8-day Jewish heritage & Holocaust history tour of Poland

Day 1 – Arrival in Warsaw

Welcome to Poland! Upon arrival at Warsaw Chopin Airport, meet your private driver and enjoy a comfortable transfer to your hotel.

After check-in, take some time to relax after your journey or begin exploring the Polish capital at your own pace.

Overnight in Warsaw

Day 2 – Jewish Heritage of Warsaw

Spend the day discovering the history and legacy of Warsaw’s Jewish community on a 5-hour private walking tour through the areas of the former Jewish district and Warsaw Ghetto.

Your journey begins around Próżna Street and Grzybowski Square, one of the few places where traces of pre-war Jewish Warsaw can still be seen. Continue to the Nożyk Synagogue, the only pre-war synagogue in Warsaw that survived the Second World War and remains an active place of worship today.

As you walk through the former ghetto area, see surviving fragments of the Ghetto Wall, visit Waliców Street, and hear the story of the wooden footbridge over Chłodna Street, often referred to as the “Bridge of Sighs,” which once connected the small and large ghettos. Follow the Route Recalling the Martyrdom and Struggle of the Jews, marked by memorial stones dedicated to those who fought and died during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Learn about Janusz Korczak, the renowned educator who refused to abandon the children in his care, and discover the history of the Gęsiówka concentration camp.

Continue to Umschlagplatz, the departure point from which more than 300,000 Jews were deported, primarily to the Treblinka extermination camp. Your guide will also introduce you to the story behind the monumental Ghetto Heroes Monument and the modern POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews.

The tour continues to the historic Jewish Cemetery on Okopowa Street, one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in Europe. Among its thousands of graves and memorials, discover the stories of prominent members of Warsaw’s Jewish community, including writer Icchak Lejb Perec, actress Estera Rachel Kamińska, and Ludwik Zamenhof, creator of Esperanto.

After your 5-hour walking tour, you can optionally extend the day with a visit to the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, whose extensive exhibition explores almost 1,000 years of Jewish life in Poland. Entrance tickets and an audio guide can be arranged upon request.

Overnight in Warsaw

Day 3 – Treblinka Memorial

Travel outside Warsaw for a moving visit to Treblinka, one of the principal Nazi German extermination camps established in occupied Poland.

Explore the sites of Treblinka I and Treblinka II and learn about the history of the camps, their victims, the prisoner uprising, and the extraordinary memorial that today marks the location where hundreds of thousands of people were murdered.

For an even more comprehensive experience, extend your journey to Tykocin, a picturesque small town that was once home to a thriving Jewish community, and Łopuchowo Forest, the site of mass executions of Tykocin's Jewish population.

This optional extension provides an important contrast between the rich Jewish life that existed before the Holocaust and the tragedy that followed.

Overnight in Warsaw

Day 4 – Warsaw to Lublin & Majdanek

Leave Warsaw behind and continue your journey east to Lublin, a city with centuries of Jewish history.

The main visit of the day is the Majdanek State Museum, located on the grounds of the former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp. Unlike many other camp sites, much of Majdanek's original infrastructure survived the war, making the visit particularly powerful.

Depending on your interests and preferred pace, the day can also include a guided tour of Lublin, exploring the city's Jewish heritage, or an extended journey to the Sobibór Museum and Memorial, commemorating the victims of the Sobibór extermination camp.

Overnight in Lublin

Day 5 – Bełżec Memorial & Journey to Kraków

Continue south towards Bełżec, one of the three extermination camps created as part of Operation Reinhard.

Visit the Bełżec Memorial and Museum, where the modern memorial landscape and museum exhibition tell the story of the camp and commemorate its victims. Although few physical traces of the original camp remain, the site offers a deeply moving space for remembrance and reflection.

After the visit, continue through southern Poland to Kraków, where you will spend the next three nights.

Overnight in Kraków

Day 6 – Jewish Kraków, the Former Ghetto & Schindler's Factory

Spend the day exploring Kraków's Jewish heritage and the places associated with the city's Jewish community before and during World War II.

Begin in Kazimierz, Kraków's historic Jewish district, where synagogues, courtyards and narrow streets preserve traces of centuries of Jewish culture.

Continue across the Vistula River to Podgórze, where the Germans established the Kraków Ghetto during the occupation. See important surviving sites and memorials before visiting Schindler's Factory, whose exhibition presents the story of Kraków and its inhabitants under Nazi occupation.

The tour can also include the Płaszów Camp Memorial, located on the grounds of the former Nazi German forced labour and concentration camp.

In the evening, you may choose to complement the experience with an optional dinner accompanied by traditional Klezmer music in Kraków's Jewish Quarter.

Overnight in Kraków

Day 7 – Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial & Museum

Dedicate the day to one of the most significant memorial sites of the Holocaust: Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Travel privately from Kraków to the former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp complex. During your guided visit, explore both Auschwitz I and the vast grounds of Auschwitz II-Birkenau.

See surviving barracks, historical exhibitions, original camp structures and memorials while learning about the prisoners and victims, the system of persecution and mass murder, and the history of the camp.

After the visit, return to Kraków for your final evening in Poland.

Overnight in Kraków

Day 8 – Departure from Kraków

After breakfast and check-out, meet your private driver at the hotel for a comfortable transfer to Kraków Airport.