July 1, 2026, 11:09 am | Read time: 5 minutes
Not far from the Polish metropolis of Warsaw lies the wild and romantic Świder River. Adventurers can kayak on it, promising an unforgettable experience even on a relatively short stretch. TRAVELBOOK author Robin Hartmann paddled along the Świder. Here, he shares why he sometimes felt like he was in the jungle.
If someone had told me a month ago that there was a place around the Polish capital of Warsaw that I didn’t know, I wouldn’t have believed them. My girlfriend is from the metropolis. For 15 years, I’ve been spending several weeks a year in Poland. So I was all the more surprised when the suggestion came up recently to take a paddle tour on the Świder. A river that could hardly be more pristine. Nestled in nature that inevitably evokes associations with jungle and wilderness. It was an unforgettable day. And very, very exhausting.
Warsaw itself is a curiosity, because leaving the city via one of the heavily trafficked expressways can sometimes take what feels like an eternity. Only to suddenly turn off a road where 120 km/h is allowed onto an unpaved dirt road and arrive at your destination. That’s how it was on our drive to the kayak rental at the Świder. In the middle of the pine forest was a cozy-looking house, in front of it numerous boats in various states of disrepair. A guy who looked like he regularly placed in the middle ranks of muscleman competitions showed us the ropes.
In some places, only ankle-deep water
We skipped the life jackets that are usually mandatory for such tours in Poland, because the water of the Świder is only ankle-deep in many places. A circumstance that would challenge us greatly during the tour. The rental prices were quite on par with German levels: 30 euros for the day. Into a rickety minibus with a trailer, and the staff member drove us to the starting point of our adventure.
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We boarded our boats and took the first gentle paddle strokes into a truly archaic and magical world. Fallen giant trees jutting into the water. The warming sunlight filters through the sparse pine forest, bringing to life a uniquely beautiful nature along the riverbank. Ferns thrive on the shore, elderflowers bloom white and emit their intoxicating scent. A cuckoo calls from the treetops, otherwise, it is silent.
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Playing with the current
That’s also because we hardly had to paddle. The relatively strong current of the Świder carried us effortlessly, as if our boats were made of paper. It was a weightless glide, thoughts drifting to other realms, the heartbeat slowing down. Until suddenly a disturbing noise came from the water, a kind of scraping, accompanied by an abrupt stop to the enjoyable kayak tour. We had run aground on a gravel bed in the river, from which we could no longer easily free ourselves due to our own weight. And that meant standing up, awkwardly peeling out of the boat, and dragging the canoe behind us for a while.
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The hard plastic kayaks don’t weigh much without us in them, yet it was a laborious affair. Especially since there were stretches where you spent more time outside the boats than sitting in them. At some point, it became a kind of game to stay seated as long as possible, perhaps freeing oneself through the powerful thrust of the hips. Additionally, we repeatedly had to navigate around fallen trees or sometimes paddle right through their branches. We got a few scratches and scrapes, but we felt like real adventurers, explorers.
Like on the Titanic
The paddling program on the Świder was interspersed with refreshing swimming stops, as small bays along the route repeatedly invited us to pause. The water was still wonderfully cool in early June, and countless magically glowing dragonflies, known as banded demoiselles, buzzed around us. They are an indicator of excellent stream quality and only occur in truly clean and untouched habitats.
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Then it was back, pushing, groaning, cursing when the kayaks got stuck again. And it happened so often that I eventually worried about the integrity of our vessel. If the passengers of the Titanic thought they were on an unsinkable ship, I felt the opposite. I constantly thought that with the next collision, our boat would inevitably break, and we would have to cover the rest of the distance on the Świder swimming, wading, or hobbling over sharp stones. You can navigate the river for a length of 20 kilometers, but our route was only five kilometers. And yet it was clear that we would not reach our destination on time.
We eventually reached it after three instead of the planned two hours on the Świder–exhausted and happy. Gliding, pushing, dragging, thrusting: It was an unforgettable day on Poland’s jungle river. We will gladly return someday for the full distance.