Picture mist over the floodplains of the Warta, the Noteć and the Oder. Birds at first light, moraine hills and manor houses straight out of a 19th-century novel. Palaces, forest tracks under old oaks, small brick railway stations, stone bridges and lakes glinting between the pines.
Three great forests — Notecka, Zielonka and Drawska — wrap the whole landscape in green and quiet. You can cross it by bike, on horseback, by kayak or on foot, keeping an eye out for lily of the valley and kingfishers. Whatever you choose here, it will do you good.
The Poznań Cycling Ring (173 km / 107 miles)
A genuine ring road for bicycles, and a local favourite. The ideal way to eat a St Martin's croissant in a city-centre café in the morning and then head out to the places everyone here loves: Kórnik Castle, the palace at Rogalin, the Greater Poland National Park, Lake Kierskie, or Góra Dziewicza in the Zielonka Forest.
The Piast Cycle Trail (104 km / 65 miles)
Essential for cyclists with a taste for history. Imagine yourself as Mieszko I, or as his wife Dobrawa, and gallop your steel steed across gentle hills and open fields, from the ruins of the first Polish rulers' palace on Ostrów Lednicki to the famous bronze doors of Gniezno cathedral.
The Warta Valley Cycle Route (372 km / 231 miles)
As the name suggests, it follows the banks of the region's biggest river. The eastern half runs through oxbow lakes and riverside woodland, the western half through forest and past lakes. Birdsong all the way.
The Cistercian Cycle Trail (143 km / 89 miles)
Visit the abbeys of the monks and nuns often described as the first believers in a united Europe. Follow the shaded forest tracks of the Zielonka Forest to the imposing baroque monasteries at Owińska and Wągrowiec, and to the wooden church in Tarnowo Pałuckie, one of the oldest in Poland.
The Landed Gentry Cycle Trail (245 km / 152 miles)
For anyone who loves architecture, or Pan Tadeusz, or the idea of the old Polish nobility. A loop through the south of the region where roughly every second bend produces a castle, a manor house or a palace, among them Racot and Turew, the castle at Rydzyna and the Soplicowo film set.
The Hundred Lakes Trail (111 km / 69 miles)
Locals call this little Scandinavia. The route crosses the Międzychód-Sieraków lake district, which people here will tell you is the loveliest part of the region. After a hard stretch of pedalling, swim in one of a hundred very clear lakes. In Międzychód you can swap the bike for a kayak.
Kolej na Rower, or Rails to Bikes (56 km / 35 miles)
Short and easy, made for a family outing with small adventurers. It follows a disused railway line in the Nowa Sól district.
The Słońsk Loop (24 km / 15 miles)
Best in spring or autumn, when dozens of migrating bird species stop over in Warta Mouth National Park. Hard to forget.
Kostrzyn to Słubice (34 km / 21 miles)
It runs along a scenic flood embankment beside the Oder, well away from anywhere anyone lives, so there is a good chance of meeting wildlife on the way. A place to lose track of the real world completely.
Greater Poland and the Lubusz region are known for stud farms with long histories. The stallion stud at Sieraków goes back to 1828. The finest carriages in Poland are built around Gostyń, and at the market in Szamocin you can still buy a horse first-hand, much as people did in the 19th century.
If you are starting out, or travelling with children, try the lakeside farmstead at Olandia. For a little luxury and good wine, go to Pałac Mierzęcin.
Stud farms in Greater Poland are listed HERE.
Stud farms in the Lubusz region are listed HERE.
Why spend hours camped in a reed bed? Because you are outdoors and completely in the present. Your head is not bent over a phone. You are looking at the sky through binoculars, saying nothing, just listening.
What helps: muted clothing, comfortable shoes, a field guide for identifying birds (a book, not an app). Patience.
Where are the best spots around Poznań? Along the Noteć, near the Czarci Staw, Diabli Skok and Uroczysko Jary nature reserves. Along the Gwda. In the Rurzyca valley and at Lake Lutomskie. And in Warta Mouth National Park. There is more about birdwatching on the Bird Republic website.
