Two capitals - Warsaw and Krakow
Warsaw - a city completely destroyed during World War II, is now a quickly growing metropolis of more then two million residence where modern skyscrapers dominate the city centre. Of these the most dominating structure remains the Palace of Arts and Culture, the symbol of the 50-th anniversary of communism. In its shadows, one can find the carefully rebuilt structures of the beautiful old town, with many historical vestiges of the great tragedy and history of the city.
Krakow - the historical capital of Poland. A city with numerous churches and squares, with the dominating Wawel - past residence and seat of power for polish kings as well as hundreds of other historically significant buildings all forming a unique architectural assembly, considered to be the most beautiful in Europe. Krakow is a treasury of art and cultural monuments as well as a vibrant centre of the sciences and humanities. This unique atmosphere attracts to the city students, artists and lovers of night life.
The old, brimming with historic authority Krakow, also possess its second face - it is the capital of night life in Poland, with hundreds of clubs and cafes being its life's veins into the late hours of the night.
Programme:
1st day:
Arrival in Krakow, transfer to hotel and check-in. Dinner followed by free time for one's own activities.
2nd day:
morning: Breakfast in the hotel, sightseeing of Krakow including the king's palace Wawel with its cathedral, the place where for centuries kings were crowed and their remains laid to rest, the market square the largest of it kind in medieval Europe, St. Mary's church with its beautifully decorated interior and famous alter carved by Vit Stoss. The university district and the gothic Collegium Maius
afternoon: Free time for one's own activities followed by a visit to Wieliczka - a one of a kind historic artefact of medieval industrialisation, a still functioning salt mine with countless underground passages, caves, lakes, halls and a unique chapel, all adorned with figures, statues and chandeliers, all carved from crystal salt.
Return to Krakow
3rd day:
morning: Breakfast, travel to Auschwitz-Birkenau - territory of
extermination: visit to the museum and grounds of the former World War II concentration camp, the place where a million people of many
nationalities, though mostly Jews, died in the gas chambers
afternoon: Lunch. Travel to Czestochowa, visit to the Paulinow convent,the holiest place for Polish Catholics with the famous icon of the Black Madonna. Travel to Warsaw.
evening: Arrival in Warsaw, hotel check-in, dinner
4th day:
morning: sightseeing of Warsaw, visit to the Palace of Culture and Science, Nowy Swiat - a representative street of the city, Lazienki, a beautiful park in the capitol with a monument to Frederic Chopin followed by the Old Town, Palace Square and the monument to the Hero's of the ghetto uprising of 1944.
afternoon: Free time for one's own activities with the option of visiting the Royal Castle.
evening: Concert of Chopin's music.
5th day:
morning: departure from Warsaw
