Kartodrom Gostyń

The Gostyń Kartodrom is one of the region's veterans: the track has been running since 1989 and lays out 800 metres with fifteen turns. That is enough to keep things varied, alternating hard braking with faster curves, and to keep you coming back. Driving is combustion-powered, with karts running Honda 270 cc engines that deliver the torque and the growl you expect on a proper rental circuit.

The venue has put care into the wider experience: online booking, a mobile app to follow your lap times and keep an eye on your progress, family packages and formats for groups or company outings. Younger drivers are not left out, with a karting academy that teaches them the basics safely. A helmet and a briefing come before you go out, as they should before you let the karts loose.

Gostyń lies in the south of Greater Poland, in gently rolling countryside that suits a quiet stop. The Baroque basilica of Święta Góra, set on its hill above the town, is one of the region's landmark monuments and can be spotted from afar. Poznań and its historic centre are about an hour to the north by road, which makes it easy to pair the karting outing with a city escape. Closer by, Rydzyna Castle, one of the finest Baroque ensembles in Poland, is worth a look. The rolling countryside around also lends itself to a bike ride once the helmet is back on the shelf.