7-day budget tour – Essential Poland

Day 1

Arrival at Warsaw Chopin Airport or Warsaw Central Railway Station. Private transfer to your hotel. An optional dinner in a form of traditional Polish food tasting. Overnight in Warsaw.

Day 2

After breakfast, a half-day private Warsaw city tour: the Old Town with the Royal Castle and the Old Town Market Place, the Royal Route with the Presidential Palace and the University of Warsaw and the Lazienki Royal Park with the Chopin Monument. You will also admire the panorama of Warsaw from the 30th floor of the Palace of Culture and Science. In the afternoon you will have free time at your disposal. An optional  Chopin piano concert in the evening. Overnight in Warsaw.

Day 3

After breakfast, a transfer to the railway station with our driver. Departure by fast train to Krakow. On the way you can admire the beautiful countryside from train’s window. After arriving in Krakow, you will be welcomed by our driver and transferred to your hotel. You will have free time for the rest of the day. Overnight in Krakow.

Day 4

After breakfast, a half-day private Krakow city tour: the Main Market Square, Saint Mary’s Basilica, Krakow Barbican, Colegium Maius courtyard (the oldest part of Jagiellonian University) and shopping time in Sukiennice (Krakow Cloth Hall) – once a major centre of international trade. Afterwards, a visit at the Wawel Hill with the Cathedral, the Royal Castle and the famous Wawel Dragon. Then, you will walk in the former Jewish district – Kazimierz, where you will see the most important places connected with Jewish history and culture, for example the historic synagogues. In the afternoon you will have free time at your disposal. An optional dinner with Jewish Klezmer music in a restaurant in Kazimierz. Overnight in Krakow.

Day 5

After breakfast, one of two tours to choose from:
– Group guided tour to Wieliczka Salt Mine – a visit to the famous Royal Salt Mine, visited by more than 1 million tourists each year. It was built in the 13th century and produced table salt continuously until 1996. In 1978 it was listed as one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites. At a depth of 135 meters you will walk through 3 kilometres of meandering corridors. You will see breathtaking chambers chiselled out in rock salt, saline lakes, timber constructions and unique salt scuptures. You will also enter the only underground church in Europe. The entire tour takes around 5 hours.

or

– Group guided tour to Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and State Museum – a visit to the the biggest Nazi concentration camp from World War II, a primary symbol of the Holocaust. It was a concentration and extermination camp built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany. The museum exhibition contains original documents, suitcases, shoes and other belongings of murdered prisoners. The tour also includes a short ride to Birkenau camp, which functioned as a war camp, extermination camp and place from which people were sent to labour in Nazi Germany. More than 90 percent of prisoners, mostly Jews, were killed there. Birkenau was mainly destroyed by the retreating Germans. Both camps are inscribed into the UNESCO World Heritage List. The entire tour takes around 7 hours.

Return drive to Krakow, free time for the rest of the day and overnight in Krakow.

Day 6

After breakfast, one of two tours to choose from:
– Group guided tour to Jasna Gora Monastery – a visit to the famous Pauline Monastery of Jasna Gora in the city of Czestochowa. It is the main Catholic centre in Poland. Every August, thousands of people join walking pilgrimages to Jasna Gora to pray in front of the famous Black Madonna painting – one of the most recognizable sacred images in Poland. The monastery is also home to votive objects connected to Saint John Paul II, e.g. a part of the cassock stained with blood with a hole after the assassination attempt in 1981. The Pope himself visited this sacred place many times. In 1991, Jasna Gora was the venue for the World Youth Day. The entire tour takes around 8 hours.

or

– Group guided tour to Zakopane – a visit to Zakopane – a small town at the foot of the Tatra Mountains known as “the winter capital of Poland”. You will see Zakopane’s main sights, admire the breathtaking panorama of the High Tatras from the best viewing point, familiarize yourself with traditions of Gorals (Polish highlanders) and try out local cuisine, including the regional oscypek cheese made of salted sheep milk. You will also have free time for shopping in the famous Krupowki street. The entire tour takes around 9 hours.

    
Return drive to Krakow, free time for the rest of the day and overnight in Krakow.

Day 7

After breakfast, a private transfer to the Krakow airport.