I visited the Polish side of this tentative WHS in August 2020. Being a transnational tentative site with Belarus and soon up for inscription, I decided to all a long day trip by car to visit 2 main locations.

On a European scale, the Augustow Canal is a cross-border relic of technology and supposedly has unique hydraulic engineering from the first half of the 19th century. Its total length is 103.4 km, 80 km of which are on Polish territory. The canal was built between 1824 and 1839. To compensate for differences in water levels, 35 km of the Netta and Czarna Hancza rivers were regulated. Over 40 km of drifts were carried out, while 18 locks and 23 sluices were built to regulate the water level.

The Augustow History Museum (closed on Mondays) has a separate section dedicated to the canal so it is were I started my visit (some 4 hours away from any other tentative or WHS!). The museum is situated in a historic house from the 19th century, the so-called Pradzynski Manor House, named after the engineer who designed the Augustow Canal. Close to the museum is the Augustow Lock which was built between 1825 and 1826 but was destroyed in 1944. It was rebuilt shortly after as a single chamber lock located at the 32.5km point of the Augustow Canal. The lock is still fully functional with personnel on duty just in case the lock needs to be operated. With some 'gestures/sign language' and a peek to the personnel's logbook, I found out that a small private vessel would be using the lock in around 30 minutes time so I stayed a bit longer to see the lock in operation (nothing really unique, pretty much the same experience you'll have in every other lock, but worth seeing if you happen to be there).

I headed next to the Debowo Lock, some 30 km away by car. The last few kms in the national park are still unpaved and with the heavy rain from the night before, there were sections which seemed like shallow river crossings for my 2WD but I made it without any damage and later exited the national park from another side. The Augustow Canal flows near the villages of Debowo and Polkowo in the Bierbza National Park. The Debowo Lock, built in 1826-1827, allows entrance to the Bierbza river from the canal. It is perhaps one of the best areas to spot beavers, otters or mink as well as birds of prey such as spotted eagles, white-tailed eagles, harriers and buzzards.

According to the national park regulations, which I happened to read only after my visit, apparently park admission tickets are needed but I never found any evident park headquarters. Through the wooden Debowo Lock, the Augustow Canal was the first waterway in Central Europe to provide a direct link between the Vistula river and the Neman river, and it provided a link with the Black Sea to the south. A pleasant way of exploring this section is to organise a kayaking tour beforehand with one of the local companies. The Debowo Lock in fact seems to be a convenient meeting place to start kayak tours.

All in all, it is a pleasant site to visit but as other reviewers have pointed out, it is neither unique nor does it offer any value added to the WH list. It is no Panama Canal or Suez Canal, both of which have not been inscribed yet, nor does it have a truly unique feature of OUV such as the lifts of the Belgian WHS at Louvain-La-Neuve. That said, being a transnational property with Belarus, I think it stands a very good chance of getting inscribed judging by recent additions to the WH list.