This is a SAMPLE ITINERARY, which may serve as a starting point for planning your customized group pilgrimage. Contact us to customize a tour based on your desired travel dates and destinations.
Day 1 : Depart USA
Day 2: Warsaw
Arrive in Warsaw where your escort will meet group and assist with transfer to your hotel. Check-in and time for short relaxation after the flight. Orientation tour of Warsaw with walk through the Old Town: entering the Castle’s Square where you will see the magnificent Royal Castle and King Sigismund III Waza column. Short stop at St. John’s Cathedral, thenenter the beautiful Market Square with many restaurants, cafes and souvenir shops. Cross the Barbican to the New Town with its smaler square, historical buildings and churches. Drive to St Kostka Church for Mass before returning to your hotel fordinner and overnight.
Day 3: Warsaw / Niepokalanow / Plock / Gogowiec / Czestochowa
Morning departure for Czestochowa. En route a short stop in Szymanow to visit the Monastery of Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. Pilgrims from all over the world come to Szymanow to honor the miraculous statue of The Lady of Jazlowiec. Continue to Plock, where Jesus appeared to Sr. Faustina in 1931, bringing The message of Mercy for all of mankind. Asked to do so by The Lord, Sr. Faustina painted the picture of His Divine Mercy with the inscription “Jesus, I trust in You”. Continue to Glogowiec, the birthplace of Sr. Faustina and to Swinice, where in the local church, Sr. Faustina was baptized. Arrival in Czestochowa. Check-in at your hotel and dinner. (B,D)
Day 4: Czestochowa / Piekaryslaskie-Oswiecim / Zakopane
Morning visit to Jasna Gora Monastery, the spiritual and religious capital of Poland. See the miraculous Black Madonna Icon and the Treasury Room with the impressive collection of precious gifts given to the monastery throughout the ages. Drive to Zakopane. Stop in Piekary Slaskie situated on the northern rim of the Upper Silesian Mountain Basin. The local cult of the Mother of God goes back to the 15th century. Since the 17th century it has been associated with the picture of the Piekary Mother of God which gained fame at that time for remarkable acts of grace and was recognized as miraculous. At the end of 19th century the Piekary Calvary was built on Cerekwica Hill consisting of 39 chapels and the Church of the Transfiguration. Next stop in Oswiecim to see Auschwitz-Birkenau, a former Nazi concentration camp. The site of this camp now houses the Oœwiêcim State Museum. You will see the Bunker where St. Maximilian Kolbe was martyred giving his life in voluntary sacrifice for the life of one of his fellow prisoners. Drive to Zakopane for hotel.
Check-in and dinner.
Day 5: Zakopane
Zakopane is the most popular resort in Poland and one of the most beautiful places owing to its picturesque location and fine spas. Follow a short part of one of Pope John Paul II’s walking trails. Admire picturesque landscapes of Polish highest mountains – The Tatras and visit the Hermitage of St. Brother Albert, founder of the Albertines Order. The building dates 1898, the work was carried out by Brother Albert and his first Monks, according to the design of Stanislaw Witkiewicz and also under his personal supervision. See the beautiful Jaszczurowka Chapel and the sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima, built In thanksgiving after Pope John Paul II was shot in Rome in 1981. Dinner with folklore entertainment in one of the Bakowa Zohylina highlanders’ inn. (B,D)
Day 6: Zakopane / Wadowice / Kalwaria / Zebrzydowska / Tyniec / Krakow
Morning departure for Krakow. On the way stop in Wadowice, the birthplace of Karol Wojtyla our Holy Father John Paul II. Visit the house where the Pope was born and the church he attended as a child. Continue for Kalwaria Zebrzydowska lying among the colorful hills of the Wadowice Upland. From far away you may see the monastery complex ofthe Bernardine Father with the early baroque church of the Angelic Mother of God. South of the monastery, is located the famous Calvary paths, with churches, chapels and wayside shrines The brotherhood was founded in 1613. As early as 1658 the picture of the Mother of God with Child (also called the Weeping Madonna) was recognized by Church authorities as “famous for miracles”. In respect to the number of pilgrims, Kalwaria Zebrzydowska is the second most popular sanctuary in Poland. Short stop in Tyniec to see the Benedictine Abbey perched on a cliff high above the Vistual river. The Benedictines arrived in Poland in the second half of the 11th century and it was their first home. Arrival in Krakow. Dinner at one of the restaurants beautifully located in the Old Town area. (B,D)
Day 7: Krakow
Drive to Lagiewniki to visit the St. Faustina Convent. Afternoon drive to Wieliczka Salt Mine, the underground world of salt. You will admire the beautiful chambers, chandeliers and monuments all carved in salt by many generations of Polish miners. You will also see the most magnificent of all chambers, the St. Kinga Chapel.
Day 8: Krakow
Start morning sightseeing of Krakow – The former capital of Poland. Over 3000 historical buildings from various periods have survived in this city. The city was also the scene of coronations and eternal resting place of Polish kings. Visit the Main Market Square – one of the largest towns squares of Medieval Europe, surrounded with palaces and old town houses. Admire the double row of 13th century merchants’ stalls later converted into the renaissance Cloth Halls. Walk through the Florianska streets leading to the famous Florian Gate and the Barbican – remains of the former city fortifications. Visit the interiors of St. Mary’s Church – the monument to the honour and the fame of the citizens of Krakow. This is from where the “hejnal” bugler daily heralds the arrival of the midday. But the St. Mary’s Church is mostly famous of its altar created by Wit Stwosz the master craftsman and his assistant in years 1477 to 1489. The artist portrayed the Death of Mary and the Assumption. The wings of the altar show us the Coronation of Mary surrounded by figures of the patrons of Poland, St. Stanislaus, and St. Adalbert. This masterpiece by Wit Stwosz is the most important example of late-medieval sculpture. Visit to the Wawel Castle – the royal residence and the seat of Polish kings. Right now the most popular and the richest museum in Poland housing several thousand works of art of greatest value. Among them the greatest Wawel collection of the Arras tapestries. Admire interiors of the Wawel Cathedral – used to be the scene of coronations and the eternal resting place of kings of Poland. Afternoon at leisure and time to explore this magnificent city on your own. Dinner at one of the local restaurants.
Day 9: Krakow / Studzianna / Warsaw
Morning departure for Warsaw. En route a short stop in a small town Studzinna, famous for its monastery and a church where you can see a copy of the Jacque Callot’s piece “The Holy Family’s Meal”. This picture is famous for the miracles which are said to have happened around it. It was also a place of pilgrimage and the great hospitality of the local people who always prepared meals for the people coming to Studzianna. The priest will show you the church and then invite the group for tea/coffee/cake and fruits in the interiors of the monastery. Arrival in Warsaw. Checkin at your hotel and time to relax. Afternoon drive through the Royal Route with its historical monuments, residences and churches. Short stop by the Holy Cross Church where is the Chopin’s heart places, brought here from Paris. Continue your drive though the most famous streets of Warsaw. Stop by the Royal Lazienki Park where you will see the famous Chopin’s monument and the beautiful Palace on the Water, a summer residence of the last Polish king Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski. Evening drive for a private Chopin concert in one of the historical interiors of Warsaw with a glass of champagne during the interval. Farewell dinner will be served at one of the local restaurants.
Day 10: Warsaw
After breakfast transfer to the airport for your flight back home.
