Dates: October 7-10, 2024
Localities: Kraków, Oświęcim (Auschwitz), Wieliczka (Salt Mine)
Inclusions:
- Lunch for 4 days (October 7-10) and 1 dinner (October 9)
- Transportation (by train and/or chartered bus/van)
- Admission fees to all destinations and activities
Exclusions:
- Hotel accommodations (See note below)
- Breakfast and dinner (except dinner on October 9) are not included (See note below)
- Other meals or snacks not stated above
Registration Donation: USD 250 per person
Notes:
- You have to take care of your accommodation (October 7-10, three nights), breakfast and 2 dinner (October 7 and 8).
- You have to book a hotel room in Kraków yourself. We will give you a list of recommended hotels for logistical reasons. Couples or saints of the same gender will be able to book double rooms for themselves. Saints who register individually will be informed about the possibility of booking accommodation together with other saints (if there is such a possibility). The cost of a hotel room in Krakow for two people with breakfast is about 75-100 USD and more.
Itinerary:
- Day 1 – October 7: Travel from Warsaw to Kraków / Kraków Old Town Tour (Part 1)
- Day 2 – October 8: The “Wieliczka” Salt Mine / Jewish Quarter Kazimierz Tour
- Day 3 – October 9: The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial / Blending Time
- Day 4 – October 10: Krakow Old Town Tour (Part 2) / Travel from Kraków to Warsaw*
* Option 1: You can continue your individual stay in Kraków, join the Gospel Trip in Krakow and blend with the saints from the churches in Krakow and Sosnowiec. You can also plan a flight back home from Kraków (Krakow Airport, Airport Code: KRK)
* Option 2: You can return to Warsaw (Thursday afternoon, October 10). You can plan your departure from Warsaw Chopin Airport, or you can join the Gospel Trip in Warsaw and blend with the saints in Warsaw (including Lord’s table on the Lord’s Day, October 13).
REGISTRATION
This registration is open to the brothers attending the fall ITERO in Warsaw and their spouses. To participate please fill the registration form. The serving saints will contact you related to all the details of the trip.
DETAILED ITINERARY
Day 1 – October 7 (Monday)
- Hotel pickups from DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Boss Hotel Warsaw, and Arche Hotel Poloneza
- Travel from Warsaw to Kraków (by train or chartered bus)
- Lunch (included in the cost)
- Arrival in Kraków and accommodation in hotels
- Kraków Old Town Tour (Part 1)
- Blending / Free time (dinner – not included in cost)
Day 2 – October 8 (Tuesday)
- Hotel pickups
- The “Wieliczka” Salt Mine Tour
- Lunch (included in the cost)
- Kraków Jewish Quarter Kazimierz Tour / Oskar Schindler’s Factory (optionally)
- Blending / Free time (dinner – not included in cost)
Day 3 – October 9 (Wednesday)
- Hotel pickup
- The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial
- Lunch (included in the cost)
- Free time
- Blending Time / Dinner together (dinner – included in cost)
Day 4 – October 10 (Thursday)
- Krakow Old Town Tour (Part 2)
- Travel from Kraków to Warsaw*
- Lunch (included in the cost)
- Arrival in Warsaw and accommodation in hotels (optionally)
Note: Above itinerary is for reference purposes only. Depending on the weather and other factors, we may change the itinerary to visit comparable appropriate destinations.
Kraków — Polish History Tour
Kraków is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland with a population of 804,200 (June 2023) and over 200,000 university students coming to study here each year. As the old capital of Poland, called the “City of Kings,” Kraków has historically been a prominent hub of Polish academics, economy, culture, and arts, and is recognized as one of Europe’s most beautiful cities with its Old Town and the Wawel Royal Castle becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, one of the earliest sites in the world to receive such recognition. Before WWII, Kraków was the 4th largest Jewish settlement in Poland with Jews making up 25% of its inhabitants at the time; today, you can still visit the district where many of them lived. After the war started in Ukraine, it is estimated that Kraków received over 270,000 refugees, and it is one of the cities where the gospel and shepherding trips for the Ukrainian refugees occurred in 2022.
Wieliczka Salt Mine
Magnificent chambers chiselled out in rock salt. Saline lakes, majestic timber constructions carved out of salt — a walk through Wieliczka Salt Mine will show you the wonders of the underground world. Take a part in the Tourist Route and learn about geology, history and mining techniques in a place where salt was excavated for 700 years.
Magnificent chambers chiselled out in rock salt
The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial
Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau former German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp
All over the world, has become a symbol of terror, genocide, and the Shoah. It was established by Germans in 1940, in the suburbs of Oswiecim, a Polish city that was annexed to the Third Reich by the Nazis. Its name was changed to Auschwitz, which also became the name of Konzentrationslager Auschwitz.
KL Auschwitz was the largest of the German Nazi concentration camps and extermination centers. At least 1,100,000 people were killed in Auschwitz, among them almost one million were Jews, 70-75,000 Poles, 21,000 Roma, 14,000 Soviet prisoners of war (POWs) and 10-15,000 of the remaining victims belonged to other nationalities.