POLAND TRIP
DOSSIER
June 18th
to July 16th 2005
Fly from
Birmingham to Krakow via Munich (Germany)
18th
June. Fly to Krakow. Check into Hotel Astoria (ul. Jozefa)
KRAKOW
Miraculously,
Krakow got through the war almost unscathed and its magical Old City has one of
the best preserved medieval city centres in Europe, with dozens of churches
covering almost every architectural period and surrounded by monasteries and
abbeys.
WAWEL HILL -
KRAKOW
Walking around
Wawel hill, home to Poland’s rulers for more than 500 years, you get a real
sense of Poland’s astonishing history and as you jostle for space with local
tourists, staring in veneration at their national heritage, you start to get an
idea of the deep national pride that most Poles have. The first cathedral to be
built on this site was erected a thousand years ago and the Polish rulers lived
and were buried here from that time until the capital moved to Warsaw at the
end of the 16th Century.
AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU
Poland was once
home to one of the most vibrant Jewish communities in Europe but during the
Second World War, the vast majority of the Jewish population was shipped to one
of the Nazi ‘extermination camps’. Now known as Oswiecim, Auschwitz was one of
the largest camps and it is believed that between one and two million people
perished here during the early 1940s. The camp has now been converted to a
memorial and museum and although a visit is inevitably traumatic, it is well
worth journeying out there to visit the poignant remains of this extermination
camp. It is estimated, that in total, this death factory eliminated some 1.5
million people of 27 nationalities, including 1.1 million Jews, 10,000
Russians, 145,000 Poles and 20,000 Roma. It is now considered to be the largest
mass cemetery in the world.
WIELICZKA SALT
MINE
The Wieliczka Salt
Mine, located in southern Poland near the city of Krakow, has been worked as a
source of rock salt since the late 13th century. Over the centuries,
miners established a tradition of carving religious sculptures out of the
native rock salt and as a result, the mine contains entire underground
churches, altars, bas relief’s, and dozens of life-size or larger statues. The
largest of the chapels, the Chapel of the Blessed Kinga, is an amazing sight,
located 101 meters below the ground. It is over 50 meters long, 15 meters wide,
12 meters high, and has a volume of 10,000 cubic meters. The mine itself
features over 200 km of underground passages, connecting more than 2000
excavation chambers on 9 underground levels extending down to 327m below the
surface. It is no wonder that UNESCO have added this to their list of World
Heritage Sights.
21st
June. Bus to Zakopane. Check into Hotel Sosnica.
THE TATRA MOUNTAINS
The Tatra
Mountains, which straddle the border of Poland and Slovakia, offer some of the
most spectacular scenery in Europe with tall spiky peaks, deep gorges,
limestone towers, open ridges and thickly forested slopes. The area is a
hiker’s dream. Zakopane provides a delightful base for some excellent hiking.
At 1894 metres, Mt Gierwont is the most popular mountain top climbed on foot in
the Tatras and is the symbol of Zakopane
24th
June. Bus to Krakow, train to Torun. Check into Hotel Pod Orlem.
TORUN
Torun is famous
within Poland for three things. The first is that it was the birthplace of the
renowned astronomer Copernicus; one of Poland’s
many distinguished ancestors, and you can still see his house, which dates back
to the 15th Century. The second
is its delightful old town, a rich jumble of sumptuous old buildings in a range
of architectural styles, painted in pastels and richly decorated. The last is its reputation for the delicious local ginger bread
(piernik), which is mouthwatering and comes in a myriad of guises.
26th
June. Train to Malbork, train to Gizycko. Check into Hotel Gosciniec Janter.
MALBORK CASTLE
In the early 13th
century the Teutonic Order launched its first crusade in the territories around
present day Malbork in an attempt to convert the local inhabitants to
Christianity. A huge castle was built to house the knights and this remains
remarkably well preserved still to this day. Situated on the edge of a river
the impressive brick castle has had a number of functions in the intervening
centuries – as a royal ‘hotel’ during the 16th and 17th century and as a
prisoner of war camp during the second world war. It is a now a museum and is a
fascinating place to explore.
27th
June. Boat to Mikolajki. Check into Hotel Mazur.
THE GREAT MAZURIAN
LAKES
This ‘land of a
thousand lakes’ is a sparsely populated area of thick forest, countless lakes
and rivers, rolling woodland and traditional farmsteads. Although it is a
popular summer destination for Poles it is easy to escape the hordes and you
can spend wonderful days exploring some of the loveliest scenery in Poland.
Mikolajki, the most attractive town in the region, is perched between two lakes
with a wonderful harbour dotted with boats. Travelling from Gizycko to
Mikolajki by boat is a wonderful way to see this truly stunning area.
29th
June. Bus to Warsaw. Check into Hotel Mazowiecki.
WARSAW
Warsaw was site of
one of the many tragedies of World War 2 – the fighting ravaged this majestic
and beautiful city and almost the entire old historic centre disappeared under
the barrage of bombs. Within years of the end of the war, however, the
restoration effort started and for 14 years, from 1949 – 1963, a massive
reconstruction took place with workers sifting the rubble to find any architectural
fragments that could be put into the renovations. Walking around the Old Town
Square, with its elegant Renaissance, Baroque and Gothic buildings, it is hard
to imagine that fifty years ago; all that remained were the walls of two
houses. Today the square is alive with open-air cafes, art stalls and street
entertainment and is a fabulously atmospheric place to while away an afternoon.
2nd
July. Fly from Warsaw to Birmingham via Prague.