Easter Tour

EASTER TOUR ( 6 days / 5 nights )

WARSAW (2) – Czestochowa – KRAKOW (3)

with Lagiewniki, Wadowice, Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, Wieliczka and Auschwitz

Day 1 ( Thursday ) – WARSAW ( D)

Arrival Warsaw, transfer to the hotel, check in
In the afternoon visit to Royal Castle or Lazienki Palace
Dinner and overnight at the hotel in Warsaw
Optional : Holy Mass at Stanislaw Kostka Church where Father Jerzy Popieluszko, murdered by agents of the communist secret police in 1984 is buried

Day 2 ( Good Friday ) – WARSAW ( B, D )

After breakfast half day sightseeing of Warsaw including Old Town ( UNESCO list 1980) with Market Square and Royal Castle. Drive along Royal Route with numerous palaces and residences to Lazienki park with Chopin statue and Palace on the Water . Visit Pilsudski Square with Monument of Unknown Soldier and former Jewish Ghetto area. Admire the panorama of Warsaw from the deck on 30^th floor of Palace of Culture & Science
Afternoon free
Optional :
catholic route of Warsaw ( visiting St. John cathedral, Holy Cross Church, St. Kostka Church and Father Popieluszko grave, Congregation of the Divine Mother of Mercy on Zytnia Street where sister Faustina entered the convent, Temple of the providence of God in Wilanow – under construction etc
visit Niepokalanow – small village 30 km from Warsaw, famous for the Franciscan Monastery founded by St. Maksymilian Kolbe, a missionary and a martyr of the Auschwitz death camp
Dinner and overnight at the hotel in Warsaw

Day 3 ( Holy Saturday ) – WARSAW – Czestochowa – Oswiecim – KRAKOW ( B, D )

After breakfast departure for Czestochowa ( 220 km )
Visit Jasna Gora Monastery – the destination of numerous pilgrimages of Poles and Roman Catholics of other nationalities to admire Miraculous Painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary ( Black Madonna ).Guided visit by local nun or priest – to be confirmed on request due to Holy Saturday
Continue to Krakow with en-route visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau museum of martyrdom ( UNESCO 1979), the largest Nazi concentration camp during WWII where 1,2 million prisoners lost their life
Dinner and overnight at the hotel in Krakow

Day 4 ( Easter Sunday ) – KRAKOW – Lagiewnki – KRAKOW ( B, D )

After breakfast half day tour of Krakow including places connected to John Paul II. Apart from standard city attractions ( Old Town with Market Square andt St. Mary’s Basilica, Cloth Hall ( Sukiennice, Collegium Maium courtyard, Florian Gate, Barbican Walls, Wawel Hill with Wawel Royal Castle and cathedral – the coronation and buried place of Polish kings and noblemans ) the route includes St. Florian Church – the first church in Krakow where Karol Wojtyla was a curate, St. Mary’s Church with a memorial plague commemorating the White March that took place in 1981, Collegium Novum of Jagiellonian University where Karol Wojtyla lectured in theology after WWII, the Archbishop’s Palace on Franciszkanska 3 where he lived for a number of years with famous “papa’s window” . Krakow’s Old Town is listed as a UNESCO site from 1978
In the afternoon visit to the Sanctuary of St. Faustina in Lagiewniki ( Shrine of Divine Mercy ) in the suburbs of Krakow. The church consecrated by John Paul II during his last pilgrimage to Poland in 2002 is one of the largest pilgrimages centres. Participating in the Holy Mass
Dinner and overnight at the hotel in Krakow

Day 5 ( Easter Monday ) – KRAKOW – Wadowice – Kalwaria Zebrzydowska – KRAKOW ( B,D )

After breakfast departure for Wieliczka – to visit an underground salt mine from 13^th century, world-famous attraction listed on UNESCO heritage list 1978
Continuing to Wadowice – the town where pope John Paul II was born and baptized. See the Holy Father’s family home which is now a museum dedicated to his life and activity and a parish church where he was baptized
Transfer to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska – a pilgrimage Bernardine sanctuary 17^th century complex with Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels and 41 chapels and stations of the cross on the hill recreating the Jerusalem from the times of Christ. As a young boy John Paul II went on many pilgrimages to the sanctuary. Kalwaria Zebrzydowska is listed on UNESCO list from 1999.
Return to Krakow, dinner and overnight at the hotel in Krakow

Day 6 ( Tuesday) – KRAKOW ( B )