Day 1
Arrival in Warszawa. Our guide greets the group at the airport. Private coach transfer to the hotel. Dinner, overnight stay in Warszawa.
Day 2
After breakfast we enjoy all day sightseeing tour of Warsaw. We walk around the Old Town (UNESCO) to see all its highlights: the Royal Route, Royal Castle and the most famous monument – the Sigismund’s Column, St. John’s Cathedral and the picturesque Main Square with the monument of Mermaid – a symbol of Warszawa. We drive around the city centre admiring all the landmarks of the capital, among them, the well known Palace of Technology and Science (a ‚compulsive’ gift from Stalin). We also visit the beautiful Lazienki (Baths) Park with the famous statue of Fryderyk Chopin and the 18th century Palace on the Water, the suburban residence of the last king of Poland. After lunch break we visit the Warsaw Rising Museum to learn about the dramatic history of Warsaw during World War II and to understand the phenomena of the city. After the tour we attend Holy Mass in the Divine Mercy Church in Zytnia Street – here in 1925 St. Sister Faustina entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. Return to the hotel, dinner, overnight stay in Warszawa.
Day 3
After breakfast and check-out we set off for Plock where we visit the Divine Mercy Shrine and the small museum with numerous memorabilia and documents connected with Sister Faustina. Here in Plock, the Polish Saint had her first and most important revelation of Jesus Merciful (1931). After Holy Mass in the Shrine we walk around the old town of Plock to see its monuments: the Town Hall, medieval Cathedral and the remains of the Benedictines’ Abbey. On this day we also visit two villages:Swinice Warckie with the shrine of Birth and Baptism of St. Faustina and Glogowiec, her birthplace (1905). Arrival in Lodz, a place where young Faustina spent 2 years (1922-24) working as a housekeeper for well-off families. We enjoy the brief tour of the city Lodz, known as the Polish Cotton Empire for its textile industry which developed in the 19th century. Here we see the unique complex of the 19th century industrial brick architecture and the highlights of the city: Poznanski Palace and the factory, Piotrkowska Street with Art Nouveau tenements houses. Free time, dinner, overnight stay.
Day 4
After breakfast we head to Czestochowa, to visit the St. Paul’s Hermit monastery in Jasna Gora (the Bright Mount), where the miraculous painting of Our Lady, known as Black Madonna is kept. During the guided tour we visit the complex of the monastery: the Holy Chapel with the Black Madonna Icon, decorated with numerous votive gifts, thanksgiving for the graces; the magnificent baroque Basilica, treasury, and the museum, old fortifications with the beautiful Way of the Cross. We attend Holy Mass in one of the chapels. After lunch break we set off for Auschwitz-Birkenau that has become the symbol of Holocaust and the Nazi crime. During the guided tour we see the Auschwitz camp: the exhibition in the prisoners’ blocks, the Block of Death (no 11), where St. Maximilian Kolbe died, the crematorium and the gas chamber. Then we move to Birkenau (Auschwitz II), the largest extermination camp built by the Nazis during World War II to see the Gate of Death, the wooden barracks, the unloading ramp. Arrival in Krakow, dinner and overnight stay.
Day 5
After breakfast we walk around the Old Town of Krakow (UNESCO) discovering all the highlights of the former capital of the Polish Kingdom. We focus in particular on the places related to the Pope John Paul II, retracing his life and mission: Wawel Hill with the magnificent Royal Castle and the Cathedral (here Karol Wojtyla celebrated his first Holy Service in 1946);the Main Market Square (the biggest medieval square in Europe), splendid St. Mary’s Basilica, where the Pope was working as the confessor. We also see the Jagiellonian University, where John Paul II was studying and his favourite church – the Franciscans’ Church. After lunch break we go to Lagiewniki, the world-famous Shrine of the Divine Mercy, the burial place of St. Sister Faustina Kowalska, the Apostle of God’s Mercy, who died here in 1938. We take a brief tour and attend Holy Mass. Afternoon at leisure. (Optional tour to the Salt Mine). Dinner, overnight stay.
Day 6
Breakfast. Departure for the airport.