Golden Pins for the best tourist attractions in Poland

In honor of the 15th anniversary of introducing the world to Google Maps, the best attractions in our country were awarded with a prize known as Złote Pinezki (Golden Pins). The Polish list imcludes 16 places – one for each region.
The Google Maps program, which premiered in February of 2005, quickly revolutionized the internet. The app madev browsing satelite photos easier, but also became helpful in searching for information about shops, tourist attractions, and institutions. Today, there are about 1 billion people using this tool. In the Google Map base there are 200 million places, under which users leave
20 million notes, hints, opinions, photos and information.

Based upon these notes, Google emerged the most important and best rated places in Poland – one for each of 16 regions. „In each region we chose the highest ranked touristv attraction from a group of five places with the highest number of gathered ratings. The list was created in February, but unfotunately because of the restrictions associated with the coronavirus we were not able to give the prizes to the winners. We are very happy that we can do it now” – said Elżbieta Różalska from the Google Press Office.

Until August 12th, Google will successively uncover more winners. So far, 8 places were chosen.
Here they are:

1.Pomorskie region: the Malbork Castle
The Malbork Castle is the most wonderful medieval castle in Europe, an object from the UNESCO World Heritage List and the winner of the very first Golden Pin. The attraction gained 4,8 stars
(29 239 opinions). We’re happy that our work has been appreciated. The guests can discover not only the castle areas – part of the ward, the Courtyards of the Middle Castle and High Castle, the terraces along with the garden of the great masters, the moats and the interwalls, but also the hisotrical and exhibition interior – said Iwona Orszulak from the Promotion Department of the Castle Museum in Malbork.

2.Zachodniopomorskie region – the Chrobry Shafts
„The Chrobry Shafts is a true icon of Szczecin The observation terraces are 500 metereas long and are located 19 meters above the level of the edge of the Odra river. From the top we can observe a fairytale-like panorama of the Odra river and the harbor” – that’s what we can read in the substantiation at the Google blog. The Chrobry Shafts are more than 12 000 opinions in the Gogle Maps, at the average rating is 4,7.

3.Warmińsko-Mazurskie region – bridges in Stańczyki
An incredible attraction for anyone visiting mazury on vacation. Stańczyki is a small village in the warmińsko-mazurskie region, located 25 kilometers away from Gołdap. This is the place where two deactivated railway bridges are located, which could easily serve as a movie scenery or a promotionasl graphic of the newest railway simulator. Each of them is 36.5 meters high. The viaducts can be proud of their average rating of 4,6 (based on 3200 opinions)

4.Podlaskie region – the Branicki Palace
The Branicki Palace is one of the best preserved residences of the Saxon age in Poland, an while you’re there, you can admire not only its ellegant chambers, but also incredibly well-kept palace gardens, which cover the area of almost 10 hectares and are an integral part of the green areas of Białystok. Rated 4,7 (5800 opinions). „Congratulations to the entire team for managing and taking care of this unique place. We hope that everyone who visits this city, will book some time to check out the palace chambers, enjoy a bit of relaxing in the local gardens, and also discover less known and not so obvious places in the surroundings” said Elżbieta Rózalska from Google Poland.

5.Kujawsko-Pomorskie region – The Living Gingerbread Museum
In Toruń, the spicy treat can be seen literaly everywhere. Even the logo one of the Biedronka supermarkets located in the centre of the city is inscribed in gingerbread. The Living Gingerbread Museum exists since 2006 and is located at the very heart of Toruń. The guests visiting the museum can not only see how the spicy treat is made, but most of all, they can take part in its making themselves. This place can be proud of its ating of 4,8 based on 5800 opinions.

6.Dolnośląskie region – ZOO Wrocław Afrykarium
The Afrykarium was opened on October 26th 2014. This this the first aquarium in Poland and the only one in the worl to be dedicated to the fauna and flora of one region. „This is a great joy for us and a huge honor of the work dedicated to the creation of a zoological garden that is suitable for visitors and at the same time fulfills the mission of protecting protecting endangered species of animals. Thank you very much to all the users of the Google Maps who wanted to rate the Afrykarium, because we earned an incredibly high average of 4,8 with nearly 30 thousand opinions. This also means that we did an excellent job and the visitors really like what we are offerring – said Radosław Ratajszczak, president of the Wrocław zoo.

7.Lubuskie region – The Międzyrzecki Strengthened Area – the Fortification and Bat Museum in Pniewo.
This is one of the largest fortification undergrounds in the world, which currently fulfills the role of a bat reserve. The entire length of the underground corridors is estimated for about 32-35 kilometers. The escapade through the undergrounds of Międzyrzecki Strengthened Area begins inm bunkr number 717 and lasts 3 hours. Rated 4,8 (3900 opinions) The winner is described by
Patrycja Jaskot, a.k.a. Travelover.

Lubelskie region – The Zamoyski Museum in Kozłówka.
The Zamoyski Museum in Kozłówka is a late-baroque magnate residence, the former headquarters of the aristocratic Bieliński and Zamoyskie families, located in the Kozłówka Landscape Park. Currnetly the Zamoyski Museum in Kozłówka has more than 4 thousand opinions on Google Maps, with the average rating of 4,7.