Narew National Park

The Narew above Lomza does something almost no other European river of its size still does: instead of a single channel it splits and rejoins continuously across a valley several kilometres wide, running in dozens of braided channels through reed, sedge and willow with no defined main course - an anastomosing river, which is the technical term, and one of very few left in this state anywhere in Europe. The park, created in 1996, protects about seventy-three square kilometres of it along a 35-kilometre stretch of the river. The nickname Polish Amazon is about the labyrinth rather than the scale. It is a bird site of the first order - bittern, corncrake, aquatic warbler, marsh terns, harriers - and it can barely be walked, since the valley is water and reed, so the way to see it is by kayak or punt with someone who knows the channels, because getting lost in them is easy and normal. Tykocin, a small town with a synagogue of 1642, is on the edge.

What's there

• A river without a main channel - dozens of braided courses across a reed valley.
• An anastomosing system - one of very few left in this condition in Europe.
• Birds in numbers - bittern, corncrake, aquatic warbler and marsh terns.
• Access by water - kayak or punt with a guide, because the channels are a maze.

When to go

April to June for birds and water levels. Two days.

Practical notes

It cannot be walked - the valley is water and reed, and a boat with local guidance is the only real access. Getting lost in the channels is easy. Mosquitoes are severe. Water levels drop by late summer and channels close.

Nearby

Tykocin and its 1642 synagogue are on the edge; Bialystok is east.

Key facts