Day 1: DEPARTURE FROM MEMPHIS
Pick up at Memphis airport at the agreed time. Check-in. Flight with connecting flights to Warsaw.
Day 2: ARRIVAL – WARSAW
Arrival in Warsaw. Meeting with the tour leader at the arrivals hall of the Warsaw-Okęcie airport. Transfer by coach to the hotel. Check-in. Free time for rest and relaxation. Dinner in the evening. Overnight.
Day 3: WARSAW
Breakfast in the morning. We will start our sightseeing tour of Warsaw with a walk around the Royal Lazienki Park (Łazienki Królewskie) – the summer residence of King Stanislaw August, which consists of classical monuments and historic gardens. We will admire (from outside) among others: the Belvedere, the Palace on the Water, the Frederic Chopin Monument. Then we will go by coach through the Royal Route. We will see: state offices and embassies, the Senate, the Sejm, Aleje Ujazdowskie and the Nowy Swiat district. Then we will take a walk across the Warsaw Old Town with a tour guide. We will see the Royal Castle, the Old Town Square, the city walls, the Barbican and the Sigismund’s Column. We will continue along Krakowskie Przedmieście to the Presidential Palace (from outside), Pilsudski Square and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We will pass by the windows of the Palace of the Archbishops of Warsaw and visit the Archcathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist from the 15th century – the oldest Gothic church in the city. It is here that Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, the Primate of Poland, is buried. Dinner. Overnight at the hotel.
Day 4: WARSAW – WILANOW
Breakfast at the hotel. Then we will go to the POLIN Museum to learn about the 1000 years of Polish Jews’ history. We will visit the permanent exhibition with a local guide. Next, we will go to Wilanow, where we will see the baroque residence of King Jan III Sobieski – a walk through the palace park. At the end of the day we will go to the Temple of Divine Providence in Wilanow, which was built as a votive offering of gratitude by the Polish nation for the adoption of the Constitution of May 3, 1791 – the second constitution in the world, after the American Constitution of 1787. Dinner. Overnight at the hotel.
Day 5: NIEPOKALANOW – LODZ
In the morning, after breakfast, we will leave the hotel. We will leave Warsaw and head towards Lodz. We will visit the City of the Immaculate Mother of God and the church devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary the Immaculate, the Omni-mediatress of All Glories in Niepokalanow. We will see many reminders of the life of St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe in this place: the old chapel – the cradle of the monastery and sanctuary, the cell in which the Saint lived, and the statue of Mary, which Father Maximilian placed in an empty field as the beginning of a great work in this land. After the tour we will continue our journey. Arrival in Lodz. Guided walk through the most important places of the city representing Poland's industrial heritage (Piotrkowska Street, Manufaktura, restored and adapted old factories). Check-in at a hotel. Dinner and overnight stay.
Day 6: GIDLE – CZESTOCHOWA (JASNA GORA)
In the morning, after breakfast, we will leave the hotel. We will continue our journey to the south of Poland. We will bow down to the Virgin Mary in Gidle. We will visit the Dominican sanctuary of Our Lady of Gidle, existing since the seventeenth century, and see a tiny statue of the Virgin Mary famous for its miracles. According to legend, the statue was pulled out of the ground by a farmer and soon became famous for its miracles. Arrival in Czestochowa. We will visit Jasna Gora and the Pauline Monastery. We will see the Basilica of the Discovery of the Holy Cross and the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Treasury, the Knights' Hall, the Chapel of the Miraculous Image, the Museum of the 600th Anniversary of Jasna Gora, St. Roch Bastion, the Arsenal and the Jasna Gora Tower. Then we go to the Valley of Mercy where we see the first Divine Mercy Sanctuary in Poland. In the main altar there is a picture of the Merciful Jesus painted by the artist Adolf Hyla from Cracow. Check-in at the hotel. Dinner and overnight.
Day 7: OSWIECIM – TYNIEC – CRACOW
In the morning, after breakfast, we will head to Oswiecim (Auschwitz). Here we will see the largest of the German Nazi concentration camps and extermination centres. It is the only concentration camp on the UNESCO World Heritage List. In this place of such a terrible extermination, which brought death to four million people from various nations, Father Maximilian Kolbe won a spiritual victory similar to the victory of Christ himself, giving himself voluntarily to die in the starvation bunker – for his brother. After this reflective visit we will drive to Tyniec. This is where you will find the Benedictine Abbey – an almost thousand-year-old abbey situated picturesquely on a rock giving a breathtaking view over the bend of the Vistula River. It is a testimony to the oldest Christian roots of Poland. To this day, the monks lead a modest life here, devoted to God, and are very willing to host pilgrims, showing them this unusual place. Apart from the spiritual feast, you can also taste the wonderful Benedictine delicacies, traditionally made here by successive generations. After the visit, arrival in Cracow. Dinner. Accommodation in a hotel. Overnight.
