DAY 1: USA - KRAKOW
Board a transatlantic flight bound for Poland.
DAY 2: KRAKOW
Welcome to one of Poland’s ancient cities. Our tour escort will be waiting at the airport to greet us and transfer us to our Hotel. Once checked in, you will have free time before the welcome dinner at the hotel.(BB) (D)
DAY 3: KRAKOW – WIELICZKA – LAGIEWNIKI - KRAKOW
After breakfast, a visit to one of the oldest salt mines in Europe, The Wieliczka Salt Mines (a depth of 327 meters, and over 300 km long, creating a vast underground network of tunnels, shafts, and chambers.) An afternoon visit to the Shrine of St Faustina (Beautiful tribute to the Saint of Divine Mercy) and to the Chapel where she is buried; we will be taking part in the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Return to Krakow for Dinner and Folk Show at Jama Michalika.(BB (D)
DAY 4: KRAKOW
After breakfast, we start the day with Mass at the Capuchin Monastery. We will follow the royal route to visit the Wawel Royal Castle; home to three dynasties of Poland’s monarchs where a local guide will take us on a tour of the royal chambers. Before lunch we will have a chance to take a tour of Rakowicki Cemetary. Here in this centuries-old cemetery Pope John Paul II's parents and brother are resting in peace. Next is the Kazimierz Jewish District, one of the major sites where historical monuments and artifacts of Christian and Jewish cultures are gathered. Here you will find mouth-watering local dishes for lunch. After lunch we will go tour Pope John Paul II museum. Dinner on your own. (BB) (Dinner on your own)
DAY 5: KRAKOW - OSWIECIM
After breakfast, and Mass we head for Auschwitz, located in Oswiecim outside of Krakow, the largest of the Nazi concentration camps and extermination centers. Here you will see the cell that imprisoned St Maximilian Kolbe and the Martyrdom Museum recalling the horrors of the Holocaust. Then back to the Medieval Old Town Square, one of the largest and beautiful historic squares in Europe. Lined with cafes and shops surrounded by historical buildings and Churches, a great way to spend your free time before dinner! (BB (D)
DAY 6: WADOWICE – CZESTOCHOWA- KRAKOW
After breakfast, and Mass we will visit Jasna Monastery with the Black Madonna. This is one of the most important places of religious worship in the Christian world, a tradition of pilgrimages that goes back to the 14th century. Our Holy Father has frequently visited Jasna Monastery, known as Shrine of the Black Madonna. In the Monastery we will see the Treasury, which displays a wide variety of objects that have been donated to the Jasna Monastery over the centuries by people from around the world. The collection is priceless, and includes a dazzling variety of religious artifacts. Next we will visit the Polish Chapel of Our Lady of Czestochowa. The Chapel is behind an iron gate, made by Alberto Bisello di Perugia (1958), with two crowned eagles that are the emblem of Poland. After lunch we will visit the Knights' Hall and adjacent rooms to it, which offers a collection of classical art, paintings as well as modern art. Then off to 7 Koscielna Street, a historic house museum that preserves a collection of objects that belonged to the pope’s family. The museum commemorates John Paul II’s life and his work in Poland until he left Krakow for the Vatican in 1978. We will visit the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, where the future John Paul II grew up in its shadow, was baptized a Catholic and later confirmed in it, served as an altar boy and prayed daily here before its miraculous picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. The left aisle contains a baptismal font where the baby Karol Wojtyla was baptized. Back to Krakow for dinner and overnight. (BB (D)