Elblag Canal Tour de Gdansk

Great trip, very interesting. We were transported by Marek who was informative, interesting and friendly. The whole experience was A1. We all had a lovely day

Great organization, driver on time, helpful. Linguistic communication worked everything out. Any time again. Of course, the Overland canal was awesome. That's all I want to say. A trip worthwhile 😁.

Excellent in every way. Venue was outstanding, unique in the world. Have wanted many years to see it. Driver to venue, Mike, spoke excellent English and did everything punctually an without complaint. Only Polish and German spoken on boat but the other passengers translated for us and Mike had already explained everything beforehand.

Wow! What an incredible tour this was. We have a narrowboat in England and have an interest in the history of canals. There is nothing like this in the UK so, when we planned our visit to Gdansk and spotted this it was a no brainer that we should go. We were picked up promptly by our taxi driver Mirek and once we were enroute he talked about the history of the canal and the background to why it was built etc. He speaks perfect English and has a deep interest in history and economics which meant the narrative he gave us was fascinating and gave us a great understanding of the background to this amazing feat of engineering. The reason he talked about in during the journey was because the crew on the boat spoke very limited English and so he wanted to ensure we were informed. The actual boat trip was through some splendid countryside , we spotted a Stork and a Kingfisher during the trip. The crew took very great care of our comfort during the trip and offered us hot drinks (which were very cheap) and took care to ensure that when a heavy shower came, the clear screens on the boat were folded down to keep us all dry. There was an indoor area which was warmer for those who were not so concerned about the view. Mirek was concerned to get us to the trip as early as possible so we could ensure we got great seats but in fact there were not many people on the boat that day so we could move around different areas of the boat freely and even got to sit on the outside seat at the bow for the last bit of the trip. There is a flush toilet on the boat too and everything is extremely clean. I would not hesitate to recommend this trip to anyone with an interest in canal engineering. The fact that the transport is from Gdansk makes getting there so easy and the journey was interesting with Mirek's narrative along the route. I would suggest taking a snack with you as our trip took longer than originally planned and we did get hungry but we called at Elblag on the way back and were able to grab a quick bite to eat there.

This is a unique experience made more memorable by our wonderful informative driver and guide Mike. He has so much information to impart, very safe driver, clean comfortable car. We loved our day at elblang. Thank you, Mike

A pleasant drive into the country outside Gdansk with a stop for coffee and a sandwich on the return trip. Enjoyable commentary en route, but there was no English language presentation while on the canal itself. Seeing and experiences the technology first hand was delightful.

To do positives and negatives - the positives first - the way the boat is carried is very unusual and very interesting so it is definitely something worth seeing and we are very glad that we did. Unless you were travelling in your own car it would be very difficult to get to on your own from Gdansk, so if you want to see it - take the tour. Scenery is lovely too. As everyone says, Michael is a great guide - lovely man and very interesting to talk to. As for the negatives - the boat was crowded. We were lucky to be seated near to the openings for the exit but there was a lot of jostling for position as people came to look out/take photos etc. It was therefore disappointing and frustrating to see that the few boats we passed going in the other direction all had roof decks with people sitting on them enjoying all round views of the countryside. I don't know whether this tour always uses the same boat or whether it is luck of the draw on the day. We were lucky with the weather and obviously you wouldn't want to be sitting outside in the rain. Three stars is an average - we would give Michael five stars but for the cost of the trip I think it would be nice to have a good views consistently without having to keep giving up your seat to let others have a look outside. Don't like to sound churlish and wouldn't even have thought of saying all this if we hadn't seem other boats where people seemed to be having a more relaxing viewing experience. This is the sort of niggle you forget in time but we will remember fondly our time with Michael and his sharing of his insightful thoughts on his country's history and culture. Loved Gdansk and hope to come back and would love to do other tours with Michael as our guide.

Best thing. Great tour guide (Mirek) sharing his vast historical knowledge while driving us to and back from the Elblag Canal tour.

We were picked up promptly by our driver Michael who then drove us to the canal boat for our tour. I have to give him a special thanks as he was so friendly telling us all about the surrounding land and the history and the economy of it. He also was telling us about an area close to the hotel we would never have found out about if it wasn’t for him! The canal tour was absolutely lovely and a very chilled experience pottering down the canal and moving through the pulley systems making it up. One of the best bits was that we were allowed to go out onto the side of the “carriage” on the last pulley to get a better look and to take photos. The whole experience took about 3-4 hours. Michael said that it’s normally shorter but we got lucky as the weather had been so good today that we got to do the whole length. The one very small downside is that the commentary wasn’t in English, but we were the only English people on there and we shouldn’t expect to be catered for just because we’re English. If you speak Polish or German you should be fine. Michael did a good job of filling in all the gaps for us on the way there so we didn’t feel like we missed out. We then had a short stop off in the town of Elbląg for a very late lunch where we were lucky enough to be there for a dragon boat racing festival. Unfortunately I think all the racing had finished but there was still a lively buzz around the place. A really lovely day out and a lovely chilled experience.

The rolling mountains should be seen or driven. From Elbing 3.5 h and back by bus. Ice cream and drinks are available on the ship, as well as small snacks.