Wolsztyn is a small Greater Poland town that would be easy to miss if not for the steam. Its steam locomotive depot is one of the rare places in Europe where historic standard-gauge locomotives are kept as living machines rather than static museum pieces. For rail enthusiasts, that alone justifies the trip.
The rest of town is modest but pleasant. Wolsztyn Lake has a palace, parkland, a beach in season, and the open-air folk architecture museum on its western side. The Robert Koch Museum adds a surprising scientific footnote: Koch worked here as a district physician before becoming one of the founders of modern bacteriology.
Wolsztyn works best as a slow half-day from Poznan, stretched into a full day if you time it for railway activity or want to walk the lake shore.