Trafalgar Tours: Best of Poland
Day 1 - Welcome to Warsaw
Connect with Warsaw’s steadfast spirit – a city rebuilt from the ashes of World War II. After checking in this afternoon, relax and unwind or take a stroll through the city. This afternoon meet your fellow travelers and Travel Director at the hotel.
Accommodations: Hilton City
Meals: Welcome Reception
Day 2 - Discover Historic Warsaw
This morning, embark on an in-depth guided sightseeing tour with a Local Specialist. See the iconic and unexpected highlights of what has been the capital of Poland since the late 16th century. Gain a deeper understanding of how the city was rebuilt after the devastation of the Second World War. In your free time, you may consider an Optional Experience to Wilanów Palace.
Accommodations: Hilton City
Meals: Breakfast
Day 3 - Onwards to Coastal Gdansk Dive Into Culture
Journey to Gdansk, the amber capital of the world and one of the oldest cities in Poland, stop at a local farm and enjoy a Be My Guest lunch, filled with local and home grown produce.
Accommodations: Dwor Arche
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Day 4 - Gdansk Your Way
Start the day with sightseeing of the old town with your Local Specialist. Dive Into Culture during a visit to the European Solidarity Center which reveals the history of Solidarity, the Polish trade union and civil resistance movement. The rest of your day is free to explore Gdansk on your terms. Admire the architecture in the historic Long Market and wander down Long Lane to Golden Gate, or consider joining an Optional Experience to visit Malbork Castle, founded by the Teutonic Order of Knights in 1274. Tonight, dinner is served at your hotel.
Accommodations: Dwor Arche
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Day 5 - Journey to Torun and Cultural Wroclaw
You’ll join your Local Specialist for a sightseeing tour that will reveal the city’s Leaning Tower, the house of famed astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus and among other key attractions. Continue to Wroclaw, a former European 'Capital of Culture'. Tonight, enjoy dinner at your hotel.
Accommodations: Novotel Centrum
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Day 6 - Explore Wroclaw Dive Into Culture
This morning, join your Local Specialist on a guided tour of the city. Discover its complex history and see some of its most important sites, including Wroclaw Cathedral, the Main Market Square, Old Town Hall and Salt Square, a former medieval marketplace and today, a flower market. Dive Into Culture and visit the Baroque ceremonial hall of Aula Leopoldina at Wroclaw University. Visit the oldest confectionery in Wroclaw on a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® experience where tradition is cherished. This small and ancient bakery is home to a mouth-watering treat. In the afternoon, consider joining an Optional Experience to Ksiaz Castle and UNESCO-listed Swidnica Church of Peace.
Accommodations: Novotel Centrum
Meals: Breakfast
Day 7 - Off to the Tatra Mountains and Zakopane Stays With Stories
Your journey today takes you towards the foot of the Tatra Mountains, the highest mountain range of the Carpathians, which stretch across Central Europe. Spend some free time enjoying the town or consider taking an Optional Experience through lush countryside to explore the mountains and valleys for which this region is so famous. Tonight, you’ll warm up at your Stays With Stories accommodation, the Hotel Nosalowy Dwór, nestled right next to the stunning high peaks of the Tatra Mountains. You’ll soon discover why the resort is said to be the perfect place to rest and recharge as you soak up the breath-taking mountain views and a direct neighbor to the Tatra National Park.
Accommodations: Nosalowy Dwór
Meals: Breakfast
Day 8 - Continue to Kraków
Travel to Kraków where you will enjoy views of the Royal Castle and Cathedral on Wawel Hill during your tour with a Local Specialist. Your walking tour through the Old Town includes a visit to the Cloth Hall and St. Mary’s Church. This evening, perhaps sample some lively Polish entertainment with dinner.
Accommodations: Qubus
Meals: Breakfast
Day 9 - Kraków Your Way
Consider joining an Optional Experience to the Wieliczka Salt Mine, renowned as the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland and home to an entire chapel carved from rock salt, as well as dozens of sculptures. The rest of the day is yours to explore the sights on your own. Enjoy a slice of Polish Sernik Babci on the Old Town Square, or perhaps visit a traditional Communist era milk bar?
Accommodations: Qubus
Meals: Breakfast
Day 10 - Venture to Auschwitz and Return to Warsaw Dive Into Culture
Our journey this morning takes us to the former concentration camp at Auschwitz, a poignant reminder of the horrors perpetrated during the Holocaust. Traveling to Jasna Góra Monastery, we rub shoulders with Catholic pilgrims, who have journeyed to the famous shrine for centuries. We'll Dive Into Culture and see the iconic Black Madonna of Czestochowa. This evening, we arrive in Warsaw, where we enjoy a Farewell Dinner with newfound friends.
Accommodations: Hilton City
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Day 11 - Farewell Warsaw
Say farewell to your travel companions and Travel Director at the end of a wonderful holiday.
