It is a paradox that the biggest city in Poland is surrounded with a true mainstay of nature, perfectly preserved, astonishing with ecological beauty. There are as many as six virgin forests and many smaller tree clusters left from the ancient impenetrable greenery of Mazovia. You can come across 400-year-old oaks, groups of larches near Grojec or over 200-year-old pine trees in Myszyniec. Only few dozens kilometers away from Warsaw, you can find herds of wild animals and flocks of rare birds. Nine landscape parks and Kampinos National Park tempt filmmakers with just few kilometers to natural beauty. Elks, does, deer, lynxes live there. And in the swamps you can find beavers, otters, black storks and cranes. Kampinos Park is home to over 1200 species of plants, and the dominating landscape is a contrast between sand dunes and swamps. The dunes are mostly covered with pines and swamps are covered with meadows, shreds and alders. Fauna of the park is very rich. There are over 16000 animal species, including a reintroduced population of elks. In South Mazovia the biggest forest complex is Kozienicka Forest with virgin nooks, lairs and marshes that give one a sensation of a primate nature.
A great asset for film crews is big number of rivers, meandering around green meadows, forests and that sometimes float into backwaters or change into swamps inhabited by protected bird species. The most picturesque landscapes of Mazovia are the valleys of great rivers – Vistula, Bug, Narew, Pilica and Bzura. But as beautiful views can be found around smaller rivers, like Liwiec, Swider, Radomka, Rawka, Omulew, Wkra, Orzyc, Skrwa and Wel. There are surprisingly many lakes in the area, too. Most of them can be found in Gostynin Lakeland. Filmmakers are also attracted with artificial lakes like "Muchawka" in Siedlce, Ruda Reservoir near Mlawa, reservoir in Nowe Miasto, reservoir in Kozienice, and the most popular shooting location – Zegrzynski Reservoir, which is just few miles away from Warsaw. It is a center for water sport, full of resorts and conference centers, which are an ideal temporary shooting base. Vistula, on the other hand, is the most often filmed Polish river. Its bed is very wide in Mazovia, sometimes even of more than one kilometer. The biggest Polish river is unregulated in most of the places and the water surface is ornamented with sandbanks, tafts and old riverbeds. Nevertheless, Bug is considered to be the most beautiful Polish river. It is a natural border between Poland and its eastern neighbors. Bug is capricious, creates numerous u-turns, meanders, and is fool of photogenic islands, and the river valley is graced with leaning banks. Pilica River can also be an interesting choice for location. In its lower part it has an interesting shape with high banks adjacent to fruit orchards, typical for the region.
