My son is ahead of me , his kayak skimming across the slate blue water . A fish jumps . A battalion of cormorants lands on a tree . I pull up my paddle and the air settles around me , as serene as the lake . Then James comes shooting across , spraying me with water as he turns on his paddle . ‘ There ’ s a great beach over there . Let ’ s swim. ’ James is nearly 16 , and I ’ m painfully aware that my years of holidaying with him are coming to a close . My last choices all ended in teenage snits . Then a friend suggested a back-to-nature break in Poland . Unknown : Wigry National Park , in north-east Poland , is the furthest outreach of the Masurian Lakes . Our destination is Wigry National Park , in the north-east of the country , close to the Lithuanian border . It is the furthest outreach of the Masurian Lakes ( Poland ’ s Lake District ) , and the most sparsely populated . Our base is an unassuming but pristine hotel right on the Wigry lakeshore . The National Park snuggles around it , a mass of primeval forest and waterways that are home to otter and beaver , wolf and elk . The area is unspoiled , but it is also exceedingly well set-up for outdoorsy pursuits . The hotel rents mountain bikes and Nordic walking poles , and you could cycle or hike for days around the well-marked trails . Come and discover : The area is unspoiled , but it is also exceedingly well set-up for outdoor pursuits . Or you can take to the water . Whichever way you turn , there is another beach , another jetty , another twisting corner of Wigry — the name means ‘ winding ’ — and it has the longest and most meandering shoreline of all of Poland ’ s lakes . The food is solid , verging on stolid , big piles of comfort stacked high and priced low — a lightweight £3 a plate . We need the calories , with the amount of exercise we are notching up . We cycle through the forest , keeping a hopeful eye out for wildlife . But we are too noisy , what with our clanking gears and my muffled grunts as I hit yet another tree root . A holiday of an old-fashioned kind : Jane found a refreshing simplicity to this pretty corner of Poland . It is all so wholesome that , as we sit by another pristine lake , watching the sun dip down , I find myself singing old campfire songs as James takes another swim . The place has somehow transported me back to my own teens , to a time when holidays did not need to be sophisticated . ‘ You know what ? I ’ ve loved this holiday , ’ says James , as we sit for the last time on the hotel jetty , sharing a bar of chocolate and watching the stars . I can ’ t argue . ‘ Me too , ’ I tell him . A wealth of water and wow factor : Jane chose the region for an active holiday with her teenage son . Ryanair ( 0871 246 0000 , www.ryanair.com ) flies from Stansted to Kaunas from £49 return . Double rooms at the Hotel nad Wigrami , Gawrych Ruda ( 0048 87 563 59 59 , www.hotelnadwigrami.pl ) cost from £50 per night B & B . Mountain bikes and kayaks can be hired . For more on Wigry National Park , visit www.wigry.win.pl .
Poland 's cities are tourism favourites - but its Lake District is less known . Wigry National Park , in the north-east , is one of Poland 's prettiest areas . Encompassing part of the Masurian Lakes , it is great for family breaks .