River · Poland
Vistula (Wisła)
The Vistula is the longest river in Poland. It starts in the mountains of the south, passes Kraków and Warsaw on its way north and reaches the Baltic Sea in the Bay of Gdańsk.
Picture credit: Tim Adams (CC BY 3.0) · Mezeon (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is the Vistula (Wisła)?
The river starts here: Barania Góra in the Silesian Beskids, southern Poland.
It ends in the Baltic Sea, Bay of Gdańsk.
Countries on the river: Poland.
The story behind it
The Vistula is often called the queen of Polish rivers, because it links almost the whole country. It begins as a mountain stream on Barania Góra, then widens on its way past Kraków, where a dragon is said to have lived in a cave under the castle hill. In Warsaw the river splits the capital in two: on one bank stands the old town, on the other a wilder shore with sandy beaches and beavers. Unlike many European rivers, long stretches of the Vistula were never straightened, so sandbanks and islands appear and disappear, and terns nest on them. Spring floods have shaped the story of many towns, and old marks on walls show how high the water once stood. Near Gdańsk the river spreads into a flat delta of fields, canals and pumping stations.
Questions children ask
How long is the Vistula?
The Vistula is 1 047 km long. It is the longest river in Poland and one of the longest rivers that flow into the Baltic Sea.
Which countries does the Vistula flow through?
Only through Poland. From the Beskid mountains to the coast the river never leaves the country, which is why Poles feel it belongs to them alone.
Where does the Vistula flow into?
Into the Baltic Sea, in the Bay of Gdańsk. Before that it builds a wide delta of fields and canals that lies partly below sea level.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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