Summer Boating on Zegrze Lake near Warsaw

Day Trip from Warsaw

It’s difficult to believe that earlier this month we were hanging out on a fishing boat and soaking up the sun in our swimsuits.

Now, I’m sitting in my apartment wearing a jacket because the temperature has dropped from 90F to 60F. Welcome to our short-lived summer in Poland!

Well, when the temps were sizzling, we decided to escape the city with our good friends and drove out to the nearest lake. Zegrze Lake (Jezioro Zegrzyńskie), a large, man-made reservoir, is located about an hour northeast of Warsaw and is a popular place for Varsovians, especially on the weekends. Luckily, we left at 9 a.m. and had no problems getting out of the city.

Nothing but smooth waters and blue skies at Zegrze Lake in August.

Since the four of us wanted to spend the day on the lake, we decided the best way to do that was to rent a boat. After much online research and assistance from my husband’s Polish colleagues, we reserved a small, 10 horse-powered fishing boat through EventBoats.pl. The staff here were very kind and spoke English well enough in person. As they were showing us how to work the boat, they made sure to stress that the driver should not drink beer or vodka, do drugs or smoke pot. We kind of laughed, but duh!

Meet our non-smoking, non-drinking boat captain for the day!

Our boat wasn’t the fastest, but the price couldn’t be beat – 350 pln for 8 hours. However, if you wanted to rent a speed boat with a captain and the option for wakeboarding, then the cost increased to 500 pln for ONE hour. And renting a sailboat requires a special Polish license.

So the four of us enjoyed zipping around the lake with our small fishing boat. My girlfriend and I hung our legs over the side of the boat to cool off. Hubby was our captain. We had packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed that on the boat as well.

We only stopped twice so our Texan friends could take a dip in the lake. I refrained because the water looked pretty murky and was full of floating snails. (Gross!) The second time we stopped at Klub Mila so we could use their clean restrooms. This cute hotel and restaurant would have been a nice place to stop for a drink, but hubby said no since he couldn’t enjoy one too.

This packed beach was located near the town of Serock.

Zegrze Lake seemed very popular for sailboats since it’s the closest location to Warsaw where you can do this watersport. Otherwise, you must drive 4 hours to the Mazury Lakes, which are supposed to be beautiful but are too far for a day trip.

If you are looking for a city escape and want to be surrounded by water, then head to Zegrze Lake. Just be sure to leave Warsaw early if you want to beat the crowds and awful traffic we saw as we returned to the city mid-afternoon.

Location:

Zegrze Lake, near the town of Serock, Poland

More info and an interactive map: http://www.jezioro.zegrzynskie.pl/

According to the Warsaw Tourism website, the lake may be reached by a number of city buses: 705, 734 or 735, which depart from the Żerań FSO loop; or take a PKS bus from the Dworzec Zachodni bus station.