Poland - The Foot Steps of John Paul II 11 Days
Warsaw - Niepokalanow - Swinice Warckie – Czestochowa - Auschwitz - Tyniec – Krakow – Zakopane - Kalwaria - Krakow - Wadowice – Wroclaw
Itinerary
Day 1: Depart for Warsaw
Today we Depart to Warsaw with Meal served over board.
Day 2: Arrival to Warsaw
Welcome to Poland! Upon arrival into Warsaw, enjoy a panoramic view of the city. Then, transfer to your hotel for dinner and overnight. (D)
Holy Mass Church of S. Alexander (to be confirmed)
Day 3: Warsaw
Breakfast in hotel
Enjoy a full day of sightseeing in Warsaw, beginning with a visit to St. Stanis /aus Kostka Church, where Father Jerzy Popieluszko was brutally murdered by militant security police in 1984. See Pilsudski Square, Warsaw's largest square, used over the centuries for military parades and national celebrations.
HOLY MASS in Church of St. Kostka
Follow the Royal Route to Lazienki Park seeing the Chopin monument, enchanting gardens, and the Palace the water. Then, walk along the streets of the Old Town. Admire the Castle Square with its Royal Castle, the Old Town Market Square, and the Barbican and City Walls.
Visit the Church of St. Anna, where Pope St. John Paul celebrated a Mass for the young people of Poland, and the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Warsaw's oldest church.
Finally, attend a Chopin pianorecita in the Museum of the Archdiocese of Warsaw.
20.00 welcome dinner at a typical Polish restaurant in Warsaw.
Day 4: Warsaw - Niepokalanow - Swinice Warckie – Czestochowa
Breakfast in hotel
This morning drive to Niepokalanow, the "City of the Immaculate Virgin". The Franciscan Monastery was founded in 1927 by St. Maximilian Kolbe, a martyr from the death camp in Auschwitz, and in 1980 Pope St. John Paul gave the church the title of Basilica. A statue of the Immaculate Conception was placed in a niche in the front wall of the Basilica. Meet the priests from the Niepokalanow Sanctuary and visit the museum of St. Maximilian Kolbe.
HOLY MASS in Niepokalanow
Continue to Swinice Warckie for a visit to St. Casimir parish church where St. Faustina, who spread the devotion of the Divine Mercy, was baptized. Head to Czestochowa for dinner and overnight. (BB,D)
Day 5: Czestochowa - Auschwitz - Tyniec – Krakow
ln Czestochowa, visit the Pauline Monastery of Jasna Gora, the most famous shrine of Our Lady in Poland and the country's greatest place of pilgrimage, frequently visited by Pope John Paul. The miraculous image of the Black Madonna is Jasna Gora's most precious treasure.
HOLY MASS in Jasna Gora monastery – Altar of Black Madonna-to be confirmed
Continue to Auschwitz, the Nazi concentration camp in which St. Maximilian Kolbe gave up his life for another man in 1941. Then, journey to the 11th century Benedictine Abbey in Tyniec to enjoy dinner before heading for the city of Krakow, where then Karol Wojtyla served as Archbishop prior to being elected Pope of the Roman Catholic Church in 1978.
After visit continue for CRACOW.
Dinner in hotel. Overnight.
Day 6: Krakow: ln the footsteps of St . John Paul - Wieliczka Salt Mine Visit Krakow
Breakfast in hotel.
Meeting with local guide for visit - in the foot steps of the Holy Father John Paul II. There are so many places connected with St. John Paul II, such as St. Florian’s Church where he was a vicar; the beautiful Franciscan Church, his favorite praying place; Franciscan Street with the famous Pope's window where St. John Paul II used to show up to talk with Cracovians during his pilgrimages to Poland; Collegium Novum, the main building of Jagiellonian University, where after WWII, Karol Wojtyla lectured in theology; and the Archbishop's Palace, which was his home for a number of years. Visit the Market Square, one of the largest medieval town squares in all of Europe. Enjoy a walking tour featuring St. Mary's Altar, the largest Gothic altar in the world, the Town Hall Tower, the Cloth Hall, the burghers' houses, and Wawel Cathedral, including St . Leonard's Crypt, where Pope St. John Paul II said his first Mass.
