On 25 October 2025 I took part in the Hitchhiking Rally to Święta Lipka, organised by AKT Olsztyn (the Academic Tourist Club). The rule was simple: set off from Olsztyn in the morning, hitchhike to as many of the six checkpoints in Warmia and Masuria as possible, and be at the finish in front of the basilica in Święta Lipka at 5 p.m. On the way we saw Mrągowo with the Spring of Love, the air-raid shelters and the Teutonic castle in Kętrzyn, and Reszel with the castle of the Warmian bishops. In the end we ticked off 5 of the 6 checkpoints.
It was my fourth hitchhiking rally, but the first one I did as a three. In 2018 I competed in a race run by the same club – the 1st Kortowo Hitchhiking Rally, a two-day loop from Olsztyn via Elbląg, Malbork, Bydgoszcz and Toruń.
Table of contents
- The start in Olsztyn and the rules of the rally
- Mrągowo and the Spring of Love
- Kętrzyn – OPL air-raid shelters and the Teutonic castle
- Reszel – the castle of the Warmian bishops and the market square
- Święta Lipka – the finish at the basilica
- The walk to the cottage and an evening by the barbecue
- Practical information
The start in Olsztyn and the rules of the rally
We met at 7:00 in the morning in front of the AKT Olsztyn clubhouse. The sheet with the rally map showed six checkpoints: the Spring of Love in Mrągowo, the complex of OPL splinter-proof air-raid shelters and the Teutonic castle in Kętrzyn, the castle in Bezławki, the castle in Reszel and – as the finish – the basilica in Święta Lipka. Each team chose its own route between them. The aim was to tick off as many checkpoints as possible and reach the finish by 5 p.m.
We were supposed to set off in three pairs, but one person did not get up in time. After waiting in vain for the latecomer, we set off after 7:30 in an unusual line-up: a pair – Mikołaj (the rally organiser) and Iga – and a three instead of two pairs, namely Łukasz, Piotrek and me.
Because of unlucky bus connections we only reached Towarowa Street just before 9:00. There we changed spots several times, moving ever closer to the exit road towards Mrągowo. Hitching as a three – and three guys at that – was not easy. After an hour and a half a driver stopped who could only take one person, so I went to Mrągowo first. The guys quickly got a lift to Biskupiec, and from there on to Mrągowo.
Mrągowo and the Spring of Love
Before Łukasz and Piotrek arrived, I took a walk along the shore of Lake Czos, on which Mrągowo lies. The autumn trees on the hills and the houses by the water looked really pretty that day. A few years earlier, in 2019, not far from here – in Sorkwity – we had started a kayaking trip along the Krutynia River.
By the lake there is an amphitheatre with a distinctive roof – this is where the Piknik Country takes place, the country music festival Mrągowo is famous for.
The first checkpoint of the rally was the Spring of Love (Źródełko Miłości) – a spring on the shore of Lake Czos, on the educational nature trail of the Mrągowo Forest District. A forest path leads to it, completely covered in leaves in October. The water flows out from under a mossy boulder.
On a board by the spring you can read a medieval legend. In the times of the Teutonic Knights, a resident of Sensburg (the old name of Mrągowo) paid the tax collector with a gold ducat. The whole town wondered where the poor man had got such a coin – in the end he admitted that he had found it by Lake Czos, in a place called the Spruce Ravine. The townspeople set off with spades and dug up the whole hill, but found nothing. Only one old man was left, who finally drove his spade into the ground at the foot of the hill, right by the shore – and water gushed out. The next day the old man, who suffered from rheumatism, woke up healthy and felt like a young man. From then on the locals went to the Spring of Love to drink the water for their health and well-being.
This is where Łukasz and Piotrek joined me – and we had the first checkpoint ticked off.
Kętrzyn – OPL air-raid shelters and the Teutonic castle
From Mrągowo we set off for Kętrzyn, where two checkpoints were waiting for us at once.
The first was the complex of OPL splinter-proof air-raid shelters from 1942 – low, moss-covered concrete shelters hidden among the autumn trees.
In the meantime we had a kebab – and I had a little adventure with the toilet lock, which refused to open. Luckily I managed to get out without breaking the door down.
The second checkpoint was the Teutonic castle – a brick stronghold with a gate and a courtyard enclosed by the castle wings.
Right next to the castle stands the Gothic Basilica of St George. We popped inside for a moment, where the colourful stained-glass windows catch the eye.
Then we faced a choice: go to Bezławki to see the Teutonic castle there, or head straight to Reszel and its bishops’ castle. They are two different directions. We judged Bezławki to be the riskier option time-wise – and, as it later turned out, rightly so.
We walked to the exit road through Kętrzyn, passing, among other things, the headquarters of the cooperative that makes the famous Majonez Kętrzyński mayonnaise.
Reszel – the castle of the Warmian bishops and the market square
We quickly got a lift from Kętrzyn to Reszel.
At the castle of the Warmian bishops we met Mikołaj and Iga. The brick walls and towers looked great in the afternoon sun.
Then we walked around the market square and the nearby streets: cobblestones, low townhouses, the Gothic Church of Saints Peter and Paul and the town hall with its little clock tower. No wonder Reszel is considered a gem of Warmia and Masuria.
In Reszel we also did our shopping for the evening and set off on the last stretch – to Święta Lipka.
Święta Lipka – the finish at the basilica
At the finish we were greeted by the famous Basilica of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Święta Lipka – a Baroque church with two towers, behind an ornate gate and a wall lined with statues of saints. We took a souvenir photo with our cardboard signs in front of the sanctuary gate.
We happened to arrive during Mass, so sightseeing was limited, but on the other hand… we have a photo with the parish priest! As it happened, a week later, on All Saints’ Day, I was in Święta Lipka again and could take a proper look inside. The interior is richly decorated: paintings on the vault, gilded altars and a huge Baroque organ.
The walk to the cottage and an evening by the barbecue
There was no time left for Bezławki, so all that remained was a 4-kilometre walk to the cottage where we were staying the night. Waiting for us there were a barbecue, flunkyball, card games and singing, with the Polish TV series “Policjanci i Policjantki” playing in the background.
The next morning by the lake we had the company of a cat that had taken a liking to a green kayak.
Practical information
- Rally organisation – the rally was organised by AKT Olsztyn (the Academic Tourist Club): start at 7:00 from the clubhouse in Olsztyn, finish at 5 p.m. in front of the basilica in Święta Lipka, so you have one day for all the checkpoints. It is worth having accommodation close to the finish – our cottage was about 4 km from the basilica.
- Rally checkpoints – the Spring of Love (Mrągowo), the complex of OPL splinter-proof air-raid shelters and the Teutonic castle (Kętrzyn), the castle in Bezławki, the castle of the Warmian bishops (Reszel) and the basilica in Święta Lipka (finish). We ticked off 5 of 6 – only Bezławki was missing.
- Our route – Olsztyn → Mrągowo (the guys via Biskupiec) → Kętrzyn → Reszel → Święta Lipka.
- Hitchhiking – we waited longest on the way out of Olsztyn, about an hour and a half. Hitching as a three – and three guys at that – is harder; the first driver could only take one person, so we split up for a while. Cardboard signs with the names of the next towns come in handy.
- Weather – it was good, although it had rained the whole week before.
- More from Warmia and Masuria – by bike to the Pyramid in Rapa and kayaking on the Krutynia.
Photo gallery
