Discovering Poland Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw & Kraków

What's Included

• Accommodation

  Stay in comfort at the Hotel Mercure Warszawa Grand in Warsaw, the Radisson Blu Hotel, Old Town in Warsaw, The Bridge Wroclaw MGallery in Gdansk, and Mercure Krakow Old Town in Kraków, offering a blend of modern amenities and traditional charm.

• Transport

  Travel through Poland with ease, including a scenic train journey from Gdansk to Wroclaw, allowing you to experience the picturesque countryside and vibrant cities in comfort.

• Meals

  Enjoy traditional Polish cuisine during the tour, including a welcome dinner in a traditional Polish restaurant and a folklore show and dinner with wine and beer.

• Guided Tours

  Embark on guided tours of Warsaw, Malbork Castle, Gdansk, Wroclaw, Kraków, and Auschwitz with local experts.

• Cultural Experiences

  Immerse yourself in Polish culture during a folklore show and dinner, and explore the history of the Solidarity movement at the Gdansk Shipyards.

What's Not Included

• Optional Excursions

  Optional excursions such as a full-day tour to Poland’s countryside or a visit to the seaside resort town of Sopot are not included.
  
  

• Personal Expenses

  Personal expenses such as shopping, additional meals, and drinks outside of the included meals are not covered.
  
  

• Travel Insurance

  Travel insurance is not included and is recommended to be purchased separately.
  
  

• Flights

  International and domestic flights to and from Poland are not included in the tour package.
  
  

Experiences

Visit the Jasna Góra monastery to witness the world-famous Black Madonna.Explore the poignant history of Auschwitz.

Options

Wroclaw: Church of Peace & Countryside Meal Travel through the Silesian heartland to the towns of Jawor and Swidnica, home to the "Churches of Peace." You will visit one of these churches whose names are derived from the Peace Accords of Westphalia signed in 1648 which ended the 30 Years War and which permitted Lutherans living in Catholic Silesia to build their own evangelical churches. We will explore the church which has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its masterful architecture and historical importance. Inside you will be treated to a private organ concert. Afterwards, you will journey to a small village in the heart of the Polish countryside where you will enjoy lunch and a wine tasting. Duration approximately 7 hour(s). Transportation is included. A minimum of 10 passenger(s) is required to operate this option.

Culinaries

Immerse yourself in Polish culture during a folklore show and dinner.

Must See

Discover the 700-year-old Malbork castle, one of the world's largest.A tour of Wroclaw brings you up-close to this ethnically diverse city.Get a deeper perspective of Warsaw during a Jewish heritage tour.

Choice Highlights

Warsaw This is the capital and largest city of Poland, located on the Vistula River in east-central Poland. The metro population is about 2.6 million. It became the capital in the 16th century, moving from Krakow when Poland was allied with Lithuania. It became part of the Russian Empire in the 19th century, and was not independent again until 1918 when modern Poland was formed. Its Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and has been well restored since the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. The symbol of the city is a mermaid, represented in the coat of arms and also by a statue in the Old Town Market Place. Warsaw is a sister city with both Chicago and San Diego.

Malbork Castle Explore Malbork Castle, one of the largest castles in the world. This UNESCO World Heritage Site was built by German crusaders and is 700 years old. Get a glimpse into the world of the Knights of the Teutonic Order with an expert guide.

Gdansk A Polish city located on the Baltic Coast, Gdansk is Poland’s principal seaport and the center of the country’s fourth-largest metropolitan area. The city was the birthplace of the Solidarity movement which under the leadership of Lech Walesa, played a major role in bringing an end to Communist rule across central Europe. Gdansk was largely destroyed during World War II, but was rebuilt in the aftermath and today is regarded as one of Europe’s most beautiful port cities.

Solidarity Shipyards The Gdansk Shipyard is a large polish shipyard located in the city of Gdansk. The shipyard gained international fame when Solidarity, a Polish trade union, was founded there in September 1980. Leading up to Solidarity there was a massive strike by 17,000 ship builders. This move was one of the first successful steps in a campaign of civil resistance that contributed to the eventual collapse of Communism across Eastern Europe.

Choice on Tour Embark on an excursion to the seaside resort town of Sopot -OR- remain in Gdansk and enjoy a boat ride on the Motlawa river and see this important city from a different perspective.

