Western Lake Districts Route - Szczecin Link - Stage I [Dobra - Stargard]

Stage IA: Dobra (Szczecińska) – Szczecin – Stargard [61 km]

Most of this stage runs along bicycle paths. Markings are located on the sections between Dobra and Szczecin Głębokie, and between Szczecin ul. Dąbska and Szczecin Jezierzyce.

We start right on the German border near Buk. The first section of the bicycle path was built in the border zone – it's hard to believe that not so long ago, it was completely off-limits. We pass through Szczecin on a route that coincides with the Szczecin Lagoon Route and Blue Velo, and in Dąbie we turn south towards the first stop on the route, the Bukowa Forest Landscape Park. This section coincides with the Płonia Valley Route. Here, we mainly travel on gravel roads, with the exception of the asphalt bicycle path connecting the Bukowe housing estate with the Płonia housing estate in Szczecin. After leaving the forest, we ride to Stargard on a bicycle path. On the way, we pass Morzyczyn on Lake Miedwie. The lake is noteworthy not only because of the German torpedo station located above it (accessible only from the water) or the sunken cutter from the same period. It turns out that the bottom of the lake is the largest cryptodepression and the lowest point in Poland - as much as 29.8 meters below sea level!

In 2016, Stargard got rid of the suffix "Szczecin." And rightly so, because it received city rights in the same year as Szczecin - 1243. Full of monuments, the city deserves independence in its name. Although the war did not spare Stargard, it still preserved the most powerful set of city fortifications in Pomerania, with the largest city towers in Poland and the Mill Gate (Port Gate) - one of only two in the world spanning the banks of a river. Also worth seeing are the 16th-century penitential cross (one of the largest in Europe!), the water tower, the remaining gates, the bastion, the Gothic Church of St. John with one of the highest towers in Western Pomerania (99 m) reaching into the sky, and the old barracks. Here, we also cross the 15th meridian of longitude, which since 1884 has marked the center of the Central European time zone. However, this is just a prelude to the city's most valuable monument: the Collegiate Church of Our Lady Queen of the World. It is the highest vaulted church in Poland (32.5 m) and the most valuable monument in Western and Central Pomerania. Its construction began at the end of the 13th century, but more than 100 years later, it underwent a thorough reconstruction, as a result of which the temple acquired its current appearance. As a member of the Hanseatic League, a medieval association of European trading cities, Stargard had to show what it was capable of, quite literally. Therefore, the city council hired the best architect working in Pomerania and neighboring regions at the time, Henryk Brunsberg. The collegiate church and defensive walls were recognized as a historical monument by the President of Poland in 2010. The decline of Gothic architecture can be seen in the town hall, decorated with an impressive gable and even more impressive tracery.

Transport: PKP railway stations are located along the route between Szczecin and Stargard (on the Szczecin-Poznań line). Connections are operated by POLREGIO and Intercity. The timetable can be found at https://portalpasazera.pl

Surface: asphalt 82%, aggregate 14%, cobblestones 1%, dirt roads 3%.

Type of traffic: bicycle paths 79%, general traffic 11%, forest/field roads 10%.