Warsaw, Czestochowa & Krakow


Sample itinerary
 

Transport & accommodation included:

 

·       Direct flight from Dublin to Warsaw with Aer Lingus

·       Transfer on arrival to your hotel in Warsaw with guide assistance

·       2 nights hotel accommodation in Warsaw

·       Transfer from your hotel in Warsaw to Czestochowa

·       2 nights hotel accommodation in Czestochowa

·       Transfer from you hotel in Czestochowa to Krakow

·       3 nights hotel accommodation in Krakow

·       Breakfast and evening meal served each day at hotels in Warsaw, Czestochowa and Krakow

·       Transfer from your hotel to Krakow airport

·       Direct flight from Krakow to Dublin with Aer Lingus

·       Luxury air-conditioned coach for all transfers and tours

 

Tours & religious programme included:

 

·       Half day city tour of Warsaw

·       Guided visit to the Jasna Gora Monastery and Chapel of the Blessed Virgin, home to the Black Madonna in Czestochowa

·       Excursion to Auschwitz & Bikernau concentration camps with local English speaking guide, headphone commentary and documentary

·       Visit to Wieliczka salt mines, the oldest salt mine in Europe

·       Excursion to Wadowice, birthplace of John Paul II and his childhood house which has been turned into a museum

·       Visit to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, the oldest and one of the most unusual Stations of the Cross in Poland

·       Visit to the Divine Mercy Shrine at Lagiewniki

·       Panoramic city tour of Krakow visiting Wawel Cathedral, St. Mary's Church, the central Market Square and numerous churches and monuments

·       English speaking guide assistance throughout the tour

·       Full religious programme organised by Joe Walsh Tours

 


Day 1-2: Warsaw

Upon arrival in Warsaw, our group will be met by the Joe Walsh Tours Pilgrimage co-coordinator and transferred to your hotel in Warsaw for two nights on a half board basis. We will take a tour of the city including sites such as the Royal Castle Square, St John Cathedral, Main Market, Lazienki Park with Chopin’s Monument, Belvedere Palace. The group will have private mass both days in one of Warsaw’s churches.

Day 3-4: Czestochowa

We will stay in Czestochowa for two nights on a half board basis. Czestochowa is where the Jasna Gora Monastery, Poland’s national shrine to Our Lady is located. The renowned Black Madonna icon has in the past symbolised unity and freedom to the Polish people. The Black Madonna was painted by St. Luke the Evangelist. It is known as the Black Madonna because of the candle soot residue that has discolored the painting. Our visit to the monastery includes the Miraculous Picture Chapel and the basilica. Private mass both days in one of the chapels. On the second day the group will have free time for your own personal reflection.

Day 5: Krakow via Auschwitz

Following breakfast, travel from Czestochowa to Krakow visiting Auschwitz en-route.

Auschwitz: Auschwitz Concentration Camp is a Unesco World Heritage Site and has been preserved as a memorial to those murdered here. It is estimated that between 900,000 and 1.5 million Jews and others were murdered in these extermination camps. The prison blocks that survive have been turned into a museum charting the history of the wartime Poland.

On arrival in Krakow, continue to hotel in Krakow for three nights on a half board basis.

Day 6-7: Krakow

During our few days in Krakow we will have private mass each day and we will visit the following:

Krakow Tour: We will enjoy a guided tour of this uniquely historical city that survived World War II and retains a charm and elegance reminiscent of its colorful past as an ancient Royal City. Here we will see the Royal Castle, Main Market, St. Mary’s church (which has the world’s biggest Gothic altar) Wawel Castle and Cathedral overlooking the River Vistula, Jagiellonian University, Barbakan, Florian Gate, Old Jewish District Kazimierz.

Lagiewniki, where Our Lord appeared to Saint Faustina Kowalska in 1931, establishing the devotion to the Divine Mercy.

Wieliczka, the oldest salt mine in Europe. Your underground route leads to salt-formed caves and grottos, and an underground lake and chapel where statues are carved from salt.

Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, the oldest and one of the most unusual Stations of the Cross in Poland. It was commissioned in 1600 by Mikolaj Zebrzydowski, the ruler of Krakow and an ardent Catholic. His plan was to replicate the layout of the Calvary in Jerusalem. The calvary consists of 40 chapels, set on the surrounding hills and built around 1605.

Wadowice, the birthplace of Pope John Paul II.

Day 8: Return to Dublin

This morning you depart your hotel for our return flight home to Dublin.

ITINERARY AND FLIGHT DETAILS MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE