Dziwaczne Odkrycia: Backpacking Przyczółek Grochowski, The Longest Housing Block In Warszawa

“It’s a long long way from here to there” – Paul Van Dyk.

When you start living in a city, everything around you is taken for granted. You don’t waken up and backpack your own city then write about it. But actually you can, and you should, so I did. I enjoy being a tourist everyday – remember the only place you are not a tourist in is the hostpital ward, room or house you were born in! Here in August 2024, I backpacked through Warszawa for about 4-5 days with Trevor Warman, the Nomadic Backpacker. The result was some truly off the scale backpacking to places most tourists didn’t know about and skipped completely.

Dziwaczne Odkrycia: Trevor and I Backpacking Przyczółek Grochowski, The Longest Housing Block In Warszawa

Instead of doing the regular, common, popular sights for tourists. We decided to do some truly off the wall stuff. I suddenly realised that after living in Warszawa for 7 years, I had yet to visit Przyczółek Grochowski, The Longest Housing Block In Warszawa!! Trevor of course didn’t hesitate to join me and we loved it. Within days of our tours, he had already written loads about Poland, here are some of his excellent articles, including the first decent travel blog post ever about Osiedle Przyjaźń and a classic on Nowa Huta!

I also blogged about Visiting The Wooden Houses Of Osiedle Przyjaźń In Bemowo, Warszawa just after Trevor. On with the show for Trevor and I – here’s a quick piece on Backpacking Przyczółek Grochowski, The Longest Housing Block In Warszawa, with a backstory…

Backpacking Falowiec in Przymorze, Gdansk (The Longest Residential Building In Europe)

Back when I lived in the north of Poland, I once backpacked Falowiec in Przymorze, Gdansk. I used to live nearby. This block of flats with an unusual shape just happens to be Europe’s largest residential building! I backpacked it and wrote about it for Culture Trip a few years ago. Przyczółek Grochowski in Warszawa is not as big, nor the same shape, I’ll explain…

Backpacking Falowiec in Przymorze, Gdansk

Falowiec in Przymorze, Gdansk is one long contiguous building in a straight line, with a wavy pattern. From A to B. Here it is on Google Maps –

Falowiec in Przymorze, Gdansk

So, what is Przyczółek Grochowski?

It’s exactly as my title wrote – Przyczółek Grochowski is The Longest Housing Block In Warszawa, but it’s not in a straight line like the Gdansk one. I heard about it before and never got round to visiting it. Now for a bit of the history…the Przyczółek Grochowski estate was built during the communist years, in 1969–1974. The designers were Oskar Hansen and Zofia Garlińska-Hansen. Their intention was to create a housing estate in a compact area which would be densely populated but also have plenty of open spaces, greenery, corridors and staircases.

Dziwaczne Odkrycia: Backpacking Przyczółek Grochowski, The Longest Housing Block In Warszawa

The building is 6 storeys high and was built using large-panel technology whereby they connected all the parts together to make ONE standalone building. It actually looks like a snake from above. Trevor and I nicknamed it “the snake” or the “serpentine”.

Dziwaczne Odkrycia: Backpacking Przyczółek Grochowski, The Longest Housing Block In Europe

Dziwaczne Odkrycia: Backpacking Przyczółek Grochowski, The Longest Housing Block In Warszawa

The development of the Przyczółek Grochowski estate caused a stir in the world of architecture. It was mentioned in architectural magazines published in the USSR, Finland, the United States and Japan. The estate has an area of 11.2 hectares and has approximately 2,330 apartments, which in 1994 was inhabited by approximately 7,000 people. So it’s no small fry. To put it in context, that’s way more than usually attend a Northern Irish league match every week. The building is 1.5 kilometres long in cumulative total.

Dziwaczne Odkrycia: Backpacking Przyczółek Grochowski, The Longest Housing Block In Warszawa

How to Get to Przyczółek Grochowski

We were actually touring the Praga side of Warszawa at the time, so it was easy to get to. I’d recommend getting to Rondo Wiatraczna (Windmills Junction) first. I’ll not make this long. From Wiatracza look for Wiatraczna 09 bus stop. There are 4 bus lines that pass through that bus stop and all of them go straight to Przyczółek Grochowski. It takes 7 minutes by bus. We were on a Friday afternoon so it was a bit slower due to traffic but in general – an easy bus ride. Get out at the stop called Przyczółek Grochowski 01. If you live in Warszawa, here is how to get a Warszawianka card, or for non-residents get a 90 day Warsaw card. On Google Maps, here is the route. As well as Google Maps, you can use the Polish Smartphone App Jakdojade.

