Welcome to our fairy tale, a bit different than the ones you know. There are buildings that look like from the Arabian Nights, mysterious whisperers are hidden in the chapters, anthills are sweet, you can lick your fingers, the characters live in colorful cottages, big horned bisons graze in the meadows, dirt roads lead to the boundary. A dialect that combines several languages is spoken, there are benches in front of the fences, grandmas wear flower scarves on their heads. This fairy tale tells the story of Podlasie, our enchanted village of Kojły near Hajnówka. In the settlement, behind the wooden shutters, there is a taste of childhood. Memories of holidays with grandparents, icy water from the well and delicious apples from the orchard behind the barn. If you didn't go to the countryside as a child, now you can still catch up.
Take a suitcase full of free time with you and make yourself comfortable in a typical Podlasie settlement with a house for yourself. It's like it used to be, but fresh and with a touch of modernity. In a village yard, time passes at a snail's pace. You can talk to your neighbor through the fence, light a fire, eat an apple straight from the tree and check what's going on in the village at a walking pace. You can pop into the Białowieża Forest, to Hajnówka for a traditional Marcinek and kartacze, or admire thatched cottages at the other end of the village.
We hope you will feel this idyllic atmosphere. We invite you to our enchanted world.
In the Podlasie village on a hill there is an enchanted wooden cottage with a beautiful tiled stove, wooden floors, walls, doors and windows full of history. There are 3 bedrooms in the house and each has its own unique atmosphere. There is an exit to the terrace from the spacious living room with kitchen.
When decorating the interiors, we tried to reflect the character and atmosphere of the Podlasie climate. We managed to do this thanks to old furniture and trinkets in the Podlasie style, which we gave new life to.
The old tiled stove has become the heart of the house, and the restored wooden floors, walls and doors hide interesting stories from several decades ago. Behind the house, a typical village yard awaits you. It will be idyllic, rural, simple and slow.
From the kitchen there is an exit to the terrace, where you can admire the garden or read a book. Surrounded by fields and forests, we have converted the henhouse into a sauna, and next to it you can relax in the tub / In the garden there are currants that you can pick and eat. Swing in a hammock or lie on deckchairs, and in the evening make a bonfire.
We encourage you to cook for yourself in the atmospheric kitchen.
If you want to try the local cuisine, in the nearest Hajnówka you can eat well in Podlasie, Belarusian, to your heart's content.
- In the Leśny Dworek Restaurant, order borscht with dumplings, kartacze, Belarusian and Białowieża tea, pelmeni, tartare, Hajnówka bacon, which is amazing, and beer from the local brewery.
- In Niezapominajka you will eat delicious pierogi, a large pork chop and delicious salads.
- In Mozaika you will eat delicacies, including delicious pelmeni.
- In Babushka Bistro the menu changes seasonally, written on a blackboard with chalk. It is modest, but tasty. In the summer you can eat a good cold soup, also order pielniemi with lamb, kartacze, kolduny in broth, soljanka, potato babka. Don't count the calories here.
You absolutely have to go for a walk to Białowieża, and there are many regional pubs with delicious game dishes.
And if you want to stock up on vegetables, honey and preserves, there is a market in Hajnówka on Saturdays. Oh, and the best pickled cucumbers from a bottle, only from Hajnówka! Yummy.
There is no time for boredom here. Beautiful areas encourage walks and bike rides through villages, meadows, fields and forests. A must-do on your itinerary is a trip through the Białowieża Forest, where you can discover beautiful old oaks, forest animals and that unique scent of nature. It is also worth following the map of events in the Forest, because despite the wilderness, cultured people live there, who every now and then organize Poetry in the Forest, the Festival: Forest - get inspired!, or a French horn concert. In the area, on the meadows near the forests, you can spot herds of bison. This extraordinary sight is rather an everyday occurrence for the residents. Bisons graze under fences, roam the fields, and sometimes enter the village. If you are lucky, at dawn or dusk you will spot them in the vicinity of Kacze Bagno. If you want to meet a bison face to face, go to the Bison Show Reserve in Białowieża or to the "Kosy Most" bison sanctuary.
You can also hide away in a cottage, reading a book or in old wooden walls with white wooden windows and white doors that remember many stories.
It is worth planning a vacation and relaxation in Podlasie so that you find time to rest and explore this wooden region famous for bison, forest, delicious food and Orthodox churches. We are only 10 minutes by car from Hajnówka with good food and monuments.
During the holidays, the regional Bison Fair takes place in Hajnówka. This is where you can try local delicacies, learn how to make them, buy regional handicrafts and learn about our borderland culture.
And for the Antiques and Folk Handicraft Fair, go to Kiermusy near Tykocin. Every first Sunday of the month for 15 years, antique lovers from all over Poland have been exhibiting their stands.
What is worth seeing in the area:
- Holy Mountain of Grabarka – the holiest place of Polish Orthodoxy.
- Architectural monuments in Nowoberezowo – a wooden granary by the Orthodox clergy house from the 19th century and the private open-air museum Zagroda Stefana.
- Narrow-gauge railway to Topił – a former settlement of forest workers.
- Park of Miniature Monuments of Podlasie.
- Sket in Odrynki – the only Orthodox Hermitage in Poland, since 2019 two monks have been living in the sket.
- Open-air museum in Koźliki.
- Krzemianka Nature Reserve – you can enter Krzemianka by stopping behind Rybniki.
- The Land of Open Shutters leading through Ciełuszki, Soce, Trześcianka, Kaniuki, Ryboły, Wojszki, Plutycze, where you can admire folk ornamentation of rural cottages, occurring in the form of shutters, window sills and windowsills, decorative cladding of elevations and gables of wooden residential buildings.
Tourist trails: Podlasie Stork Trail, Orthodox Temples Trail, Land of Open Shutters Trail, Tree and Sacrum Cultural Trail.
In summer, to cool off, it is worth going to the Siemianówka Reservoir or organizing a kayaking trip on the Narew and Narewka rivers.
Children are welcome on board! The wooden floor of the old house is always warm, so blocks can be arranged from dawn to dusk. A walk around the village brings stories about stork nests, old houses with roofs made of dry grass and colorful churches with onion domes and a cross with a crossbar. There is only nature around, fresh air and the sounds of the village. In the Podlasie yard, you can play hopscotch, rubber, hide and seek and tag. Smell and pick flowers in the meadow, throw pebbles - play mischief.
