The Many Faces of Poland

Meet your guide and the rest of the group in the hotel lobby this evening for a drive along the beautifully renovated Royal Route, passing historic monuments and residences before stopping at Castle Square for a walk through Old Town.  We will stop at a local restaurant for a welcome dinner of typical Polish dishes served with the famous Polish vodka, “Zubrowka."  

Overnight in Warsaw. (D)

Today you will be introduced to the highlights of Warsaw.  Our morning sightseeing includes a visit to Old Town and its impressive Royal Castle, the seat of the kings of Poland.  Old Town was beautifully restored after World War II.  On May 3rd In 1791, the Constitution was proclaimed at this castle, making it the world's 2nd oldest constitution, after the US Constitution.  We will visit the Canaletto Room with 23 of his paintings, the Magnificent Knight’s Hall housing six large paintings by Marcello Bacciarelli, the Throne Room and the Marble Room which has 22 portraits of Polish kings, and the most impressive of all the chambers in the castle, the Ballroom. Lunch is served at a local restaurant in Old Town before we continue our drive past the National Opera House and Town Hall to the former Warsaw Ghetto.

We will visit the famous Wedel chocolate factory for a taste of their delicious hot chocolate at the “Wedel Old Fashioned Shop."

This evening, enjoy an unforgettable musical journey through Frederic Chopin’s world famous compositions at a piano recital.  We will have Sparkling wine during intermission. 

Overnight in Warsaw. (B, L)

Our Poland tour continues as we leave Warsaw and  take the road to Krakow, Poland’s unique, medieval, open-air museum, passes by Czestochowa, the site of Jasna Gora and the Black Madonna, venerated as Poland’s holiest icon.  Our lunch today is at a local restaurant in Czestochowa.

On our way to Krakow, we also stop at Auschwitz, site of the concentration camp, where the Nazis killed millions in the crematoria during the Holocaust.

Overnight in Krakow (B, L)

In the morning we will visit Wawel, the Royal Castle, home to three dynasties of Poland’s monarchs.  These stately halls and chambers have priceless art, ancient objects and valuable period furniture as well as a unique collection of 16th-century tapestries. We will visit the 18 chapels of the Wawel Cathedral, real architectural masterpieces, and the location of the cult of St. Stanislaw and St. Jadwiga, Queen of Poland.  The Polish kings were crowned and buried in the Cathedral.  It is also the home of the Zygmunt bell, dating back to 1520 and ranked as the world’s largest.  After visiting Wawel, we continue to Old Town and its restored Main Square with magnificent homes and palaces.  We will stop at St. Mary’s Basilica to view the beautiful wooden altar by Wit Stwosz.  Cloth Hall, in the center of the square, was built before 1349 and renovated in the 16th century and has many interior shopping stalls. 

The afternoon is at leisure, or optional tour to Wieliczka Salt Mine. Tonight’s dinner is at a local restaurant in Old Town.

Overnight in Krakow (B, D)

After breakfast, In the morning time on your own. Visit to Czartoryski Museum that presents most valuable art collection in Poland, and one of the most valuable in Europe. “The Lady with an Ermine” by Leonardo da Vinci or the “Landscape with the Good Samaritan” by Rembrandt van Rijn, as well as many other masterpieces of not only painting, but also sculpture, crafts, military, applied arts are presented in the renovated interiors of the museum.

Lunch and drive to Zakopane beautifully situated at the foot of the Tatra Mountains in the valley between Gubalowka and Giewont. It is Poland’s most popular resort and one of the most beautiful places owing to its picturesque location. Once, a small mountain village, Zakopane has become a fashionable winter resort for artists since the beginning of the 20th century. 

Overnight in Zakopane (B, L)

After breakfast, we will enjoy a sightseeing tour of Zakopane.  The town is known for its beautiful wooden architecture style, called Zakopianski Style, copied in other parts of Poland. The Jaszczurowka Chapel is another good example of the wooden architecture style. We will also visit the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima at Krzeptowki, built by the people of Zakopane in appreciation of the Lady of Fatima for saving the Pope after an assassination attempt.  From the top of the Gubalowka Mountain*, you will have a great view of the Tatra Mountains. Here you can also find souvenirs of local arts and crafts of the Highlanders (Gorale) in the local shops. Lunch on your own, and afterward you will have some free time to enjoy the town.   Dinner tonight is served at a typical Highlanders’ Inn with a folkloric show. Overnight in Zakopane (B, D)

*Funicular to Gubalowka Mountain (subject to confirmation on spot; service depends on the weather and funicular technical conditions

After breakfast, we depart for western Poland and the historic city of Wroclaw. It is one of the oldest cities in Poland,  known as "Venice of the North," and the capital of Lower Silesia, located by the Odra River.   We will stop in Wadowice,  John Paul II' birthplace.  After lunch at a local restaurant, we will see his childhood home.  From the window of his bedroom, he could see a clock with the sign “Time flies, eternity awaits."

