Vistula Lagoon

The Vistula Lagoon is a fresh water lagoon on the Baltic Sea cut off from Gdańsk Bay by the Vistula Spit. It is sometimes known as the Vistula Bay or Vistula Gulf.

The lagoon is a mouth of a few branches of the Vistula River, notably the Nogat and the Pregolya River. It is connected to Gdańsk Bay by the Strait Baltiysk. From 1871 until 1919 it was part of Germany. Between 1919 and 1945 it was split between Germany and the Free City of Danzig. The Vistula Lagoon is now politically split between Poland and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast.

Here you have many great opportunities to sail, even ice-sail if the winter is cold enough, surf, mountainbike or hike in pristine nature. Discover beautiful architecture and interesting history along or inland the lagoon. Visit the home and working place of Nikolaus Kopernikus or make a historical railway trip.

Localities on the lagoon include Kaliningrad, Baltiysk and Primorsk in Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast and Frombork in Poland. The polish port of Elblag used to have a lot trading traffic on the lagoon, but that has declined owing to the current border situation. Kaliningrad and Baltiysk are currently major seaports on the lagoon.

Digging a canal to connect the lagoon with the Baltic Sea is in consideration as a major EU-supported project. The canal would re-activate the Elblag port. But major ecological considerations stand in the way.