Wroclaw Known as the largest city in western Poland, Wroclaw is a city growing business center. The city was first established in the 10th century from its origins as the intersection of two trade routes, the Via Regia and the Amber Road. During the Napoleonic Wars, Wroclaw was occupied by an army of the Confederation of the Rhine, however the city was not affected during World War II. The city has over a thousand years of history that has influenced the culture and atmosphere. Wroclaw, today is currently growing in population, due to its innovative areas in business.

Jasna Góra Monastery The Jasna Góra Monastery is home to one of the most revered symbols of the Roman Catholic Church in Poland - the portrait of the Black Madonna of Czestochowa. This painting of Our Lady and the Christ Child is called the "Black Madonna" because of the dark discoloration that has occurred over centuries as candle soot collected on its surface. The story goes that St. Luke the Evangelist created this work of art while standing on a plank from a table built by Jesus. Today, the painting is recognized as miraculous. Over the centuries there have been many reports of pilgrims experiencing miracles in its presence. Records of these miracles are stored in a monastery church.

Black Madonna Black Madonna or the Black Virgin is a statue or painting of Mary in which she is depicted with dark skin, especially those created in Europe in the medieval period or earlier. Black Madonnas are typically found in Catholic countries and the icons are Byzantine in style. The Black Madonna in Poland is housed at the Jasna Gora Monastery. It is a four foot high painting depicting the Virgin Mary as the “Hodegetria” (One Who Shows the Way). The icon of the Black Madonna has been intimately associated with Poland for the past 600 years. The origins of the icon however are unknown due to the fact that the original image was painted over after being damaged by Hussite raiders in 1430. According to various legends, the icon traces its origin back to St. Luke, who painted it on a cedar table top from the house of the Holy Family. The same legend says that the painting was discovered in Jerusalem in 326 by St. Helena.

Kraków A city that has grown from a Stone Age settlement to Poland’s second most important city, Kraków is one of the oldest cities in Poland, dating back to the 7th century. The historic city has traditionally been one of the leading centers of Polish academic, cultural and artistic life and is one of Poland’s most important economic hubs. The 15th and 16th centuries were known as Poland’s Golden Age, when many works of Polish renaissance art and architecture were created. In 1978, UNESCO placed Krakow Old Town on the first-ever list of World Heritage Sites. In Kraków visitors will see notable renaissance buildings, synagogues, as well as modern buildings featuring new architectural styles.

Auschwitz This town was called Oswiecim by the Poles, and in 1940 the Nazi occupiers of Poland established a camp here to house Polish political prisoners, part of a network of concentration camps which began to appear in the 1930s. It was part of a large network of camps by the end of the war. In 1941, the Nazis began a second camp, Birkenau, nearby to house the ever-increasing number of prisoners. Also in 1941, Auschwitz-Birkenau became the largest of the Nazi death camps, when mass exterminations began using Zylon B gas. The exact death toll will never be known, but it is estimated to be between 1.5 and 2 million dead, with as many 900,000 Jews in that number. The SS destroyed most records, and the estimates have been put together from many other sources, such as train records. Joseph Mengele conducted numerous medical experiments here, especially on twins and dwarfs. The camp was liberated in January of 1947 by the Red Army.

Folklore Show & Dinner Guests can expect an entertaining night out in Krakow during an evening show and dinner. In a traditional venue, this experience brings together the culinary and entertainment delights of Polish heritage in the form of a folk dancing and singing ensemble while tasting regional culinary specialties and sipping local drinks. Polish folk music was collected in the 19th century by Oskar Kolberg, as part of the Polish national revival. With the coming of the World Wars and the the Communist state, folk traditions were oppressed or subsumed into state-approved folk ensembles. The sound is a homogenized mixture of Polish styles. Unfortunately the Communist sanitized the sound of folk music as a whole, which was not well received by many, and so many traditions dwindled rapidly. While folk music lost popularity in Poland, especially in urban areas, the tourist destinations has retained its traditions lively.

Mode of Transport

Travel through Poland with ease, including a scenic train journey from Gdansk to Wroclaw, allowing you to experience the picturesque countryside and vibrant cities in comfort.