Day 8: CRACOW
In the morning, after breakfast, we will visit the former capital of Poland. We will start our visit to the city from the Wawel Hill. The Wawel Cathedral is the coronation and burial place of Polish kings and saints, and it was here that Karol Wojtyla celebrated his First Holy Mass. Here you can also admire the magnificent confession with the relics of St Stanislaus made of 300 kg of pure silver, in which the reliquary of St John Paul II is also displayed. In the Wawel crypts, we will bow down to kings and great heroes. Then, walking through the most beautiful streets and squares of Cracow, we will visit places close to the heart of John Paul II. Just after leaving the Hill, at the exit of the Planty Park, we will pass the Higher Theological Seminary. Along the Royal Route we pass the Dean's House, where he lived as a bishop from 1958 to 1964, the Cracow Bishops' Palace, i.e. the Cracow Curia with its famous Papal Window – the seat of Bishop and Cardinal Karol Wojtyla from 1964 to 1978, then the Franciscan Church with its splendid stained glass window "God the Father" by Wyspianski and the famous papal bench. Then, passing through the university district, we will pass by St Anne's Collegiate Church and enter the courtyard of Collegium Maius of the Jagiellonian University, where he was a student of Polish studies and theology and where he received his honoris causa doctorate. Then we will reach Cracow's Main Square with the magnificent St. Mary's Church – with its famous altar by Wit Stwosz – where John Paul II worked as a preacher and confessor. In the evening return to the hotel, dinner, overnight stay.
Day 9: WIELICZKA – CRACOW
In the morning, we will eat breakfast, after which we will continue our tour of Cracow and the surrounding area. We will head to Wieliczka. This is where one of the most famous salt mines in Europe is located. We'll go down a shaft into the mine and take a 3-hour walk along one of the tourist routes. During our stay in the mine we will visit the Saint Kinga's Chapel located 101 metres below the surface. The chapel is impressive both for its enormous scale and the fact that much of its decoration is made of salt. Lunch in an inn located 125 metres underground and then return to Cracow. We will move on to Cracow's Kazimierz. This is the historical Jewish and Christian quarter of Cracow. We will have a walk through Wolnica Square to the Church on the Rock, then along Szeroka Street to the centre of the old Jewish town, where you will see (from the outside) the Old Synagogue, Isaac Synagogue and the New Square. In the evening return to the hotel, dinner, overnight stay.
Day 10: ORAWKA – ZAKOPANE
Breakfast in the morning, then we will drive to Zakopane, stopping in Orawka on the way. In Zakopane, we will take a walk around Krzeptowki, visit the regional cemetery on Peksowy Brzysk and climb Gubalowka, from where we will enjoy magnificent views of the Tatra Mountains. Then we will visit the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima consecrated by the Holy Father, which was built as a votive offering for the miracle of saving his life during the assassination attempt on May 13, 1981. The place is full of memorabilia and objects connected with the Pope. The last point of our pilgrimage in Podhale will be a drive to the Wielka Krokiew – a place of wonderful, moving, unforgettable meetings with the Holy Father and great successes of Polish ski jumpers. We will end our stay in Zakopane with a regional highlander dinner. Return to Cracow. Overnight at the hotel.
Day 11: CRACOW-LAGIEWNIKI – WADOWICE
In the morning, we will eat breakfast and continue our sightseeing tour of Cracow. We will go to Lagiewniki in Cracow to the Divine Mercy Sanctuary. This unusual place on the map of Cracow, associated with the figure of St. Sister Faustina, where St. John Paul II entrusted the world to Divine Mercy. Visit to the old church made famous by the painting "Jesus, I trust in You!", where we will visit St Faustina's relics. Visit to the cell of St Faustina and to the new Basilica of The Divine Mercy, consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 2002, then proclaimed by him as the World Mercy Centre. Next to the basilica, there is the highest observation point in Cracow, a tower about 80 metres high. At the end of the day we will visit the Sanctuary of John Paul II – a magnificent, two-storey basilica dedicated to the Holy Pope, with numerous chapels and magnificent mosaics by Fr Ivo Rupnik – famous, among others, for his decorations of the tomb chapel of Padre Pio in San Giovanni Rotondo or the Rosary Chapel in Lourdes. In the afternoon, we will reach Wadowice. We will see the town of St John Paul II, his family home (museum), the market square and the Basilica of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary – the beloved church of the Holy Father, where he was baptised. We will also invite you to taste the Pope's kremowki (cream pastries), which he warmly remembered during one of his pilgrimages to his hometown. In the evening we will return to the hotel in Cracow- dinner, overnight stay.
Day 12: RETURN TO THE USA
Early breakfast. Check-out from the hotel. Transfer to Cracow-Balice airport. Farewell with the tour leader. Check-in. Departure with connecting flights to Memphis. Landing in the USA. End of the pilgrimage.
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