Presentation of Polish Cities
LOCAL EXCURSIONS FROM KRAKOW
The Castle at Pieskowa Skala and the Ojcow National Park (30 km from Krakow: a 4-6-hour excursion)
In the Ojcow National Park, which covers a surface area of 1,440 hectares in the Valley of the Pradnik enclosed by the Pieskowa Skala cliffs, you can see virtually all of the natural components of a Jurassic landscape. Driving along a winding road (on special permission by prior reservation), we pass breathtaking Jurassic rock formations such as the Cracovian Gate and the Club of Hercules. We take a walk around the ruins of Ojcow Castle and visit the "little church on the water". One of Poland's masterpieces of Renaissance palace architecture, Pieskowa Skala Castle, towers over a steep rocky crag.
The Wieliczka Salt Mine (3-hour excursion; 15 km from Krakow; 1,5-hour subterranean walk)
In 1978 the Wieliczka Salt Mine was entered on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List. Visitors take a walk of 2,5 km through 3 levels in the Salt Mine down to 136 meters below ground level, through chambers and passageways excavated in the 17th century. On the way visitors see underground chambers and chapels hewn out in the salt rock, statues of saints sculpted in salt, and saline lakes.
The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Museum (5 hour excursion, 70 km from Krakow)
The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Museum was established in 1947 by the Polish government on the site of the largest Nazi concentration camp. The Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was set up in 1940 for prisoners from Poland, but from 1941 on the Nazis imprisoned there people from all the countries occupied by the Third Reich. From 1942 it also became one of the biggest extermination camps for the European Jews. There is the exhibition entitled "Man Did This To Man" in the huts once used to house inmates. In recognition of its historical significance as a memorial to all who suffered and died there, in 1979 the site of the former concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau was entered on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.
Czestochowa (Day trip from Krakow along the "Eagles' Nest Trail" or along the Warsaw - Krakow road, or en route for Wroclaw from Krakow)
The name "Eagles' Nests Trail" donates the string of castles and ruins of castles atop the rocky crags of the Krakow and Czestochowa Jura. Czestochowa is Poland's spiritual capital. On 9th August 1382, the Monastery and Church of the Brothers of St. Paul the First Hermit (Paulines) was founded here, at a hill called Jasna Gora. The painting of the Blessed Virgin, the "Black Madonna" preserved here is the destination of numerous pilgrimages
Zakopane (Day trip 120 km from Krakow)
Situated in a charming mountain valley at the foot of the Polish Tatras, Zakopane is famous for its healthy climate and as Poland's largest winter and mountain-climbing resort. The entire area of the Polish Tatras (an alpine range) is under the Tatra National Park, which contains 300 km of hikers' routes and trails, reservations of unique vegetation, caves and potholes, waterfalls, picturesque valleys, and climbing areas, excellent skiing runs, the Gubalowka mountain railway, and the Kasprowy Wierch cable car. We look in at the Museum of the Tatras, followed by a ride up the Gubalowka Mt. or "a kulig" sleigh ride to the Koscieliska Valley, where we will be expected by a Highland folk band for a barbecue lunch and "Highlanders' tea".
Mountain Rafting Trip through the Dunajec Gorge (Day trip into the Spisz Region; from 1st May to 31st October)
A unique experience in Europe: a rafting trip down a racing mountain river on a simple wooden raft, through the breathtaking Dunajec River Gorge in the Pieniny Mountains. Castle ruins at Niedzica (13-14th c.) and at Czorsztyn (14-18thc.) viewed during the trip. We stop at Dêbno, a 15th-century wooden Gothic country church entered on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list.
Krynica (Convalescence or health holiday)
Krynica has an established reputation as a treatment centre for diseases of the alimentary canal, the urinary tract, the circulation, metabolic system, the endocrine system, the biliary tract, and for gynaecological disorders. We offer board and accommodation at a wide price range, along with courses of treatment.
In the Ojcow National Park, which covers a surface area of 1,440 hectares in the Valley of the Pradnik enclosed by the Pieskowa Skala cliffs, you can see virtually all of the natural components of a Jurassic landscape. Driving along a winding road (on special permission by prior reservation), we pass breathtaking Jurassic rock formations such as the Cracovian Gate and the Club of Hercules. We take a walk around the ruins of Ojcow Castle and visit the "little church on the water". One of Poland's masterpieces of Renaissance palace architecture, Pieskowa Skala Castle, towers over a steep rocky crag.
The Wieliczka Salt Mine (3-hour excursion; 15 km from Krakow; 1,5-hour subterranean walk)In 1978 the Wieliczka Salt Mine was entered on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List. Visitors take a walk of 2,5 km through 3 levels in the Salt Mine down to 136 meters below ground level, through chambers and passageways excavated in the 17th century. On the way visitors see underground chambers and chapels hewn out in the salt rock, statues of saints sculpted in salt, and saline lakes.
The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Museum (5 hour excursion, 70 km from Krakow) The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Museum was established in 1947 by the Polish government on the site of the largest Nazi concentration camp. The Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was set up in 1940 for prisoners from Poland, but from 1941 on the Nazis imprisoned there people from all the countries occupied by the Third Reich. From 1942 it also became one of the biggest extermination camps for the European Jews. There is the exhibition entitled "Man Did This To Man" in the huts once used to house inmates. In recognition of its historical significance as a memorial to all who suffered and died there, in 1979 the site of the former concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau was entered on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.
Czestochowa (Day trip from Krakow along the "Eagles' Nest Trail" or along the Warsaw - Krakow road, or en route for Wroclaw from Krakow)The name "Eagles' Nests Trail" donates the string of castles and ruins of castles atop the rocky crags of the Krakow and Czestochowa Jura. Czestochowa is Poland's spiritual capital. On 9th August 1382, the Monastery and Church of the Brothers of St. Paul the First Hermit (Paulines) was founded here, at a hill called Jasna Gora. The painting of the Blessed Virgin, the "Black Madonna" preserved here is the destination of numerous pilgrimages
Zakopane (Day trip 120 km from Krakow)Situated in a charming mountain valley at the foot of the Polish Tatras, Zakopane is famous for its healthy climate and as Poland's largest winter and mountain-climbing resort. The entire area of the Polish Tatras (an alpine range) is under the Tatra National Park, which contains 300 km of hikers' routes and trails, reservations of unique vegetation, caves and potholes, waterfalls, picturesque valleys, and climbing areas, excellent skiing runs, the Gubalowka mountain railway, and the Kasprowy Wierch cable car. We look in at the Museum of the Tatras, followed by a ride up the Gubalowka Mt. or "a kulig" sleigh ride to the Koscieliska Valley, where we will be expected by a Highland folk band for a barbecue lunch and "Highlanders' tea".
Mountain Rafting Trip through the Dunajec Gorge (Day trip into the Spisz Region; from 1st May to 31st October) A unique experience in Europe: a rafting trip down a racing mountain river on a simple wooden raft, through the breathtaking Dunajec River Gorge in the Pieniny Mountains. Castle ruins at Niedzica (13-14th c.) and at Czorsztyn (14-18thc.) viewed during the trip. We stop at Dêbno, a 15th-century wooden Gothic country church entered on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list.
Krynica (Convalescence or health holiday)
Krynica has an established reputation as a treatment centre for diseases of the alimentary canal, the urinary tract, the circulation, metabolic system, the endocrine system, the biliary tract, and for gynaecological disorders. We offer board and accommodation at a wide price range, along with courses of treatment.
