Make your way to your local airport, where you will board your overnight flight(s) to Warsaw. Your meals will be served on board.

Welcome to Krakow, Poland! Upon arrival, make your way to the baggage claim area and collect your luggage. Proceed to the Arrival Hall, where you will be greeted by your tour guide. Transfer to your hotel (rooms will not be available before 3:00 PM). Following check-in at your hotel, your pilgrimage will officially begin with Mass. Following Mass, enjoy a delicious dinner and have the opportunity to explore the city of Warsaw before retiring for a restful overnight.

After breakfast, enjoy a guided visit of Krakow including the Old Town with its Market Square (the largest medieval square in Europe) where you can listen to the famous signal that is played every hour from the tower of St. Mary’ Church (visit to its altar, one of the largest Gothic altars in Europe). In this church Karol Wojtyla was a confessor from 1952 until 1957). Continue to the Cloth Hall (Sukiennice), Jagiellonian University, where Karol Wojtyla was studying, Collegium Maius, the Wawel Castle with its cathedral (presenting rich Polish history), in a crypt of Saint Leonard young Karol Wojtyla celebrated his first Mass where he took as his motto “Totus Tuus”. In the afternoon, depart for your excursion to Lagiewniki, the capital of the Divine Mercy. Through the mediation of St. Faustina, Christ passed on the message of Divine Mercy at Lagiewniki. While here, you will have the opportunity to visit the Shrine of Divine Mercy which contains images of the Merciful Jesus, relics of St. Faustina, as well as, the Saint’s convent chapel and her Tomb. Visit and celebrate Mass at the Shrine of Divinity, which was visited by Saint John Paul II in 2002. Following Mass, have the opportunity to pray by a relic of Saint John Paul II. Dinner and overnight.

Morning departure to Wadowice and celebrate Mass in the Basilica where Karol Wojtyla was baptized on May 20th, 1920. Visit the John Paul II biographical museum in his family house. Continue to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, often called the Polish Jerusalem. The 17th-century baroque church contains the famous miraculous painting of Our Lady of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska. The so-called Calvary paths lined with shrines, chapels, and small churches are picturesquely set up on hills and in the stream valley. The most important processions are held here during Holy Week (Easter) and on Our Lady’s Assumption Day. It was recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage site in 1999. Return to Krakow and enjoy the balance of the day at your leisure.

After breakfast, you will drive through the mountains to the breathtaking, yet small and remote village of Zakopane. Take a cable car ride to the nearby mountaintop. At the top, you will truly experience God’s magnificent Glory when you look out at the magnificent panoramic view. Following the many photos captured atop the mountain, head to the Jaszczorowka Chapel. This architecturally distinct chapel was visited many times by the young, Karol Wojtyla (Saint John Paul II). As a young boy, Karol Wojtyla often used the walking paths surrounding the Jaszczorowka Chapel for prayer and reflection. After you experience this beautiful site that assisted in Saint John Paul II’s Holy journey, you will continue your tour to the colorful, Krupowki Street. While on this street, you will have the opportunity to do some shopping at the local bazaar before returning to Krakow. Enjoy a beautiful dinner and an optional stroll through the old city before retiring for the evening.

After breakfast, drive to Auschwitz, notoriously known as a Nazi concentration camp during the Second World War. Upon arriving at the former camp, you can feel the darkness and sorrow that overtakes the atmosphere as numerous unspeakable atrocities occurred at this site. Additionally, while on this visit, you will have the opportunity to view the cell that imprisoned the Christ-like, St. Maximilian Kolbe, and visit the Martyrdom Museum. Return to Krakow and enjoy some free time for individual visits and/or shopping. Dinner and a restful overnight.

Morning departure to Czestochowa. Visit the Pauline Monastery at Jasna Gora in Czestochowa, the Polish Lourdes, the most important pilgrimage site in Poland with its famous icon of the Black Madonna. At the monastery at Jasna Gora, we’ll see the hall of the knights, the treasury, the arsenal, and a museum. In the afternoon return to Krakow. Dinner and a restful overnight.

Morning departure to Wieliczka and visit Europe’s oldest salt mine, which has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Return to Krakow for your last afternoon at leisure. Farewell dinner at a local restaurant. Overnight.

After an early breakfast and heartfelt farewells, transfer to the Krakow airport for return flights home.

*206 Tours Disclaimer:
Occasionally local religious and national holidays, weather, traffic conditions and other events may necessitate changes in the sequence of events or the missing of certain events/places. Though every effort will be made to follow the itinerary, it should be considered as an indication, rather than a contract of events and places to be visited.