Poland: In the footsteps of Pope John Paul II & St. Faustina

YOUR TRIP INCLUDES:

Round-trip air from New York to Poland

7 nights in 4-star hotels as follows: (or similar)
2 nights: Radisson SAS, Warsaw
1 night: Mercure Patria, Czestochowa
1 night: Kasprowy, Zakopane
3 nights: Radisson SAS, Krakow

Breakfast and dinner daily
All transfer by private motor coach
Sightseeing tours and entrance fees
Local guides and tour escorts
Luggage handling and hotel taxes
Catholic Priest and Mass daily
Flight bag & portfolio of all travel documents

Not Included:

Lunches, Beverages with dinners, Airport tax (approx. $200-$380). Travel Insurance optional at $99-$219. Tips to your guide & driver ($6 per day). Items of a personal nature.

Sample Day-by-Day Itinerary:

Day 1 – USA- Warsaw

Board a transatlantic flight bound for Poland. Dinner served on board.

Day 2 – Warsaw

Your tour director is at the airport to warmly greet you and soon you’re comfortably settled at your hotel. Upon arrival Mass at St. James Church, the church St. Faustina went when she arrived in Warsaw. The rest of the day is to relax. This evening enjoy welcome dinner and a show at a local restaurant.

Day 3 -Warsaw

After breakfast we visit all the landmarks of Warsaw: Old Town, Market Square, the Barbican, the Warsaw Ghetto monument, Lazienki Park, the Chopin statue, and the magnificently restored Royal Castle. Visit and Mass at Visit 3-9 Zytnia Street where Faustina entered the convent. Dinner and overnight.

Day 4 Warsaw – Swinice Warckie -Niepokalanow Czestochowa

After breakfast, we travel to Czestochowa, with a stop in Swinice Warckie to visit the parish church St. Casimir where St. Faustina was baptized Helen Kowalska. Continue to Niepokalanow, see a franciscan Monastery founded by St. Maximillian Kolbe and home of Basilica of Virgin Mary. Next stop is the site of Poland’s greatest pilgrimage shrine, Our Lady of Czestochowa. Dinner and overnight

Day 5 – Czestochowa – Wadowice – Zakopane

Mass and Visit Jasna Gora Monastery with the Black Madonna picture. One of the most important places of religious worship in the Christian world, with tradition of pilgrimages that goes back to the 14th century. Our Holy Father has frequently visited Jasna Gorna Monastery, known as the Shrine of the Black Madonna. We celebrate Mass at the Pauline Monastery and venerate the priceless treasures contained within, including the Miraculous Icon. Next travel to Zakopane, with a stop along the way in Wadowice, the birthplace of Karol Wojtyla. Visit the house where the Pope, John Paul II, was born. It has since been turned into a shrine-like museum. We will also visit the church he was attended and was baptized as a child. Next we continue on to Zakopane, a resort village nestled in the splendor of the Tatras region. This afternoon we take a cable car ride to the nearby mountaintop for extraordinary views. Dinner and overnight.

Day 6 – Zakopane – Krakow

Before we leave beautiful Zakopane, for the great city of Krakow, we invite you to follow a short distance on one of John Paul II’s walking trails of the Zakopane region, a beautifully situated place within Tatras Mountains in the valley between Gubalowka and Giewont. Zakopane and its vicinity is something of a mountain folklore reserve, with many pearls of typical wooden architecture. Horse-drawn carriages will take you to Kalatowki (optional). Admire picturesque landscapes of Polish highest mountains and visits the Hermitage of St. Brother Albert, founder of the Albertines Order. A short walk along colorful Krupowki Street for some last minute shopping in the local bazaar. On route to Krakow we will stop at the Tieliczka Salt Mines. Upon arrival in Krakow, settled in, then perhaps a short stroll in the old city before or after your dinner..

Day 7 – Krakow – Auschwitz – Krakow

After breakfast we explore Market Square and hear the silver trumpet of the bugler from St Mary’s Tower. Within the Cathedral you may pray before the extraordinary Wit Stwosz altar. The surroundings of the square have remained unchanged for almost 700 years and contain buildings of historic value such as St. Mary’s Church with the famous wooden altar, the Town Hall Tower, the Cloth Hall and the burgher’s houses. Tour the Cathedral, Coronation Chapel and the Royal Chambers where a superb collection of Arras tapestries is on view. In the afternoon we go to Auschwitz, the notorious Nazi concentration camp. We will see the cell that imprisoned St Maximillian Kolbe and the Martyrdom Museum recalling the horrors of the Holocaust. Return to Krakow for dinner and overnight.

Day 8 – Krakow – Full Day Visit to Lagiewniki

After breakfast we depart for our day’s excursion to Lagiewniki. The capital of the Divine Mercy. It was here that originated the message of the Divine Mercy, which Christ Himself wished to pass on to our generation, through the mediation of St. Faustina. The Sanctuary houses grace-working image of Merciful Jesus and the relics of St. Faustina. We will visit the Shrine of Divine Mercy, St. Faustina’s convent chapel, and we will visit St. Faustina’s Tomb. Return to Krakow for our farewell dinner.

Day 9 – Krakow – USA

We leave Krakow for the return flights home to USA.

2007 Departure Dates & Prices
Aug 26 – Sep 03 Spiritual Director: Fr. Peter Dugandzic $2,899
Sep 12-23 Beatification $2,399
Sep 23 – Oct 01 Spiritual Director: Fr. Neil Buchlein $2,399
Oct 21 – 29 $2,399
Nov 05 – 13 $2,299

2008 Departure Dates & Prices
Mar 09 – 17 $2,199
Apr 06 – 14 $2,399
May 04 – 12 $2,499
Jun 01 – 09 $2,999
Jun 29 – Jul 07 $2,899
Aug 24 – Sep 01 $2,799
Sep 21 – 29 $2,499
Oct 26 – Nov 03 $2,499

In categories: Tours for Groups