In the Basilica of Wadowice, where Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II, was baptized there is a  special plaque commemorating this fact as well as a stone font where the Pope prayed during His first pilgrimage to Poland in 1979.  We will have lunch at a local restaurant in Wadowice before we continue to Wroclaw – The 2016 Cultural Capital of Europe.

Wroclaw with its beautiful historical buildings is recognized today as a gem of urban Gothic-Renaissance architecture in Poland.

Overnight in Wroclaw  (B, L)

After breakfast, city tour of Wroclaw to include visit to Panorama Raclawicka - a single painting arranged along the interior walls of a rotunda as one unbroken circle and viewed from an elevated central balcony. The picture represents the battle of Raclawice, fought on April 4th, 1794 between the Polish insurrectionist army led by Tadeusz Kosciuszko, and Russian troops. From here, we drive to Poznań for your dinner served at the hotel and overnight. Overnight in Poznan (B, D)

Today, we will stop in the historic city of Poznan on our way to Torun. The first settlement in Poznan can be traced back to the early 9th century.  The first ruler of Poland, Mieszko I, who baptized the country, founded his church right here. The church was rebuilt and took on a Gothic shape in the 15th century.  Old Town with its famous Renaissance Town Hall is the most interesting part of the city.  Here we find the Historical Museum. In the middle of the attic, above the clock, you can see two metal goats butting their horns 12 times every day at noon.  We'll have lunch at a local restaurant before we continue to Torun.

Overnight in Torun (B, L)

After breakfast, we go sightseeing in Torun, the birthplace of Nicolaus Copernicus and one of the most magnificent historic cities of Poland.  Torun’s Old Town is on Unesco’s Heritage List for its magnificent 13th century Town Hall, beautiful churches and historic streets preserving the city’s past glory.  We will visit the Copernicus Museum before we have lunch at a local restaurant. Later we drive to Gdansk and take a stroll through Old Town before checking in to our hotel.

Overnight in Gdansk (B, L)

Today we have an in-depth city sightseeing tour of Gdansk.  Starting at the Upland Gate, part of the city’s former fortifications and one of its main gates, we pass by a brick building which housed the Prison Tower and the Torture House, relics of the 15th-century Gothic defense walls. Next to the Prison Tower we see the Golden Gate which opens on to Long Market, a beautiful street with grand mansions decorated with late Renaissance and Baroque facades, a feast for the eyes, where the richest burghers of Gdansk once lived. We’ll see a building used for Hanseatic League meetings at Artus Court in Main Town, known as the most beautiful Court, among all of Europe’s Hanseatic cities.  Behind Artus Court, we find the Tower of St. Mary’s Basilica, part of the largest red-brick Gothic church in Gdansk.  We will drive by the elegant boutiques and gabled terraced houses of Mariacka Street before continuing on to Gdynia, where we visit the Oliwa Cathedral, famous for its unique pipe organ, for a concert.  After the concert, we will have lunch at a local restaurant before continuing to Sopot, a famous and fashionable seaside resort and home of the oldest and longest wooden pier in Europe. You will have some free time in the afternoon for shopping for Baltic arts and crafts and unique amber jewelry. Overnight in Gdansk (B, L)

After breakfast, we drive to Olsztyn. We stop at the Teutonic Knights Castle in Malbork. It is the largest brick building in Europe and one of Poland’s greatest tourist attractions. Lunch is served at a local restaurant.  We reach the town of Olsztyn in the afternoon,  located in a region of lakes and forests. We will visit Old Town, encircled by fortified walls. Our dinner tonight is an outdoor picnic with folkloric entertainment in Gietrzwlad.

Overnight in Olsztyn (B, L, D)

This morning we return to Warsaw but our POland tour is not over yet. We'll stop on the way to visit the Ethnographic Park in Olsztynek, and the Museum of Folk Architecture, one of the oldest open-air museums in Europe.  The Museum is a collection of houses, barns, windmills and other traditional buildings.  Some of the more interesting attractions at the Ethnographical Park are the interiors of old houses, the evangelical church, a smithy, a pottery stand and a  Dutch windmill. The objective of the Museum is to preserve the legacy of the past for future generations and to encourage the study of the rich cultural and spiritual values of the past.  We will stop in Lowicz in the afternoon on our way to Warsaw.  Lowicz is a typical Mazovian town famous for folk art: especially noteworthy are the colorful costumes and beautiful paper cut-outs.

A local family invites you to dinner in their home at the foot of the former Lowicz Castle. Enjoy a typical Polish welcome of bread and salt before being served by the young married couple in their lovely house. Chat with them about their daily life and have your dessert outside in a beautiful garden. After dinner, we drive to Warsaw.

Overnight in Warsaw (B, D)

After breakfast, optional transfer to the airport for your flight home. (B)