Bachmaty Reservoir ★★
A reservoir in a pine forest, with a beach and a swimming area in season. In summer the nearest water for swimming from Klejniki.
On hot weekends arrive before noon.
Region 4
Around Klejniki
Closest to home. Here the asphalt ends, the gravel begins, and you count the storks on the fingers of both hands.
5places
1routes
approx. 5km from the house
Klejniki is one long street, wooden houses and gardens that smell of dill and linden. The first mentions of the village go back several hundred years. To this day people speak in their own way here, in what linguists call the Podlasie dialect and locals simply call “speaking simple”. Beyond the village begin fields, field boundaries and copses. In the morning you hear cranes, in the evening thrushes. There are no great attractions here, and that is exactly why it is so good for resting.
Seven kilometres from our house, in Czyże, runs the red Hajnówka–Piaski cycle trail. To the south it leads through villages with Orthodox churches and crosses at the crossroads to Dubicze Cerkiewne, where it meets Green Velo, the longest cycle trail in Poland. In the forest nearby lies Bachmaty Reservoir with its beach. Further on is Kleszczele, an old small town on the old highway, and to the north Hajnówka and the Forest.
This is a good area for a first, warm-up day: a bike from the doorstep, lunch by the water, back before sunset.
The best attraction in Klejniki is the bench in front of the house at seven in the evening.
Practicalities
Getting there
Everything starts at the house. To Czyże approx. 7 km, to Dubicze Cerkiewne approx. 27 km, to Kleszczele approx. 38 km.
When to go
All year round. Swimming in Bachmaty in summer, mushrooms in the surrounding forests in autumn, walks across snowy fields in winter.
How long
From an hour’s stroll to a full-day bike trip.
Good to know
Local roads are narrow and without hard shoulders, but traffic is light. There is a shop and a pharmacy in Czyże and Hajnówka. On Sundays many shops are closed.
Map
Our house in KlejnikiOrthodox churches and sacred sitesTowns and villagesWaterBy bike
Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors. Route lines are based on OSM data; on the ground, follow the trail markings.
Highlights
★★★ worth a special trip · ★★ worth a detour · ★ worth a look
The Orthodox church in Klejniki ★
The Orthodox Church of the Transfiguration stands on the edge of the village, a few minutes’ walk from our house. It looks loveliest in the evening, when the sun sets behind the fields.
The parish feast day falls in August. Then the village fills with guests and music.
Czyże ★
The seat of the municipality, on the red Hajnówka–Piaski cycle trail. The Orthodox Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God, shops, and the starting point for trips south.
By bike from Klejniki you are here in 20 minutes.
Dubicze Cerkiewne ★
A village on the Green Velo trail, with an Orthodox church and Bachmaty Reservoir in the forest right next to it.
A good spot for a picnic lunch halfway along the route.
Kleszczele ★
An old small town on the highway from Brest, today a sleepy place with a market square, an Orthodox church and a Catholic church. It lies on the Green Velo trail.
A good coffee stop on a longer bike ride.
Frequently asked questions
How far is it from Klejniki to the Green Velo trail?
The nearest points are Hajnówka (approx. 20 km) and Dubicze Cerkiewne (approx. 25 km). Green Velo does not pass through Czyże, 7 km from Klejniki; the red Hajnówka–Piaski trail does, and it leads to both places.
Where can you swim nearby?
Closest is Bachmaty Reservoir in Dubicze Cerkiewne, approx. 27 km from Klejniki.
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Your base: Klejniki
Every route in this guide starts within an hour of our house. After a day out, a tiled stove, a kitchen with a wood-fired range and silence are waiting for you.