Have your binoculars ready as you sit back for a sedate boat ride through showpieces of nature and engineering. You'll journey through woods, swamps, and marshland where cormorants, grebes, gulls, graylag geese, and the occasional eagle wing by. You'll be stirred from your serene stupor when the boat reaches a slipway. A metal crate rises up from the water and scoops up the boat onto rail tracks on grassy slopes. Mind the weather forecast, since the best vantage points are from the deck seats. The booth seats below deck give you a "water-level" perspective. Bring your own snacks or buy from the nothing-to-write-home-about bistro on board. Note: This slow and easy journey is mainly about the peace and tranquility of watching flora and fauna. While this appeals to adults, it could drive active young kids 'round the bend.

The boats, run by Zegluga Ostródzko-Elblaska, operate from May to September. At 8am, the boats depart from both Elblag and Ostróda. The journey, from one end to the other, lasts 11 hours. If you're pressed for time, do the 5-hour Elblag-Buczyniec ride, which covers the most interesting parts in terms of slipways. You must call at least a day in advance to book your tickets. At 7:30am on the day of the trip, pick up your tickets from the office. On busy days, as many as three boats, each with a capacity of 65 passengers, depart from Elblag. When there are fewer than 20 passengers, the trip is cancelled. Although the canal is a major tourist attraction, the infrastructure for delivering passengers back to their starting points is spotty. If you are relying on public transportation, one option is to take the trip to Madyty. Boats arrive here at 2:30pm; a 2:54pm train gets you back to Elblag in 30 minutes. The Madyty's train station is near the boat landing, but it's an uphill pant to the station. The boat company organizes buses (11 z) from Buczyniec to Elblag on an ad hoc basis; call a day or two earlier to find out if this service is on. Yet another option is to take the Buczyniec-Elblag return boat journey. The risk here is the seats may be fully taken up by passengers coming from Ostróda.