The Footsteps of St. John Paul II

Day 1 Arrival
Day 2 Krakow tour · afternoon at leisure · overnight in Krakow
Morning: Old Town walk
We discover all highlights of Krakow focusing on the places connected with St. John Paul II. We see Wawel Hill with the renaissance Royal Castle and Cathedral – the site of coronations and burials of kings. It is here where Karol Wojtyla celebrated his first mass in 1946. Following the Royal Way we see the Main Market Square – the largest medieval square in Europe, the Cloth Hall and St. Mary’s Church, home to the largest medieval altar in Europe. We also visit the Jagiellonian University where St. John Paul II studied and the Franciscans Church – one of His favourite churches in Krakow.
Afternoon: At leisure. Optionally: Wieliczka Salt Mine.
Day 3 Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum · Black Madonna Shrine · overnight in Krakow
Morning: We visit Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, the site of the largest extermination camp built by the Nazis during WWII. It became a monument to the Holocaust and Nazi terror, and is also recognized as the biggest cemetery in the world where the ashes of about 1.3 million victims were buried. Here we also see the starvation cell where St. Maximilian Kolbe died. Afterwards we continue to Czestochowa to visit the Monastery of Jasna Gora, the largest shrine in Poland. It is the home of the miraculous icon known as the Black Madonna. According to legend it was painted by St. Luke the Evangelist, and arrived in Poland from the Byzantine Empire. Here we see the impressive Baroque basilica, the defensive walls and a chapel with the miraculous image, surrounded by walls covered with countless votive offerings – poignant evidence of human faith. Return to Krakow.
Day 4 Footsteps of St. John Paul II: Wadowice · Kalwaria Zebrzydowska · Divine Mercy Shrine · overnight in Krakow
Karol Wojtyla, now known as Saint John Paul II, he spent 40 years in Krakow before moving to Rome as Pope. During the trip we will see not only the most important aspects of his pontificate, but also insights into his private life and passions. We visit Wadowice, his birthplace, where today there is a fantastic museum about the life and mission of the Holy Father, we see Kalwaria Zebrzydowska (UNESCO), a unique example of Baroque religious and worship and a place repeatedly visited by Wojtyla. It is a complex of more than 40 chapels and small churches built in the 17th – 18th centuries as a symbolic replica of Jerusalem for pilgrims who could not take a trip to the Holy Land. Our next stop is Lagiewniki – Divine Mercy Shrine, where the remains of St. Faustina rest, and now one of the biggest pilgrimage centers in the world. Here we see the Chapel with the miraculous Divine Mercy Image and the Basilica where St. John Paull II entrusted the world to the Divine Mercy.
Return to Krakow approx. 16.00, free time.
Day 5 Departure
We suggest extension ( 1 day) Zakopane & Ludzmierz Shrine