Then, transfer to Wieliczka Salt Mine, the oldest and longest salt mine in Europe. Your journey will take you 54 floors under ground to see the many chambers and churches cut out of rock. Your visit will include the magnificent Church of St. Kinga with altar pieces, chandeliers and sculptures made of salt.
HOLY MASS in the chapel of Wieliczka Salt Mines (something extraordinary!)
Return to Krakow for an independent dinner and overnight. (BB)
Day 7: Krakow: Divine Mercy Shrine LAGIEWNIKI
Today visit the Shrine of Divine Mercy, consecrated by Pope St. John Paul1 in LAGIEWNIKI. Here, the message of Christ's Divine Mercy was passed to St. Faustina. Visit the Shrine that houses the image of Merciful Jesus, St. Faustina's convent chapel, and St. Faustina's tomb.
HOLY MASS in Lagiewniki SanctUARY- Divine Mercy Image-to be confirmed
If not there we will have a mess in Church of St John Paul Baptism in Wadowice
20.00 Dinner With Folklore Show Live
Return to Krakow for dinner and overnight. (BB,D)
Day 8: Krakow: Excursion to Zakopane
Breakfast in hotel.
Nestled high up in the Tatras Mountains lies the charming resort town of ZAKOPANE, a favorite get away spot for Pope St. John Paul II. Visit the Shrine of the Holy Virgin of Fatima, constructed in 1999 in gratitude for Pope John Paul ll's survival of an assassination attempt. Take a cab / e car ride to the heights of Mount Gubalowka for a stunning view of the Tatras Mountains and Zakopane.
Afterwards in Zakopane, stroll along colorful Krupowki Street, the central mall lined with restaurants, cafes, boutiques, and souvenir shops. Then, visit the Jaszczorowka Chapel, which was visited several times by young Karol Wojtyla (Pope St. John Paul II), as it lies the walking paths where he often finished his walks for prayer and reflection.
HOLY MASS in Krzeptowki church
Return to Krakow
Dinner and Overnight in Hotel.
Day 9: Krakow - Kalwaria - Krakow - Wadowice – WROCLAW
Breakfast in hotel.
Continue to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, the oldest Calvary in Poland. As Pope John Paul II was born in Wadowice close to the Kalwaria, he often walked the Calvary paths and prayed to the Zebrzydowska Blessed Mother.
Continue to Wadowice, the birthplace of Pope St. John Paul II, to visit the house where he was born and the Local church where he was baptized and received his First Communion.
HOLY MASS in WADOWICE in Basilica where Karol Wojtyla was baptized
FREE lunch
OPTIONAL – lunch in restaurant in Wadowice with degustation of cake „Kremowka”-loved by John Paul II
Departure for WROCLAW (250 km)
dinner and overnight. (BB, D)
Day 10: WROCLAW – WARSAW
Breakfast in hotel.
Meeting in hotel with local guide for half day (4 hours) visit of WROCLAW -one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in Poland, in the south-west, on the Oder River, crossed by its numerous tributaries and canals, on 12 islands connected by 112 bridges.
Sightseeing of the 13th century market square (Rynek Starego Miasta), of impressive size (208 x 175 m), is the heart of the city Ratusz (Town Hall), located in the center of the square and is one of the most beautiful medieval buildings in Europe. It has a roof divided into three parts, a richly decorated façade and a clock from 1580. The interiors house the Historical Museum.
Ostrow Tumski - ancient island on the Oder River, today joined to the mainland, is the oldest part of Wroclaw. Once upon a time there was a fortification, later a castle, and today the Cathedral of St. John (Katedra Sw. Jana). The Cathedral of San Giovanni Battista with its two characteristic towers was built in the 13th and 14th centuries and became the first entirely Baroque construction in Poland. Inside is the Baroque chapel of St. Elizabeth. The panoramic tower allows tourists to look at the surroundings from a height of 56 meters.
The Piasek Island - accessed through the Piaskowy Bridge, the oldest in Wroclaw. Near the bridge is the baroque building of the University Library, on the extreme part of the Isola del Mulino of the 17th / 18th century. Beautiful view of Ostrow Tumski from here.
Departure for WARSAW
HOLY MASS in WARSAW TBA
Accommodation in hotel. Dinner and overnight
Day 11: Warsaw- departure
Breakfast in hotel.
HOLY MASS
Transfer to WARSAW airport for flight back to the USA.
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