Fall is a perfect time to visit the forest! The trees were shades of oranges, crimson, golden yellows, greens and browns. As you walk through the forest, you can smell the pine needles and clear, fresh air. We were lucky enough to see a couple bison, two wild boar and a fox on our tour with the PTTK. Our guide, Joanna, was excellent - very knowledgeable about the forest and its animals! I ended up taking 500 photos in 2 days, which will be edited down, of course, but just goes to show how much natural beauty there is to see here!If you love nature and hiking in the forest, this is perfect place for you!
You will have to book a guide (you can do this at the PTTK office) in order to enter the restricted area of the forest. We hired an ornithologist and met at 6 a.m. for a 4 hour tour; she was knowledgeable about birds, trees, mushrooms, and the forest in general. This is well worth the time, but it does require quite a lot of walking. And take mosquito repellant: I've never seen such swarms!
Bialowieza forest is a jewel of nature. We had a Spanish speaking guide, Ágata, who proved to be very good at her job. We were only my wife, my two kids, Agata and me, and we could see boars, woodpeckers of different kinds, squirrels, and all kinds of funghi (no bisons though). Apart from the strict reserve, there are hundreds of hikes you can do on your own with the only help of a map. In one of those hikes out of the reserve I was fortunate to see a herd of bisons 18 years ago!
We didn't visit the strictly protected part as no other English visitors and we would have had to pay the price of the whole tour. Alternative might have been to join the much cheaper Polish tour and hope a kind Polish person would give occasional translations. Having said that we bought a map and followed some of the educational nature trails which gave explanations of some of the trees. we walked over to the bison reserve which was fun. A lovely forest. But beware the trail from east of the bison reserve - closed so you have to come back by the same route!
Great time for lecture of nature. Recommended for bikes, possible to rent as well at location (close to entrance to park where museum is located)
This is one of the must see forests that you should see once you are in Poland. Wild nature, untouched by people's hands - just amazing. There is also a wide choice of hotels as well as private pensions (B&Bs) where you can sleep comfortably. You can take trips around Bialowieza, go for a walk, take a drive and go to beautiful nearby towns. Other must see in Bialowieza: Museum of National Park, Bison Reservoir, Skansen.
if You love nature and silence, THIS is THE place to go, period.About the details: You can walk by Yourself, or rent a guide which increases Your chances to spot a bison, deer or boar... there are several trips varying from the year-season, day-season - but I can assure You, You won't find such a crystal-clear air anywhere in Europe. Just try :)
ATTENTION. I am Dr. Amenta an Italian doctor. I would like to tell you briefly about my misadventures in a beautiful journey that I made this year in Poland. I am passionate about wildlife photography and as on other trips, Finland, Norway, Mexico ... etc, I had organized a photographic excursion in the beautiful Bialowieza to see the European Bison. Unfortunately I relied PTTK whose office manager named Robert proved to be rude, greedy for money and certainly not respectful of international law. We were 2 families of 4 adults and 3 children, our elements as was done in the afternoon a carriage ride (€ 40 a buggy for 3 hours) and a night hike in the forest to see the bison (€ 90 the whole group). To book Robert wanted an advance (BEWARE!!!!) Not accepting payments with credit card or paypal but only by bank transfer. Finally after several emails we did the transfer of about 50 euro asking for confirmation of payment and instructions on how to get to the office. It has never received any confirmation email. The day of the trip it was raining very strong, we arrived with a 'time delay in receipt of an email from Robert saying that the carriage was waiting for us. We did not do any carriage ride because of our delay, Robert has held back the advance and make arrogant and violent forced us to pay the rest of the night walk even though the weather did not allow to go out and photograph. THERE HAS ALLOWED BY LAW HOW TO WITHDRAW FROM THE AGREEMENT THAT WAS NOT EVEN WRITTEN AND SIGNED. HAS ONLY WANTED THE MONEY. INCREDIBLE!!!! . Because he knew where I was staying, to avoid strange situations, having children, I paid. At 3 am and came to my hotel the Italian guide Agata. Fortunately she was all 'height of his work and has been very critical of the doing of Robert SAYING "AS TOURISTS run away." On my return to Italy I prvveduto through my attorney to notify by certified mail the Polish Consulate in Italy for the non- compliance with the law of the withdrawal by this national tourist PTTK....
Absolutely unique experience for all nature lovers. Peace, calm and the most beautiful surroundings one can possibly imagine.
When we visited Bialowieza Forest we did an early morning hike, starting at around 3:30. At that time it was incredibly peaceful in the forest and we had an amazing time. If you visit this place: definitely try to get some early hiking done with one of the local guides.