Baltic Gravel Gamble

Seven nights through north-eastern Poland and the Baltic states, self-guided, 1,460 kilometres with 810 of them on gravel.

More than half the route on gravel is what sets this one apart. The Baltic countries have an enormous network of unsurfaced roads that are perfectly ordinary to drive locally and quite punishing to cover at distance in a car with a hundred thousand hard miles already on it.

The start is in north-eastern Poland, somewhere between Kaliningrad and the Belarusian border, with the exact location kept back until closer to the event, so getting a tired car to the start line is the first of the challenges. From there the route runs north through the Baltics with daily gravel sections of well over a hundred kilometres at a time, some river crossings and camping locations the organisers pick for the setting rather than the facilities. The field is capped at thirty teams, which keeps it small enough that everyone knows everyone by the third day.

All the overnight stays, rally stickers, a roadbook with GPX files, a communications device for the duration and entry to a special event on the final day are included in the entry. The price shown should be checked against the live page, which quotes €750 for a team of two, €450 solo and €200 for each additional passenger. Early July 2028 is the window, which is correct: the gravel is dry, the northern daylight runs almost round the clock and the biting insects are survivable. Eight days of mostly unsurfaced road is as hard as this organiser’s European events get, and a spare wheel is not a precaution but a requirement.