The best Polish museums

 

DAY 1, ARRIVAL - WARSAW

Arrival to Warsaw. Airport transfer to the hotel. Overnight in Warsaw.

DAY 2, WARSAW and WARSAW RISING MUSEUM

Breakfast. Guided tour of Warsaw. The capital of Poland was severely damaged during the Second World War and most of the architecture represents the post-war period. Our tour starts in the Old Town (since 1980 on UNESCO list as “an exceptional example of the comprehensive reconstruction of a city that had been deliberately and totally destroyed”). You’ll see the Royal Castle, St. John’s Cathedral, Old Market Square and Barbican.

After that we will start our adventure with the Polish museums – we will go the Warsaw Rising Museum. It is situated in an old tramway depot and it is nowadays one of the most frequently visited places in Warsaw and one of the most modern museums in Poland. It allows the guests to move in time to the times of Second World War. Many elements of the exhibition tell the story of the uprising through the real life and the destiny of its participants – you can enter a canal, a shelter, a military plane, print docmuents, read letters. Overnight in Warsaw.

DAY 3, GDANSK and EUROPEAN SOLIDARITY CENTRE

Breakfast. Sightseeing of Gdansk (currently at UNESCO Tentative List)– the city of 1000-years history, attracting tourist by numerous gems of architecture. Strolling around the town you’ll see the beautiful merchant’s houses, St. Mary’s church (believed to be the largest brick church in the world),the Long street with  the Gothic Main Town Hall, Artus Court  and the Neptune’s fountain in the Long Market – the city’s most important square, Motlava river and the Crane.

Then we’ll see the part of the city retracing more recent times – when visiting the “Roads of freedom” exhibition in the Gdansk Shipyard, we’ll get to know the city as the birthplace of the Solidarity movement, which played a significant role in the fall of communism in Eastern Europe. Overnight in Gdansk.

DAY 4, TORUN and MUSEUM OF GINGERBREAD

Breakfast. Departure from Gdansk. Guided visit of Torun (UNESCO) – one of the oldest cities in Poland, birthplace of a famous astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. Torun is a small historic trading city that preserves to a remarkable extent its original street pattern and outstanding early buildings, and which provides an exceptionally complete picture of the medieval way of life (Justification for Inscription). The layout of the city has remained unchanged since the Middle Ages and today we can admire its impressing medieval brick Gothic architecture. During the tour you’ll see the most important sites of Torun: the Old City Town Hall, the Copernicus House), monumental churches (including the cathedral with the largest medieval bell in Poland), the city walls with gates and towers (including the famous Leaning Tower) and the ruins of the Teutonic Castle.

As Torun is known for the best gingerbread in the country, we are going to visit a museum of gingerbread, where every guest has got an opportunity to make a gingerbread with his own hands. At the same time we will listen to the history of this famous sweet and we will visit a small traditional shop inside the museum where they offer, among other things, a variety of gingerbread. Overnight in Torun.

DAY 5, BYDGOSZCZ and MUSEUM OF SOAP AND HISTORY OF DIRT

Breakfast. Departure to Bydgoszcz. We are going on a route around the old town, listening to the history of the city and admiring its arquitecture in the Belle Epoque style. One of the curiosities of Bydgoszcz are the granaries from XVIIIth and XIXth century, built to store the merchandises in the times when the river transport and commerce related to it were contributing in a significant way to the development of the city. Nowadays, Bydgoszcz is an important centre of industry, culture, educvation and turism.

During our visit we are going to visit also the Museum of Soap and History of Dirt, where we will have the opportunity to make our own soap. What’s more, we will find out how people used to wash themselves in different epoques and what are the favourite places of the bacteries. Overnight in Bydgoszcz.

DAY 6, POZNAN and CROISSANT MUSEUM

Breakfast. Departure for Poznan. Short walking tour of the city. We’ll start in Ostrow Tumski island with Archcathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul, the first cathedral in Poland, a burial place of three kings and five dukes of the oldest Polish Piast dynasty. The tour continues in Poznan’s Old Town. In the Old Town Square we’ll admire the beautiful Renaissance tenement houses and Town Hall with the landmark of the city - two charming billy-goats. At the end of our walk we’ll see one of the most impressive Baroque churches in Poland - the Church of St. Stanislaus.

Then we will go the Croissant Museum, where we are going to learn about the history of this typical sweet from  Poznan: the St. Martin’s Croissant. The croissant is one of the symbols of Poznan, the tradition has its origins in the pagan times, when people gave oxes in sacrifice to gods or – as a substitute for animals – a dough rolled in a shape of horns. In the museum we will prepare our own croissants using traditional utensils. Overnight in Poznan.

DAY 7, WROCLAW and MUSEUM OF WATER

Breakfast. Departure for Wroclaw. The city, located on 12 islands on Odra river and having about 200 bridges is often called the Polish Venice. During our guided tour you’ll see all the highlights of the stunning architecture of the city: the Polish second largest (after Krakow) Market Square with a beautiful Gothic Town Hall, the University with impressing Baroque Aula Leopoldina Hall and Ostrow Tumski – the oldest part of the city with St. John’s Cathedral. Look hard, because apart from other tourist you’ll certainly meet the small inhabitants on the city center – the dwarfs!

In the city frequently calles  Polish Venice we are going to visit Hydropolis – the museum of water. A visit in this centre turns into a real adventure, thanks to interactives expositions and, of course, to the water. We will have an opportunity to, for example, sit down in a capsule of the bathyscaphe Trieste, in which two men in 1960 dived to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. After visiting this museum the water will have no more secrets for us! Overnight in Wroclaw.

DAY 8, ZORY and MUSEUM OF FIRE

Breakfast. Departure to Cracow. On a way we are going to visit Zory – a city situated in Upper Silesia, where some pintoresque houses from XIXth century have been conserved. Yesterday we visited the museum of water and today an adventure with another element of nature is awaiting us – the Museum of Fire. This is a modern educational centre with multimedial expositions, which allows the guests learn from its contents in an easy and attractive way. Here we can try to light a fire with a virtual flint and using the light of the sun, extinguish the fire or walk through a wall of fire.

Continuation of the journey to Cracow. Overnight in Cracow.

DAY 9, CRACOW and WIELICZKA SALT MINE

Breakfast. Walking tour of the Old Town – discovering the treasures of the former capital of Poland. Starting with the Wawel hill with an impressive castle (which used to be the seat of the Polish kings) and the cathedral, you’ll follow the Royal Way to admire the beautiful tenement houses and churches and reach the Market Square – the largest medieval market place in Europe! Here we’ll stop for a while to listen to the bugle call played by a trumpeter from St. Mary’s Church tower, visit the church (with the famous wooden altar) and the Cloth Hall – a perfect place to buy some souvenirs from Krakow. During the tour you’ll also visit the university quarter with Collegium Maius – the oldest building of the Jagiellonian University.

After lunch – guided tour of the Wieliczka Salt Mine (UNESCO). The mine, one of the oldest in the world, is visited every year by over one million of tourists from all over the world.  During the tour you’ll admire 20 salt rock chambers (with a magnificent St. King’s chapel), underground saline lakes, numerous salt sculptures and impressive timber constructions. There will be also a chance to try some specialties of an underground restaurant! Overnight in Cracow.

DAY 10, DEPARTURE

Breakfast. Airport transfer.