Baltic Manors Landscape near Gdansk

Vintage houses and farm buildings in the Vistula Żuławy

The Vistula Żuławy region is a completely flat area with picturesque landscapes, rich in many tourist attractions, including i.a. wonderful houses and farm buildings of Dutch background. Among them we can distinguish two types of vintage Żuławy farmhouses and manors. The first ones have usually fronts, doors, portals, windows and windowshields beautifully carved in wood. The other ones are arcade houses, which constitute the last so valuable vintage buildings characteristic for depression terrains. During cycling trips that can start from nearby Gdansk, you may see various examples of Żuławy houses and manors, among the arcade houses we will see not only the smallest, but also the most conspicuous one. Among many, which are slowly falling into ruins, there are also those, which are carefully restored and completely new ones, which were built according to the ancient design a great number of years ago. In the Żuławy, apart from houses and farm buildings, it is possible to see many other historic constructions, such as knights’ manors and strongholds, gothic churches and their ruins, old cemeteries and hydrotechnical constructions, that is why cycling tours are here an interesting pastime, in particular for families with children or all those, who only start their cycling adventure.

What to see and to do


Explore the interesting architecture and landscape on cycling tours

In Żuławy region, apart from varied architecture the landscape itself plays a very important role. While riding across the area on a bicycle we can immediately notice a complete lack of hills. The other aspect, which is immediately noticed while rolling over further kilometres is a complete absence of forests. The only trees are the tall poplar trees and lush willow trees growing along roads and numerous irrigation canals. Between them there are arable fields stretching to horizon, meadows and pastures, which sparkle with all colours depending on the season, that is why it is worth to come here not only in spring or in summer, but also in autumn and in winter. Architectural sights besides the farm houses and arcades are Gothic churches, mennonite cemeteries and windmills. The arcade, as an architectural element of a farmhouse, functioned in the Żuławy region since medieval times and was adopted in later periods by later settlers.

The cycling tours which are proposed will certainly allow you to get acquainted with the interesting architecture and landscape of the Żuławy region. In many places they are connected with the network of international long distance EuroVelo cycling routes, what facilitates riding and orientation in the area. The Żuławy is a region which is still not very well known among tourists, in particular if we want to extend the excursion for several days. That is why it is a good idea to start and finisz the trip in larger cities or towns such as: Gdańsk, Malbork, Nowy Dwór Gdański, Nowy Staw. To stay overnight in the region we suggest Cedrowy Dworek.