Velo Baltica - Stage V [Darłowo - Ustka]

Stage V: Darłowo – Ustka [47 km]

We begin the last stage of Velo Baltica in Darłowo, a town with its own microclimate. It is usually humid here, and the air is saturated with iodine even more than in other parts of the coast. The most important monuments of the city are the 15th-century Pomeranian Dukes' Castle, the 13th-century St. Mary's Church, and the Baroque town hall. A slightly newer attraction awaits in Darłówko - the only drawbridge in Poland, built in 1988. In its immediate vicinity, there is a control room resembling a UFO. The bridge opens every hour on the hour, but if no ships are waiting to enter the port, the crossing is not opened.

The route from Darłówko leads directly along the beach, starting with a not particularly comfortable technical road made of slabs with holes. It runs along a causeway between the sea and Lake Kopań, so the discomfort is compensated by beautiful views. There are even rumors that this is the most beautiful part of the route. Before Wicie, a comfortable asphalt path begins, which will take us to Jarosławiec, recently known as "Polish Dubai." Fortunately, this does not refer to skyscrapers, but to the largest artificial beach in Europe. Just as in the Emirates, where people have ambitions to shape nature and build artificial islands out of sand, in 2018, a huge beach was "created" on the Polish coast using sand from the seabed. If you are not interested in sunbathing, you can visit another lighthouse or the Amber Museum, advertised as the only scenographic museum in the world based on reconstructions. This is also another opportunity to see the fishing port and boats pulled onto the beach, arranged in picturesque rows. Further on, the route leads along various bicycle paths through Łącko, a short stretch along a road with cars, then along gravel and asphalt (a short stretch on a former railway track), smoothly entering the Pomeranian Province. From the village of Zaleskie, a brand new bike path begins along the road, which will take us to Ustka. This charming town captivates visitors with its historic half-timbered houses, beautifully restored in recent years. This is where we end Velo Baltica - the queen of coastal bicycle routes, although nothing prevents us from continuing our journey along the Iron Curtain Trail (EV13) towards the Arctic Circle or the Around the Baltic Sea Trail (EV10), to return to where we started after traveling through 9 countries and 9,000 kilometers. If we finish in Ustka, we can take a train to Słupsk, from where we have direct connections to most major cities in Poland.

Transport:
You can get to Darłowo by POLREGIO trains from Sławno, where both regional trains (from Szczecin and Słupsk) and Intercity trains (from Szczecin, Kołobrzeg, Ustka, Wrocław, Olsztyn, Przemyśl, Łódź, and Kraków, among others) stop. POLREGIO trains run to Ustka from Słupsk (where further connections are possible) and Intercity trains from Słupsk, Katowice, and Bielsko-Biała. The connections are operated by POLREGIO and Intercity. The timetable can be found at https://portalpasazera.pl

Surface: asphalt 63%, aggregate 9%, cobblestones 13%, concrete slabs 15%.

Type of traffic: bicycle paths 71%, general traffic 23%, forest/field roads 6%.