Here is a map of our route. We got on the bus and off we went.

Our bus route to Przyczółek Grochowski

We boarded the 143 bus at Wiatraczna 09 bus stop and got off at Przyczółek Grochowski 01 bus stop.

We boarded here at Wiatraczna 09 bus stop

Our bus route to Przyczółek Grochowski on the 143

Arrival at Przyczółek Grochowski 01…

Our bus route to Przyczółek Grochowski on the 143

From here there’s actually a double-bridge to backpack over two carriageways to the building at Przyczółek Grochowski. We were bridgepacking!

We were bridgepacking to Przyczółek Grochowski.

Backpacking In Przyczółek Grochowski – Top 6 Sights

To be honest about it – all you do is go there to Przyczółek Grochowski and walk round it but I’ve highlighted my top 6 sights anyway. It’s backpacking as the word suggests. Because it’s a snake like shape, and not contiguous or long, we snaked our way round and through it. We didn’t speak to any locals, we just dandered around on our own, from start to finish. Here are a top 6 you can tick off…

1.Polish History Information Boards At The Library

At the library there are some interesting information boards about Polish history. The library is near the entrance to the Przyczółek Grochowski estate, to the left of the map.

Polish History Information Boards At The Library

2.The Map Of Przyczółek Grochowski

This residential building is so massive, it has its own map!! The map is not here for tourists of course – most likely for residents, their families, postmen/postwomen and drivers coming here to visit. You might still get lost.

Trevor the Nomadic Backpacker checking out The Map Of Przyczółek Grochowski

The Map Of Przyczółek Grochowski

3.The Przyczółek Grochowski Building Itself

We started at the red cross on the above photo and backpacked our way through and round the entire building, including the inner courtyard and the end point. There is a playground and a sports pitch as well as some local shops and park areas to relax in.

The Przyczółek Grochowski Building Itself

We spent a bit of time in the leafy gardens area in the centre…

Dziwaczne Odkrycia: Backpacking Przyczółek Grochowski, The Longest Housing Block In Warszawa

The Przyczółek Grochowski Building Itself

Dziwaczne Odkrycia: Backpacking Przyczółek Grochowski, The Longest Housing Block In Warszawa

The Przyczółek Grochowski Building Itself

Dziwaczne Odkrycia: Trevor and I Backpacking Przyczółek Grochowski, The Longest Housing Block In Warszawa

When we saw the building below, we realised we were at the end and that we had backpacked it all! Here’s the last turn of the corner below before the final photo at the end point.

The Przyczółek Grochowski Building Itself to the end

At the end! Dziwaczne Odkrycia: Backpacking Przyczółek Grochowski, The Longest Housing Block In Warszawa

4.The Green Lake (Jezioro Gocławskie)

Once we have backpacked the whole way round to the last point of the main building, we head to the green lake, known as Jezioro Gocławskie. There’s an outdoor gym here and it’s a good spot for dog walkers.

The Green Lake (Jezioro Gocławskie)

5.The Fake DickMonalds (Bar Orientalny)

After backpacking the full building and the green lake, here there is an option for some food and drink. There are a few shops and the restaurant here is Asian and called Bar Orientalny. It has a double yellow M like a fake USA fast food chain which rhymes with DickMonalds. We didn’t go for a drink or food, but you could.

The Fake DickMonalds

6.Legia Warszawa Murals And Grafitti

This area lends its support to Warsaw’s most famous football team and this is clear for all to see. There are murals of Legia Warszawa around the Grochow district and even the pillars are painted red, white and green. This was a nice coincidence for Trevor and I because next up, we boarded a bus across the bridge direct to the Legia Warszawa stadium to have a walk around it. I’ve been a season ticket holder at Legia Warszawa for a few years now. Here is how to get Legia Warszawa tickets.