La Polonia sconosciuta

Day 1. Kraków

Arrival in Kraków. Check in at hotel. Stroll in the old town and the welcome dinner.

Departure for the nearby salt mine in Wieliczka with the underground world of chambers, corridors, chapels and statues carved in salt by generations of miners – a unique tourist attraction in the world. Next, short drive and lunch in Niepołomice Castle, a summer residence of Polish kings. Then visit the Chamber of Niepołomice Region and watch baking of cakes in an old, traditional oven. Coffee break and tasting the cakes. Continue to Baranow Sandomierski. Visit the sumptuous Renaissance castle and walk in the castle park. Further drive along the Vistula river to Sandomierz, a small, picturesque town with a delightful market square. Dinner & overnight in Sandomierz.

Sightseeing tour of the Old Town with the XIVth century town hall and cathedral. Further drive to Kazimierz Dolny. Check in at hotel and lunch. Picturesquely located on the hills and the bank of Vistula river, Kazimierz is a major tourist venue in Poland. You can admire the market square, with the wealthy grain merchants’ houses and a wooden well in the very centre. Within walking distance from the market square, the granaries are beautifully located along the banks of Vistula. Dinner & overnight in Kaziemirz.

Day 4. Kazimierz Dolny – Zamość

a former concentration camp where thousands of people were killed by Nazis during the war. Lunch en route. Arrival in Zamość. Check in at hotel and sightseeing of the town. Zamość was designed and built by the Italian architect Bernardo Morando. It was meant to be an ideal town-fortress. Now Zamość is regarded as a perfect example of Renaissance architecture with columned arcades, decorated facades and a magnificent Town Hall. Dinner and overnight in Zamość.

Drive through the picturesque landscape of the Roztocze nature park to Leżajsk. A visit to the monastery church boasting one of the greatest organs in Poland. A private organ concert. Afterwards further drive to Łańcut. Visit the famous Łańcut castle belonging to the world’s largest castle palace complexes. Guided tour through the palace rooms with art collections and the Carriage Museum including more then 50 horse-drawn carriages. Lunch at the palace restaurant . Arrival in Krasiczyn in the late afternoon. Check in at the castle hotel. Dinner and night tour by torch-light through the castle’s interiors, caves and crypts.

Drive to a small village Mrzygłód on the banks of the river San for a meeting with ancient folk crafts and folklore. Welcome performance by a folklore group and next a relaxing horse-drawn carriage ride through the village. Meeting with a local blacksmith and potter who will demonstrate their skills. Next visit the village grammar school and then lunch with regional cuisine specialities. Further drive to a town Sanok to visit an Icon Museum housing the largest collection of icons after the Tretiakow Gallery in Moscow. Then, visit the Skansen, an open-air museum displaying the different styles of wooden architecture of the region. Arrival in Lesko in Bieszczady Mountains for dinner and overnight.

Morning drive to Krynica via Krosno. En route, visit the traditional glass factory. We will discover the old technology of glass production. Lunch en route. Arrival in Krynica, the most famous mountains SPA resort in Southern Poland with mineral water springs. Accommodation at a SPA house with possibility of undergoing some wellness treatments. Dinner

Walk through the town market square. Trying mineral waters. Visit the Nikifors Museum displaying the naive paintings by a local contemporary artist. Drive through the picturesque landscape of Pieniny Mountains in the direction of Kraków. Lunch en route. Visit the XVth century church in Debno where you can admire the unique interior with the brilliant polychromy and wooden carving. Arrival in Kraków in the late afternoon for dinner and overnight.

Sightseeing tour of the Old Town including The Royal Way with its monuments. Visit the St Mary’s church with a majestic, wooden altar carved by Wit Stwosz, and the Royal Cathedral on the Wawel Hill, housing the tombs of the Polish kings. Tour ends with the guided visit to the Collegium Maius, the oldest building of the Jagiellonnian University where, among others, original astronomical devices used by Nicolaus Copernicus are displayed. Lunch in the Old Town. Free afternoon. Farewell dinner.

Departure