Southern Adventure                                                                                        Warsaw • Zakopane • Krakow • Warsaw

9 Days / 8 Nights                                                                                             

Guaranteed Departures                                                                               

Included:

° Airport transfers

° 4 & 5 star hotels

° English-speaking tour escort & local guides

° Private air-conditioned motor coach or minibus (depending on the group size)

° Meals:

  breakfast daily, 4 lunches, 4 dinners (including one dinner with folkloric show in     

  Zakopane and one home-hosted dinner in Lowicz)

° Cake & coffee/tea break in Warsaw & Krakow

° Sightseeing tours as per itinerary

° Entrance fees:

     - Warsaw – Royal Castle

     - Czestochowa – Jasna Gora Monastery and the Black Madonna Shrine

     - Oswiecim / Auschwitz

     - Krakow – Royal Castle and Cathedral on the Wawel Hill, St. Mary’s Church

     - Wieliczka Salt Mine

     - Zakopane – cable car to Gubalowka Hill and a rafting trip on the Dunajec River

° Chopin concert with a glass of sparkling wine

° Luggage handling at hotels (one piece per person)

° Hotel charges and taxes

Day 1 Saturday    Warsaw

Transfer to your hotel in the heart of the city. The afternoon is free. At 6:00PM meet your guide and the rest of the group. Drive along the beautifully renovated Royal Route with its historical monuments and residences. Stop at Castle Square for a short walk through Old Town, and then enjoy a welcome dinner at a local restaurant. Your meal will include typical Polish dishes and a famous Polish vodka, “Zubrowka”.

Day 2 Sunday      Warsaw

This morning, we introduce you to the highlights of Warsaw. A half-day sightseeing tour includes Old Town, beautifully rebuilt after World War II, with the impressive Royal Castle, seat of the kings of Poland. Here the Constitution of May 3rd was proclaimed in 1791, the second oldest constitution in the world. You will admire some of its 300 rooms and see the Canaletto Room with 23 of his paintings, the Throne Room, the magnificent Knight’s Hall with six large paintings by Marcello Bacciarelli, the Marble room with its 22 portraits of Polish kings and the largest and most impressive of all the castle’s chambers, the Ballroom.

After lunch served at a local restaurant in Old Town, we drive to the area of the former Warsaw Ghetto. En route, you will see the National Opera House and Town Hall. We invite you to the famous Warsaw café, “U Bliklego”, to taste a typical Warsaw pastry called “paczek”. This evening you will hear the world famous compositions of Frederic Chopin, at a piano recital.

Day 3 Monday       Warsaw - Czestochowa - Zakopane

Zakopane is the most popular vacation resort in the Tatra Mountains. En route, we stop in Czestochowa to visit the Jasna Gora Monastery and the Black Madonna Shrine with its miraculous icon. Lunch at a local restaurant in Czestochowa. In the evening we arrive in Zakopane beautifully situated in the valley between Gubalowka and Giewont. It is one of the most beautiful places in all of Poland, owing to its picturesque location. Once, a small mountain village, Zakopane became a fashionable artist’s retreat at the beginning of the 20th century.

Day 4 Tuesday       Zakopane

Morning sightseeing tour of Zakopane, whose wooden architecture blends with the natural landscapes. Copied in other parts of Poland, it is known as Zakopianski Style. You will visit the Jaszczurowka Chapel, a great example of the wooden architecture in Zakopane, and the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima at Krzeptowki, which was built by the people of Zakopane to thank the Lady of Fatima for saving the Pope’ after an attempt on His life. Admire the breathtaking views of the Tatras from the top of Gubalowka Mountain and shop for souvenirs of arts and crafts of the Highlanders in the local shops. After lunch on your own you will have a free time. Tonight’s dinner will be served at a typical Highlanders’ inn with a folkloric show.

Day 5 Wednesday   Zakopane - Krakow

Spend a relaxing morning on your own and take a spectacular rafting trip on the Dunajec River in Pieniny National Park. Lunch will be served at a local restaurant. In the afternoon, we leave for the medieval city of Krakow.

Day 6 Thursday       Krakow

The morning sightseeing tour will feature Wawel Castle, home to three dynasties of Poland’s monarchs. Its stately halls and exquisite chambers are filled with priceless art, valuable period furniture and rare ancient objects. You will also visit Wawel Cathedral, with 18 chapels and the giant bell from 1520. This is the place where Polish kings were crowned and buried.

Following a short break for coffee and cake at the famous Krakow café, “Jama Michalika”, a place designed by local artists with beautiful glass-painted windows and interesting drawings, we drive to Old Town with its restored Main Square of magnificent houses and palaces. There, you will stop at St. Mary’s Basilica to see the magnificent wooden altar. In the middle of the square is Cloth Hall built before 1349, but renovated in the 16th century with many shopping stalls inside. The afternoon is at leisure. Tonight’s dinner will be served at a local restaurant in Old Town.

Day 7 Friday           Krakow - Auschwitz - Wadowice - Krakow

After breakfast, we leave for Auschwitz, the site of the former Nazi Concentration Camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, the infamous death factory. Today, a museum, silent witness to human tragedy. In the afternoon, we return to Krakow via Wadowice, the birthplace of John Paul II. After lunch at a local restaurant, we will see the house where he grew up. In the Basilica of Wadowice, where Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II, was baptized you can still see the special plaque that commemorates this fact as well as a stone font where the Pope prayed during His first pilgrimage to Poland in 1979. From here, we return to Krakow. Upon arrival, you will have free time.

Day 8 Saturday       Krakow - Wieliczka - Lowicz - Warsaw

This morning we drive to Wieliczka to see the underground world of the oldest salt mine in Europe. Admire the salt chambers, monuments all carved in salt by many generation of Polish miners. You will be fascinated by the fabulous St. Kinga Chapel with its beautiful chandeliers, a masterpiece of salt work art. After lunch on your own, we depart for Warsaw. On the way, we will stop in Lowicz, a typical Mazovian town famous for folk art: especially noteworthy are the colorful costumes and beautiful paper cut-outs. You will be invited for a home-hosted dinner by a local family, whose charming cottage is located at the foot of the former Lowicz Castle. You will have time to talk about their daily life and have your dessert in a beautiful garden. After dinner, we drive to Warsaw.

Day 9 Sunday         Warsaw

Transfer to the airport for the flight home.