Throughout the 2026 summer holidays, from 30 June to 27 August, Giżycko runs free guided walking tours – one around the town, another around the Boyen Fortress. There is no need to register and nothing to pay; simply turn up at the meeting point by the rotating bridge, on the castle side. Giżycko is 22 km from Poza Zgiełkiem, about a twenty-five-minute drive.
The summer timetable
The walks run twice a week from 30 June to 27 August 2026. On Tuesdays: 11:00–13:00 the town of Giżycko, 15:00–17:00 the Boyen Fortress. On Thursdays the order reverses: 11:00–13:00 the fortress, 15:00–17:00 the town. Each session lasts two hours and starts at the rotating bridge on the castle side. The walks are entirely free – the scheme is co-funded from the Giżycko municipal budget. Details and any changes are published at lotmazury.pl; worth a look before you set off, especially if the weather is uncertain.
What the town route covers
The town walk takes in the water tower – a historic tower with a viewing terrace and café, from which you can see the whole isthmus between the lakes – along with the Art Gallery and the Giżycko Digital Archive, which collects photographs and documents from the town's history. The programme also includes the Giżycko shelter, one of several military structures woven into the fabric of the town. The guide covers Lötzen, the German Giżycko, the role of the isthmus in the fortification system, and the post-war change of population. It complements what we set out in our guide to Giżycko.
The Boyen Fortress with a guide
The Boyen Fortress is a 19th-century six-pointed star fort built to close the isthmus between Lakes Niegocin and Kisajno – the narrowest point on the Great Lakes route. It was never taken. The site is vast, and without a guide it is easy to walk past the most interesting things without noticing them: the arrangement of bastions, the casemates, the powder magazines and the system of ramparts. Two hours with a guide gives you far more than wandering alone. Note that on 7–9 August the fortress grounds are taken over by Operation Boyen – a completely different way to see it, in the company of several hundred re-enactors.
A tip
Tuesday lets you do both walks in one day: the town at 11:00, the fortress at 15:00, with lunch at the harbour in between. Wear comfortable shoes – the fortress route crosses uneven ground and grassy ramparts.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Pudelek / CC BY-SA 4.0
