Przylasek Rusiecki: Kraków’s Hidden Lakes That Look Like Finland

Po polsku: Przylasek Rusiecki jesienią

When I show friends from abroad photos from Przylasek Rusiecki, they usually guess Finland or Canada. Then I tell them it’s inside Kraków, about half an hour from the Main Square. Calm lakes, reeds, wooden boardwalks over the water and sandy beaches with nobody on them. Most tourists never hear about it.

From gravel pits to lakes

Przylasek Rusiecki lies in Nowa Huta, the eastern district of Kraków built after the Second World War around a huge steelworks. For decades gravel and sand were dug here for the city. When the digging stopped, the pits filled with groundwater, and that’s how a whole group of lakes was born, right next to the Vistula.

Today it’s a recreation area. In summer locals come to swim and sunbathe. The rest of the year it’s mostly walkers, cyclists, anglers and birds. There are a lot of birds here, so bring a zoom lens if you have one.

The boardwalks

The best part is the network of wooden boardwalks that run over the water and along the reeds. You can walk a loop of an hour or two, stop on a little pier and just look at the clouds in the water. In the late afternoon, with low sun, it’s really beautiful.

When to go

• Autumn is my favourite: golden trees, yellow reeds and almost no people.
• Summer is beach time. There is a guarded swimming area in the season, and it gets busy on hot weekends.
• Spring is great for birds.

Combine it with Nowa Huta

On the way, stop in Nowa Huta itself. Its central square and wide avenues are a rare example of socialist realist town planning, and very different from the old town. Then take a bus or a bike further east to the lakes.

More Kraków guides: Kraków & Małopolska in English.

Łukasz, Niezwykła Małopolska