kraków.
- If anyone would like to expand this idea of a cycling trip from Kraków to Kielce while waiting for the construction of the entire EV11 route between these cities, please find here an idea for probably the ‘flattest variant of the Kraków–Kielce road ride’.
author: Jarek Tarański, velomalopolska.pl