Meals: Breakfast
Krakow
Top attraction and the premier tourist destination in Poland, Krakow (dated English spelling ‘Cracow’) is a vibrant city, proud of its long and glorious history, rich heritage, and architectural beauties. For centuries Krakow was the capital of the Polish kingdom. Today it remains the southern Poland’s metropolis and the seat of the Malopolska provincial government. Important as a crucial center of business, culture, and education, Krakow is also famous for its restaurants and clubs. Krakow is Poland’s capital of culture and was named a European City of Culture in 2000. The city boasts the best museums in the country and some best theaters. It counts two Nobel Prize winners in literature among its residents. It is also home to one of the world’s oldest and most distinguished universities.
Zakopane
Several hours from Krakow sits Zakopane, a town known for its unique architecture and the role it played in WWII as a staging point between Hungary and Poland. Now, however, it is a mecca for lovers of the outdoors, particularly in winter. Zakopane has played host to ski championships and events since the 1920s. From Christmas through February, expect to find nature lovers skiing at Kasprowy Wierch or Gubalowka Hill, or traversing the countryside’s forests in the latticework of cross-country ski trails. Mountaineering and spelunking are also popular sports here.
Gdansk (Gdynia)
Historic Gdansk represents one of the richest, most lavish complexes of architectonic relics in Poland. The entrances to historic quarters are huge stone gateways guarding the main thoroughfare; the well-proportioned tower of town hall makes a powerful impact. The main square is filled with fine mansions. St. Mary’s Church is the world's largest brick church, with a capacity of 25,000. Dominating the waterside is seven-story Great Mill. Gdynia is the modern port for Gdansk. Near Gdansk is Sopot, one of the most fashionable seaside resorts in northern Europe during the 19th century and the country’s most popular health spa with its beach and flair for entertainment. Sopot is known as an important music center, featuring an annual Opera and International Song Festival. Gdansk Historical Museum has lavish decorations and fascinating exhibits. Maritime Museum features a model of every ship produced in local shipyards since 1945 and is housed in the massive 15th-century Gdansk Crane. National Art Museum, one of Gdansk’s highlights, boasts a collection of Gothic art and sculpture.
Excursions
Gdansk - Window to Freedom - Half Day Tour
Gdansk - Window to Freedom - Half Day Tour
In the Footsteps of Solidarity in Gdansk
Half day tour
In the late 1970s the city’s Lenin Shipyard saw the birth of the SOLIDARITY, the first independent trade union in the Eastern Block countries, which made Lech Walesa a household name and began the process of transformation across the entire region.
We will visit the St Bridget’s Church, a record of the Solidarity period with the tombstone of the murdered priest Jerzy Popieuszko, a collection of crosses from the 1980-88 strikes and a door with bas-reliefs of scenes from Solidarity’s history.
Then will have a photo stop by the Monument to the Shipyard Workers, erected in memory of the workers killed in the riots of 1970 and will continue to the „Roads to freedom” exhibition, a moving tribute to the Solidarity movement. The exhibition is a real highlight. Its vestibule is a replica of primitive shop of the seventies, with not too many products to sell. The key place is the hall where the delegates of the strike committee and the representatives of Polish authorities signed first the post Second War history of Poland agreement between the representatives of the people of Poland and the communist authorities.
Everything is original here, just to mention: the table, chairs, boards with demands, historic ballpoint that Lech Walesa signed the agreement with etc. In one of the halls , the visitors can watch moving documentary film, too.
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You will be picked up at your port by our guide and driver.
Gdansk & Malbork Castle - Full Day Tour
Gdansk & Malbork Castle - Full Day Tour
Gdansk & Malbork Castle
Full day tour
We start the tour from the Upland Gate - a fragment of the city's fortifications and one of its main gates. Just behind it, we pass by a baked-brick construction consisting of the Prison Tower and the Torture House - relics of the Gothic defence walls from the 15th century. The Golden Gate, situated next to the Prison Tower, opens onto the Long Market - a magnificent street, with Patrician mansions decorated with late Renaissance and Baroque facades - a real feast for the eyes!!! It is here that the richest burghers of Gdansk used to live. Next, we can see the Main Town Hall, with a life-sized figure of king Sigismund Augustus on the top. Beyond the Main Town Hall, we admire the Artus Court - a building used for Hanseatic League meetings, the most beautiful court in all the Hanseatic cities. Just behind it rises the tower of St. Mary's Basilica, a part of the most precious and largest red-brick Gothic church. On our way back we pass by Mariacka Street, with its gabled terraced houses and elegant boutiques, leading to the Long Wharf on the Motlawa River. At the river's edge stands the characteristic Gdansk Crane, where the tour ends.
Afterwards, drive to Malbork to see the famous fortress of the Teutonic Knights. The magnificent castle is located on the banks of the Nogat River. Protected by draw bridges, moats and mounds, the complex consists of 3 parts: the Lower, Middle and Upper Castles. Note the remarkable and original palm vaulting in the Knight's Hall. Lunch at a local restaurant located in the wing of the Malbork Castle.
