Artistic Poland

DAY 1 WARSAW

Arrive in Warsaw and check-into your hotel. Overnight in Warsaw.

Day 2 Warsaw

After the breakfast, visit of the capital city of Poland. During this tour, we will visit the most important spots in the city and will have an opportunity to become acquainted with the sometimes-tragic past of Warsaw and the history of Poland. We will start our tour by visiting the Old Town, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the New Town.
We will continue our journey to Krasinski Palace, the Supreme Court building and the Warsaw Uprising Monument. After that, we will go to the Lazienki Royal Park where we will see the famous monument dedicated to Frederic Chopin where we will have an opportunity to relax in the beautiful rose garden and among the dazzling natural elements of the park. You will truly forget that you are in a major European Capital City.
In the afternoon get to know famous ceramics from Boleslawiec. We will teach you how to decorate a ceramic vessel just as the Artists in Boleslawiec do. We provide lessons so that your work can become something really special. The workshop covers the basics of decorating with Boleslawiec stamps, painting with brushes, and the elements of composition. The workshop lasts 60 minutes, and then the vessel is sent for glazing.  Glazing lasts from 3 to 7 days and only then the work is ready for pickup. It is also possible to send burnt works to any place in the world. There is a shop on site, where you can buy unique ceramics from Boleslawiec as a travel souvenir or a unique gift. Transfer to the hotel. Overnight in Warsaw.

DAY 3 WARSAW – SANDOMIERZ – MEDYNIA – RZESZOW

After breakfast, transfer to Sandomierz, one of the most ancient cities in Poland that preserves the urban plan of Middle Ages. It is known as the capital of the striped flint (in Polish: Krzemień Pasiasty) that appears only here, in the Sandomierz land in Poland. Due to its rarity, it is called “the Polish diamond”, even though it is even more rare than the diamond. The Underground Tourist Route is a part of several-story chambers and sidewalks under the Old Town open to the public. Their creation was favored by a thick layer of loess lying in this area. In the past centuries, hollow corridors were used as merchants’ warehouses, where mainly wine, salt and herring were stored. They also served as a refuge in dangerous situations. The demand for underground warehouses was huge, which meant that they were even 15 meters deep. After several centuries, when Sandomierz’s position was no longer so strategic, the dungeons were forgotten. Unused and unsecured, they became the cause of construction disasters. Scientists from the AGH University of Science and Technology in Cracow rushed to save the Old Town. After the implementation of a special program, the area of ​​a real, multi-story labyrinth of cellars and corridors was recovered. From the remaining sections, the Underground Tourist Route was created. Its length is now 470 m. The deepest workings are at a depth of 12 meters. Each of the cellars / chambers has its name, which refers to the history of Sandomierz. The numerous corridors and chambers carved over the centuries are associated with many secrets and legends from Sandomierz. The most famous of them talks about the Sandomierz heroine Halina Krępianka, who at the cost of her own life saved the city from the besieging Tatars. You can hear the details of the legend while exploring the dungeons. After the tour, transfer to Medynia for a special ceramic workshop. Transfer to Rzeszow. Overnight in Rzeszow.

DAY 4 RZESZÓW – KROSNO – BINAROWA – LANCUT – RZESZOW

After breakfast, sightseeing in Rzeszow. Transfer to Krosno – the city of glass.
Visit to the glass museum and its artistic workshops with a sample of the production of crystals in different colors and shapes, all made by hand.

Continuation to Binarowa, visit to the St. Michael Archangel’s Church in Binarowa – a Gothic, wooden church located in the village of Binarowa from the fifteenth-century, which together with different churches is designated as part of the UNESCO Wooden Churches of Southern Lesser Poland. Transfer to Lancut for a traditional Polish liquor degustation. In the afternoon transfer to Rzeszow. Overnight in Rzeszow.

DAY 5 RZESZOW – ZALIPIE – CRACOW

After breakfast take in the fine views of Polish countryside en route to the village of Zalipie. This picturesque little town has been enchanting its visitors for the past 80 years with its exquisite techniques of folk painting used by the locals to decorate their houses with colorful flower designs. Visit the Painters’ hut–museum to find various examples of traditional folk art of the area. After a stroll through the village enjoy a traditional homemade lunch. In the afternoon transfer to and overnight in Cracow.

DAY 6 CRACOW – WIELICZKA – CRACOW

Cracow is the cultural capital of Poland with Old Town listed as UNESCO Heritage. During the tour you would see Barbican and defensive walls with Florian’s Gate, the Main Market Square with Sukiennice Cloth Hall, St Mary’s Church and Town Hall Tower. We would proceed to the Jagiellonian University, pass by Archbishop Palace (where Saint John Paul II used to live) as well as St Andrew’s Church and St Peter and Paul’s Church to reach the Wawel Hill. Visit to the cathedral and Arched Patio of the Wawel Royal castle.

In the aftrenoon transfer from Cracow to Wieliczka the most beautiful and the oldest operating salt mine in the world (UNESCO Heritage). From over 700 years it was a source of Polish fortune and a physical fundament of culture. Today Wieliczka is the most willingly visited Polish tourist object with magnificent chapels, charming underground lakes and original tools and equipment. During this tour you could see a number of excavated chambers on 3 levels adorned with beautiful sculptures made of salt as well as a salt museum. Transfer back to Cracow. Night in Cracow.

DAY 7 CRACOW – ZAKOPANE – CRACOW

After breakfast transfer to Zakopane.

The Tatra Mountain is a beautiful section of the Carpathian Mountain range and the only one of Alpine character in central Europe. The whole Polish Tatras area constitutes the Tatra National Park (UNESCO Biosphere Reserve). During this tour you would walk through a village of Chocholow, take a trip by the cable and ground railway to Gubalowka Mountain and have a chance to stroll around streets of Zakopane, a town that is the heart of this tourist region. You’ll also go to a traditional cottage „bacówka” where you’ll try our traditional and delicious cheeses called oscypek and bundz made of sheep and cow milk. Transfer back to Cracow. Night in Cracow.

DAY 8 CRACOW – ZELAZOWA WOLA – WARSAW

The Frederic Chopin’s Heritage Tour is an obligatory route for all th e lover of the Chopin’s music. During the tour we will visit the places connected with the childhood and youth of the great Polish composer. Transfer from Warsaw to Zelazowa Wola – the birthplace of Frederic Chopin. Visit to the museum in a manor house in the park, visit to Brochow fortified church where Chopin’s parents as well as his sister got married and he was baptised there. Transfer back to Warsaw. In the afternoon a Chopin concert.
Nestled in the cobblestone streets of the Old Town of Warsaw stands a unique neoclassical concert hall with original “plaster stucco” walls, crystal mirrors, and stylish nineteenth century decorations.  As you walk through the doors, you will step into the era of Chopin for a two-part ensemble of Chopin’s greatest pieces played by internationally recognized pianists. During the intermission, you will be invited to a glass of sparkling wine, orange juice, or water. This concert is both a perfect start and/or finishing touch to a romantic evening in the Old Town. If you are starting your night with the concert, you may choose to end it in one of the many restaurants that our beautiful old town has to offer. Night in Warsaw.

DAY 9   WARSAW

After breakfast departure from Warsaw.