Goniądz is a small, sleepy town located on the Biebrza River. It's the perfect place to start your adventure with the Polish Amazon and visit the vast Biebrza National Park. It's also a good base for trips further north - towards the lakes.
Even in the holiday season, not much happens here, as you can see in the first photo. If you want a break from the hustle and bustle but don't want to give up the gains of civilization completely - this place is perfect for you.
On summer weekends, tourists and residents gather by the river; sometimes, there are concerts and festivals. But it is empty and quiet daily. Some would say: boring, but I like such places.
Here I ended the four-hour kayak trip I mentioned two weeks earlier. It was a fantastic experience - I felt so close to nature.
An interesting place on the map of the town is Bartel's Inn. It is worth going there if you feel the lack of the company or you want to try regional cuisine. It's an accommodation base and a large, stylized restaurant. Interior decoration is original, although not everyone will like it ;)
We can find huge lamps with wooden figures sitting on them, lots of clocks, wardrobes, trunks, and even old hay rack wagons! Everything is wooden and richly carved. It's hard to find a space free from decorations; lovers of minimalism will not find peace here ;)
Each chair has a different face ;)
There is even a tiny pond and... stuffed wolves. I hope artificial.
But the menu is fantastic; you can eat here many regional delicacies. Potato cake, cepelinai (potato dumplings, their shape resembles Zeppelin airship, hence the name) with venison, hunter's bigos with venison, and wild mushrooms or dumplings with unusual filling (e.g., goose or pike). There is also a good selection of regional craft beers. I think Cepelinai is a Lithuanian dish, but Poland and Lithuania used to be linked by a Union for hundreds of years (before the partitions); that's why we share a lot of dishes with Lithuania and other eastern neighbors.
The restaurant is situated on the riverbank, and it stands on stilts because the areas around it are swamps and backwaters.
Additional attractions include a terrace and a long wooden pier leading through the Biebrza backwaters. There are tables on the terrace where you can eat, but almost all guests dine in a dark interior overloaded with decorations. All because of the absolute bane of this area - mosquitoes.
In the end, I decided to eat inside but took a short walk into the backwaters.
I love it on the Biebrza River - it seems that you are wandering through a vast meadow, and it's still water.
There is a bench at the end of the pier, perfect for watching the sun go down. Unfortunately, mosquitoes break the romantic mood and force you to retreat 😃
But what are tiny mosquitoes in the face of the dangers lurking over the real Amazon - snakes, scorpions, or piranhas? So - come to the Biebrza river!