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You will be picked up at your port by our guide and driver
A Pulsating Harbour - Gdansk/Gdynia/Sopot - Full Day Tour
A Pulsating Harbour - Gdansk/Gdynia/Sopot - Full Day Tour
A Pulsating Harbour - Tri-City Complex: Gdanks/Gdynia/Sopot
Gdansk, as fascinating and special city as one could hope to find anywhere, was once known as Danzig - name etched deep in European history. It is a major harbour, first German, then Hanseatic, Polish, Prussian, Free City and finally Polish. Desired by many, the city was often fought over. Indeed, it was the nearby Westerplatte that the first shots of history’s greatest war were fired in 1939. Later in the late 1970s the city’s Lenin Shipyard saw the birth of the Solidarity Trade Union, which made Lech Walesa a household name and began the process of transformation across the entire region. Gdansk has not forgotten its history. The lovingly restored buildings of the Old Town and waterfront provide picturesque and interesting surroundings, in which one may take a stroll, dine or shop for the city’s famous amber jewelry. In turn, the impressive Monument to Murdered Shipyard Workers gives the visitor a pause for thought about all that has happened since the 1970s.But further surprises await, for Gdansk is just the largest component of the Tri-City of Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot. North-south development along the coast left beautiful and unspoiled woods and forests on hills just inland, and allows the visitor to travel smoothly from place to place by road or by local railway. Required stops for all include Gdynia, the lively naval, fishing and commercial port with its historical ships, beaches and the Oceanographic Museum; Sopot, an elegant beach resort of villas and hotels famous for its musical and cultural festivals; and Gdansk-Oliwa, a suburb boasting beautiful parks and a cathedral, whose world-famous organ Poland-largest entertains and entrances all who hear it. Lively, attractive, cultured, historical: the Gdansk area is as varied and eternally fascinating as the sea, which brought its fame and fortune.
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You will be picked up at the port by your guide and driver.
Gdansk & Stutthof - Full Day Tour
Gdansk & Stutthof - Full Day Tour
Gdansk & Stutthof
Full Day Tour
We start the tour from the Upland Gate - a fragment of the city's fortifications and one of its main gates. Just behind it, we pass by a baked-brick construction consisting of the Prison Tower and the Torture House - relics of the Gothic defence walls from the 15th century. The Golden Gate, situated next to the Prison Tower, opens onto the Long Market - a magnificent street, with Patrician mansions decorated with late Renaissance and Baroque facades - a real feast for the eyes!!! It is here that the richest burghers of Gdansk used to live. Next, we can see the Main Town Hall, with a life-sized figure of king Sigismund Augustus on the top. Beyond the Main Town Hall, we admire the Artus Court - a building used for Hanseatic League meetings, the most beautiful court in all the Hanseatic cities. Just behind it rises the tower of St. Mary's Basilica, a part of the most precious and largest red-brick Gothic church. On our way back we pass by Mariacka Street, with its gabled terraced houses and elegant boutiques, leading to the Long Wharf on the Motlawa River. At the river's edge stands the characteristic Gdansk Crane, where the tour ends.
Afterwards, drive to see the former Nazi Concentration Stutthof Camp established at the beginning of September 1939 is the oldest camp of mass-extermination in Poland. The first prisoners of camp thought for "desirable Polish elements" were representatives of Polish associations in Free City of Danzig. Within the 5 years of camp existance 110.000 mens, women and children were kept and almost 65.000 prisoners died as result of murdering in gas chambers, beating, hanging, torturing and making medical tests by Nazi mad scientists. Stutthof was freed at the beginning of May 1944 by troops of the Soviet Army.
Nowadays there is the National Museum of Stutthof established in 1962 including post-camp buildings, prisoners' barracks, gas chambers, crematory, gallows. There is also permament exhibition dedicated to prisoners of Stutthof inside post-camp buildings.
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You will be picked up at your port by our guide and driver.
Gdansk: Gdansk & Sopot – 5 hours
Gdansk: Gdansk & Sopot – 5 hours
Travel with your guide from the ship to the beautifully-restored city centre of Gdansk. Take in the highlights of this historic city during a two-hour walking tour through the town. While walking along the so-called ‘royal route’, see Long Street and the Long Market, where the richest residents of Gdansk once lived.
The fourteen-century Gothic Town Hall, with its lavish decorations, also houses the Historical Museum of the City of Gdansk. Continue to Oliwa, the most northern part of Gdansk where the cathedral, one of the best-known buildings in the city, lies. A special attraction of the church is the splendid Rococo organ which was constructed by Jan Wulf of Orneta between 1763 and 1788. Privately transfer back to your ship after the tour.
Highlights:
- Walk along the 'Royal Route' where the richest residents of Gdansk once lived
Tour Duration: 5 Hours
Tour Can Operate: Morning/ Afternoon
Wheelchair Accessible: Please enquire for more information
Physical Activity Level: Light
Inclusions:
- Private transport by luxury car or minivan
- An expert local guide for 5 hours
- Entrance fees to all sights and museums
- All taxes
Exclusions:
- All cruise travel, personal items, meals and associated costs
- Gratuities