A good friend of mine invited me to dinner in Ostrowite (somewhere in Poland) in mid June. He's from the US and visiting his relatives there. Haven't seen him and his family in 3 years and I'm the last person to turn down free dinner invites but it's not exactly in my neighborhood and all the info I got so far are a place and a time. Very cryptic!

Not sure if I can make it but I'm considering going to Poland to do a little sightseeing, any suggestions as to where to go and what to see?My main interests are old buildings (castles, town houses, anything medieval etc) and nature but for a short trip I'd like to stay close to civilization and use public transport only.

So far on my list:

-Malbork Castle
-Hussaria armor at the Polish Army Museum in Warszawa

Other than that, I have no clue whatseover, any help highly appreciated. Especially if it's stuff one might not find from a simple Google search. Please keep in mind that my budget is low, I can't rent a car or do fancy things.

Giving out 2 codes for Gorky 17 because that's a Polish game and this is a Polish topic :)
Just mention in your (useful and helpful) post if you want the game.

EDIT: One Gorky 17 code went to zeffyr and I still have a second code which so far no one has expressed interest in.

Erm, which Ostrowite would that be?

[edit]
Depending on which one it is, there are propably a sh.tton of things worth seeing nearby, old churches, town districts, castles, nazi bunkers, nazi camps, really, name it, we got it.

Rrrright... where to start... first of all let's determine where EXACTLY do your friend's relatives live? Because, well you see, according to wikipedia there are 16 villages called "Ostrowite" and I don't see the one where my relatives live so there are at least 17 of them. And I suspect there might be even more ;)

OK, but being a bit more serious - give me some time, I'll try to find a few interesting places for you.

(I'm not in for the game)

Holy cow, didn't know there were several Ostrowite towns, just mailed my friend but he's got 4 little kids and 2 jobs so it's no surprise I'm only getting telegram style instructions.

I forgot to mention I'm also very interested in WW2 bunkers etc provided it's more pictoresque than just a pile of rubble, so yes those kinda things are definitely of interest.
There's an old warship in Gdynia, anything of that sort is a yes on my list. Will try to find out which Ostrowite that is, thanks in advance for any pointers about other cities/towns!

In that case this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festungsfront_Oder-Warthe-Bogen is a must for you. Seriously, this place is amazing! (I'll still think about other places, probably not today though)

One more important question: how many days do you plan to spend on sightseeing?

Thanks, that does look very intriguing indeed. I'm already realizing that I probably won't have enough time to do much out-of-town exploration of fortification installations etc, that I'll do on another lengthier trip in the future. I may have time to check out one particularly picturesque pillbox, anything that would look good as a sketch/painting. I was thinking one week.

And how far are you willing to drive for your sightseeing? If you like medieval castles, you should go see the Marienburg in Malbork. And of course if WWII is your main interest, then there is Auschwitz. Not exactly a bunker, but a very important - and horrible - historical site.

And personally I like the Island Wollin (and you might hop over to Usedom, but that is on the German side, which has the nicer beaches IMO). But that may just be a personal connection because part of my family comes from Swinoujscie.

Anything that is accessible via public transportation not more than 1-1.5 hours from Krakow, Warszawa or Gdansk would be an option. No idea if and how I can fit in 3 cities plus a 1 day trip to Malbork but the number one thing I'd like to see is Malbork castle so I can't just stay down in Krakow/Warszawa only.
Such a big country and so little time (1 week)

EDIT: this trip isn't meant to "cover" Poland, just get a little taste of it

With one week and both Krakow and Warsaw in the list you'll find stuff to fill the time for sure. Check wikipedia and wikitravel for starters.

Also I strongly recommend guides called In Your Pocket. You can download them free online, just google.

I'm not sure on public transportation to Malbork, and in case you think you need to go to Gdansk to get to Malbork from Warsaw, that's definitively not the case.

Got hold of my friend, the place is Ostrowite west of Rypin. I can stay there with my friend's relatives but even they might not some of the lesser known historical sights etc that's why I'm curious to learn what you guys think.
My friend will drive to Malbork with me from Ostrowite near Rypin so I'll probably skip Gdansk and Gdynia on this trip, the whole enterprise is already on very shaky footing budget wise.
Unless there are some super beautiful medieval ruins near those cities that I don't know about. I must conquer the important castles.

Nice to see such a kind visitor in my country :)

Short info about major castles:

http://www.poland.travel/en/castles-palaces/

If in Kraków, you have to visit Wieliczka Salt Mine:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wieliczka_Salt_Mine

I won't write about attractions in Warsaw or Gdańsk, just because there are plenty of them and easy to find online :>

Have you consider visiting [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poznań]Poznań[/url]? If so, you might meet fellow GOGer (in my humble person) :-)

Feel free to ask question about transport etc.! :-)
If near Rypin, you'll be very near Toruń, with one of the most beautiful old towns in this part of Europe:

http://www.poland.travel/en/unesco-sites/medieval-town-of-torun-6

A must see :)

If you're actually planning to drop by in Warsaw and have the slightest interest in WWII I also highly recommend to visit the Warsaw Rising Museum. You can watch as many films and read as many books about the war as you like but there's nothing quite like a visit to this museum. It is pretty tough and depressing stuff but I don't know a single person (man or woman, Pole or German) who regrets his/her visit to that place.

If you will be in Wrocław go and see http://www.panoramaraclawicka.pl/?lang=en. Really impressive.

I've heard good stories about east of Poland (Lublin for instance) - but can't say that from my own experience as I've never been there [ashamed].

Thanks for the many tips! My browser is now full of Poland tabs, wish I had some pierogi to go with that.
Looks like I have to sacrifice most things for a second longer trip in the future.
Poznan for example is super picturesque. The town square looks colorful like Legoland and the Imperial Castle is going straight into my sightseeing targets folder. Be assured that if I come to Poznan, I'll "gift code" you a free beer in person.
This time around, I'll probably stick close to 1-2 days in Krakow area, 1-2 days in Warsaw area and 1 day in Malbork (via that little Ostrowitie village near Rypin where I must fulfill mission 'Polish dinner'). Trying to figure out how to add things from the various suggestions in this thread without exploding time and budget. 3-4 years ago, I would have been able to just take one month and do everything, in cold blood!
Wow, they even have a B-24 model, very impressive.
Gotta love those epic 19th century panorama paintings, there's one in Lucerne in Switzerland as well:
http://www.bourbakipanorama.ch/de/index.html