Ninety seconds on Białowieża National Park
Walk into the strictly protected core of Białowieża Forest, the best preserved stretch of the last natural forest on Europe's lowlands.
The strict core is the section UNESCO lists and a biosphere reserve, and it is the oldest part of the forest, never logged or planted. The national park around it covers 10,517 hectares, about a sixth of the Polish side of the forest.
The guide's talk is mostly about trees, plants and mushrooms, with the animals and the history of the area added along the way. The path leads to the oak named after King Jagiełło.
Do not count on seeing animals. In summer the leaves hide them, and a walk can pass without one.
If you have time before or after, walk the Palace Park in the village, where pedunculate oaks more than 250 years old stand on the palace hill.
Two things come before the walk: a guide and a ticket. Book the guide through a licensed office in the village, and buy the entry ticket at the Tourist Information Point, the Nature and Forest Museum counter or online.
The walk follows an unmarked path out to the Jagiełło oak and back on flat ground, and takes three hours or a little more. You stay on the path and follow the guide's instructions at every point, and inside the core the guide is also your only navigation.
Groups are small, and ordinary bad weather does not stop the walk. Wind or a light rain can even help, because it covers the sound of your steps.
The park publishes a list of the tourist offices whose guides hold its licence, and the PTTK guiding office at Kolejowa 17 is on it.
Guides can also be hired through the park itself. Book well ahead if you want an English or other foreign-language guide, because there are few of them.
Leave dogs behind: they are banned from the strict core, though they can walk the Palace Park on a leash and muzzled. Bicycles and carriages need the park director's permission, and the park asks for quiet, no litter and no fire.
Wear sturdy, comfortable shoes, since roots and fallen trunks cross the path, though hiking boots are not needed. Dress for the season, carry food and water, and in summer bring insect repellent, because the mosquitoes can be bad.
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