Green Velo

The charming trip along the Vistula River Valley lets you take a look at the beauty of the architecture and rich nature by the Queen of Polish rivers. At the very beginning, you can admire the panorama of Sandomierz with the body of the cathedral, the Gothic Długosz’s House and the monumental Collegium Gostomianum. Via roads through fields, you reach the city of Tarnobrzeg, in which the castle of the wealthy Tarnowski family dazzles visitors. Back on the road, the next out-of-the-ordinary attraction is the ferry crossing on the Vistula River. During our tour, it is worthwhile visiting the church in Skotniki and strolling through the Sandomierz orchards.

The tour begins in the car park at the granary. The Green Velo trail leads you along a picturesque road overlooking the cathedral, the Długosz’s House and the Collegium Gostomianum, and then over the bridge to the other side of the Vistula. At the intersection of Flisaków Street and Holownicza Street, it turns left and follows the tour route right into Portowa Street, and further into Zarzekowice Street, where you can already see signs for the yellow trail. The asphalt road leads to Wielowieś, which descends down Długa Street (no trail). At the end of the road, turn left and take the green walking trail. The groundwater route via anti-flooding shafts lets you admire the Vistula Valley, protected under the Natura 2000 network.

You then ride to Tarnobrzeg – Dzików. The Tarnobrzeg Historical Museum, located in the castle, and the Museum of the Polish Sulphur Industry are to be found on the route. The green trail leaves you at the Dominican convent. Further along, signs point you to Tarnobrzeg’s Way of St Jacob. In Ciszyca, you should leave the pilgrimage trail and at a statue turn right (without marking) then soon left (after about 750 m) and so go from Świerzyce to Skotniki, where there is the Green Velo trail. The trip can be modified by following the green bike trail until Ostrołęka, where you again reunite with the Green Velo trail, after which you return to Sandomierz.

Route:

• Sandomierz – under the castle – 0km
• Wielowieś - 8,5km
• Sielec – 11,5km
• Zakrzów – 14km
• Tarnobrzeg – 18km
• Ciszyca – 23km
• Świężyce – 24km
• Skotniki – 27km
• Bogoria Skotnicka – 29km
• Ostrołęka – 32km
• Koćmierzów – 36km
• Sandomierz – 38,9km

Route options:

• Those interested in sightseeing religious monuments can go from Ciszyca to Tarnobrzeg by way of St Jacob to Koprzywnica, from where your return via the green trail to Skotniki (a variation in length of 6 km). In Koprzywnica, there is a Cistercian abbey from the 12th century.
• You can take a slightly shorter route (by approximately 2 km) along the green walking trail and avoid passing through Wielowieś.

Surface:

• Asphalt roads: about 81%
• Gravel roads: 1.7 km
• Dirt roads: along the green hiking trail for Wielowieś (around 2.1 km) and past Zakrzów (about 1.6 km)
• Paved and unpaved roads: Tarnobrzeg Park in the neighbourhood of Dzików (several dozen metres)
• Concrete slabs: past a ferry crossing over the Vistula River (about 1 km)
• More difficult exit: after riding the green section of the walking trail (about 1.5 km)

The route is partly marked:

• For the most part it runs along marked hiking and cycling routes from the car park: Green Velo
• Marking by the standards of the PTTK (Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society) in different colours:
• Past Wielowieś – Tarnobrzeg: green walking trail
• From Skotniki, the opportunity to return to Sandomierz via the green bike trail or the Green Velo trail
• (Note) part of the route at Wielowieś: green walking trail (1.5 km), Cieszyca – Skotniki (about 4 km): unmarked road
• Past the Dominican monastery in Tarnobrzeg: Tarnobrzeg’s Way of St Jacob (the symbol of the golden shell of St Jacob on a blue background)
• Trasa w większości prowadzi oznakowanymi szlakami pieszymi i rowerowymi. Spod parkingu wyjeżdżamy szlakiem Green Velo (pomarańczowe znaki drogowe z logo). Następnie kierujemy się szlakiem rowerowym oznakowanym wg standardu znakowania turystycznych szlaków rowerowych PTTK. W górnej części znaku umieszczony jest symbol roweru w kolorze czarnym, w dolnej – prostokąt w kolorze żółtym.

Tourist attractions on the route:

Sandomierz: old town

Tarnobrzeg:

• Dominican monastery – 19th century monument, next to an interesting parish church.
• The Church of St Gertrude and St Michael the Archangel.
• Museum of the Polish Sulphur Industry, a branch of the Historical Museum of the City of Tarnobrzeg in Dzików.
• Historical Museum of the City of Tarnobrzeg in Dzików Castle – the former residence of the Tarnowski family, surrounded by a picturesque park. You can get acquainted with the museum exhibition.
• Dominican monastery
• The Natura 2000 area Tarnobrzeg Vistula River Valley
• Ferry on the Vistula

Skotniki – the Gothic Church of St John the Baptist from the 14th century, with medieval wall paintings, which is an architectural jewel, and the manor of the corner extension type of the 18th century, situated in a nature park with a Romantic character.