POLAND PANORAMA MARCH – JUNE 2025

Meeting at El. Venizelos airport and flight to Warsaw. Arrival in the capital of Poland. Boarding the bus and departure for the impressive first capital of Poland, Krakow. Arrival at our hotel. Check-in to the rooms. Departure for the oldest and most beautiful city of Poland, Krakow. It is a city-jewel, which hides treasures of Gothic and Renaissance architecture and tons of art. Transfer to our hotel. For a particularly lively evening, Kazimierz, the Jewish quarter with numerous shops that play all kinds of music, while in the old town there are many bars that play mainly jazz music. Overnight stay.

Breakfast at the hotel and visit to the famous Wieliczka Salt Mines, just 15 km. from the center of Krakow, which have a history of 700 years and more than 300 kilometers of underground galleries. One gallery has even been transformed into a chapel in honor of the Blessed Kinga, patron saint of miners. The "salt-carved" church has been carved entirely by the salt miners themselves, who even made the chandeliers from salt crystals. Return to Krakow. This is one of the oldest cities in Poland, one of the largest cultural, artistic and tourist centers in Europe, and is fortunately untouched by the destruction of the Second World War. In the following tour we will visit the Jewish neighborhood, Kazimierz, with its seven synagogues, we will see the impressive Royal Castle on Wawel Hill, the Cathedral with the Royal Tombs and the Bell Tower, the Jagiellonian University and the largest medieval square in Europe with the Mariacki Church. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, it is the church where the now-canonized Pope John Paul II served as vicar for a long time before becoming bishop of the city and later cardinal. From the bell tower of the imposing church, every hour, a trumpeter specially assigned for this purpose plays a melody that spreads throughout the square. The Renaissance-style building Szukienice, in the center of the square, the center of the textile trade for centuries, will pique our interest. Afternoon free to wander the narrow streets of the city, and enjoy a drink or meal in the dozens of bars and restaurants that fill its central square. Overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel. Despite the fact that more than eighty years have passed since the liberation of the inmates of the hell by the Russians, this name still evokes horror today. “Auschwitz” is the German name for the Polish city of Oswiecim, about 60 kilometers northwest of Krakow, where the Nazis transformed the old military facilities into the most horrific concentration camp. What shocks the visitor, after crossing the threshold with the cynical inscription “Arbeit macht Frei” (work sets you free), is the methodicality, the intensive study of the procedures and the construction of such infrastructures, in order to ensure maximum efficiency in this work. Our visit today requires a strong stomach, especially when we find ourselves in front of the exhibits with personal belongings, small shoes and clothes of children, many of whom were infants when they were murdered. The exceptionally organized museum is highly educational and acts as a serious warning about the dangers of totalitarianism and fanaticism of every shade.

Breakfast at the hotel. Today we depart and continue our journey to the western side of the country, to the Silesian region and its capital, Wrocław. Transfer and check-in at our hotel in the historic center with its wonderful pedestrian streets and squares. Afternoon free in the beautiful colorful city to walk around. Overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel. Starting the tour of the beautiful city of Wrocław, we will start from Piasek Island on the Odra River and continue to the large central square Rynek with the guild buildings and the old Town Hall, one of the most beautiful in Poland. Then we will photograph the famous Hala Silesia, the work of the famous architect Max Berg, and we will finish with the Church of St. Elizabeth, whose Gothic tower reaches 92m. Free time and departure for the capital of Poland, Warsaw. Transfer and check-in at our hotel. Overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel. Our acquaintance with the city begins with the Łazienski Park. Designed in the 17th century, the largest green lung of the city, has a total area of ​​760 acres and contains flowering gardens, monuments dedicated to gods and artists (the Chopin monument stands out, around which musical events are organized), fountains, lakes, amphitheaters, paths and bridges. We continue with the old town of Warsaw, surrounded by fortifications and is on the list of its world cultural heritage. We will see the Market Square, the Royal Palace, the Castle Square Plac Zamkowy, one of the few places that survived the Nazi devastation, the monumental Palace of Culture and Science, a gift from Stalin to Warsaw, as well as the Wielki Theatre, which houses the Opera and Ballet. Our next stop is the Jewish Ghetto, with the monument to the Martyrs of Nazi Atrocities and the new state-of-the-art Museum of Jewish History. Running along a series of large avenues and passing through the post-Stalin modern city center, we reach the Castle Square. This is an enjoyable route known as the "mile", which will bring us to the most important monuments and the most beautiful buildings of Warsaw. The Church of St. Anne and the Holy Cross, the Carmelite Church, the Presidential Palace, the Kazimierz Palace, the historic and luxurious Bristol Hotel, the National Library, the impressive University building and the Warsaw Castle stand out, while a little further on we will approach the house of Nobel laureate, Maria Kozlówka Curie. In the free afternoon that follows, we recommend a walk in the pedestrian areas of the old town, a visit to the ultra-modern Centrum shopping center, or a coffee in the city's atmospheric cafes.

Today is free and is a first-class opportunity to get to know the stately Polish capital in depth, starting from the New Town, which is just as picturesque and just as…old as the Old Town. Built in the 15th century, as an independent city, this district features lush green, quiet squares, restaurants with swings instead of tables and the whitewashed church of St. Kazimierz with its imposing turquoise dome. As happened with its “neighbor”, the New Town was razed by the Germans and rebuilt in the 1950s. Transfer to Warsaw airport for our return to Athens.