Poland from the Carpathian Mountains to the Baltic Sea
Programme:
1st day: Warsaw
afternoon: Arrival at the Okecie Airport and going by bus to Cracow. On the way visiting the most important pilgrimage place - the monastery in Czestochowa. Jasna Gora's most valuable treasure is the miraculous painting of Our Lady. While visiting you will see the Chapel of the Black Madonna, the Treasury and the Arsenal.
evening: Arrival in Krakow. Accommodation in a hotel. Dinner in a local restaurant.
2nd day: Krakow
morning: A city sightseeing tour of Cracow. The programme includes: Wawel Hill with its castle and famous Flemish tapestries, the Cathedral, the coronation church of the kings of Poland, which contains the tombs of the kings and their families and also of great poets and national heroes. Then you visit the Old Town - the biggest market square in Europe with the Cloth Hall and St. Mary's Church with the famous Wit Stwosz Altar. Short trip to Kazimierz - the best preserved former Jewish district in Europe with several synagogues including the Old Synagogue and the Remuh Synagogue with one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in Poland.
afternoon: A visit to the Wieliczka Salt Mine - The historic Salt Mine in Wieliczka is the only site in the world where mining has continued since the Middle Ages. Lying on nine levels, its original excavations (longitudinals, traverses, chambers, lakes, as well as lesser and major shafts) stretch for a total of 300 kilometres: reaching the depth of 327 metres they illustrate all the stages of the development of mining technology over the years.
evening: Dinner with klezmer music in a Jewish restaurant in the Kazimierz district.
3rd day: At the foot of the Carpathians
morning: Excursion to the Pieniny Mountains. Rafting down the Dunajec River Gorge which goes through the Pieninski National Park. The Dunajec River, which is a tributary of the Vistula River, has incised a narrow and sharply winding gorge through the rocks. The park is rich in rare fauna and flora.
The next stop is the fascinating, old wooden Gothic church in Debno Podhalanskie. Built in the 15th century, it is claimed to be the oldest surviving wooden church in Europe. The interior is richly decorated by local artists of the period.
evening: Polish folklore dinner in a restaurant outside of Cracow.
4th day: The topography and logic of Auschwitz
morning: A visit to The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Museum. Auschwitz has become a symbol of terror, genocide, and the Holocaust. It was established by the Nazis in 1940, in the suburbs of the city of Oswiecim which, like other parts of Poland, was occupied by the Germans during the Second World War. The name of the city of Oswiecim was changed to Auschwitz, which became the name of the camp as well. Over the following years, the camp was expanded and consisted of three main parts: Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and Auschwitz III-Monowitz.
afternoon: Departure to Wroclaw.
evening: Arrival and accommodation in a hotel
5th day: Wroclaw
morning: City sightseeing tour of the Old Town. Visit to the gothic Town hall and the biggest baroque interior in Poland, which has survived until today - the Leopoldine Hall, located in the 17th century University building. One of the cultural attractions which is a must when visiting Wroclaw, is certainly the Panorama of Raclawice, a gigantic rotunda accommodating a 120 metre wide and 15 metre high panoramic painting which represents the battle of Raclawice fought on 7 April 1794. In Ostrów Tumski, one of the most beautiful sacral architecture buildings in Europe has been preserved
afternoon: Going to Poznan.
evening: Night and dinner in a hotel.
6th day: At the home of the Polish nation
morning: A visit to Torun. A stop in Gniezno - the first, historic capital of Poland. Visit to the cathedral - the venue of the crownings of the first kings.
afternoon: Arrival to Torun - the city of Copernicus and honey-cakes. Visit to the Old Town. The programme includes: the Town Hall built in stages from the 13th century, the Copernicus statue, Artur's Court, the monumental Church of the Ascension of the Holiest Virgin Mary, beautiful tenement houses, the cathedral of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, the Copernicus Museum and the city gates.
evening: Arrival to Gdansk. Dinner in a hotel.
7th day: Gdansk
morning: A whole day tour of Gdansk including: the 16th century Upland Gate - the main entrance into the old city, the Golden Gate built in 1642-44, the picturesque Long Street with brightly-coloured houses, rococo portals, gothic mouldings and original porticoes, the Town Hall (today the Gdansk History Museum) with a golden replica of King Zygmunt August on its pinnacle. The local point of the Long Market is Neptune Fountain, a bronze statue of the sea god, dating to 1549 and vis a vis there is the Artus Court - the impressive mansion - symbolic of the old city's power in the 16th and 17th centuries which was founded as a meeting place for merchants and dignitaries. The historical heart of Gdansk spreads beneath the magnificent four-arched Green Gate, which opens directly onto the waterfront.
afternoon: A visit to the church of Saint Brigit - the spiritual centre of the Solidarnosc trade union, then the monument of the Fallen Shipyard Workers in the Gdansk Shipyard area.
evening: Dinner in a traditional restaurant.
8th day: Gdansk
morning: Arrival to Westerplatte - the place where Germans launched a surprise attack in 1939 starting World War II. Then continue to Malbork - visit to the 13th-century fortified monastery belonging to the Teutonic Order. It was substantially enlarged and embellished after 1309, when the seat of the Grand Master moved here from Venice. A particularly fine example of a medieval brick castle.
afternoon: Departure to Warsaw.
evening: Accommodation and dinner in a hotel.
9th day: Warsaw
morning: Tour of Warsaw. Visiting the Castle Square, King Sigismund's Column, St. John's Cathedral, the Old Town Market Square and the Barbican.
afternoon: Free time.
evening: Chopin's music concert in one of the historic interiors of the Old Town and then dinner in a local restaurant.
10th day:
Departure
