The Poland secrets

Price include: all transfers by luxury bus according to the tour program (option B), 5 overnights at hostel or economy hotel, 5 dinners and 5 breakfasts, service of tour leader, services of local guides in Warsaw, Ojcow, Cracow and Wieliczka, 2/3 free of charge places for teachers, entrance tickets reservations.

Price doesn't include: entrance tickets (approx 45 Euro / person) 

Tour date: any on your request info@excitingpoland.com  

Cracow- an ancient magic city.
Cracow offers a wide spectrum of museums, art galleries full of exhibitions, theatres, historic cellars, clubs, cafes & restaurants with live music, is an exciting destination for the travelers on the world map!
The city’s cultural heritage is mirrored in its intellectual achievements – the Jagiellonian University is the oldest in Poland. The student population of the city numbers almost 100,000 and this large student population fires a lively nightlife scene that burns brightly in the atmospheric cellar bars away from the tourists above. Cracow has sharply contrasting seasons with cold, snowy winters and fresh springs and autumns. Visitors should beware of the locals’ use of the word fresh – an optimistic reference to blatantly cold weather. The labyrinthine cellars of the Old Town are an ideal place to escape the winter chill. However, come summer, the quintessential Cracow experience is relaxing in a pavement café on the main square enjoying one of the long and balmy nights.

Cracow (Krakow) is now well established as a major tourist destination. At the height of summer, Poland’s fourth largest city throngs with tour groups, all manner of tourist tack and countless pavement cafés that seem to occupy every cobble of the main square. Out of season, late at night or even in the first slivers of morning light, it is clear why so many people flock to visit. This magical city, situated in the southeast of the country, between the Jura uplands and the Tatra Mountains, on the banks of the Wisla (Vistula) River, has one of the best-preserved medieval city centres in Europe. Dozens of churches cover almost every architectural period and are surrounded by monasteries and abbeys – walking through the Old Town streets is like drifting back through the musty pages of a historical novel.

Cracow – a tourist horn of plenty
Cracow, Poland's former royal capital, is one of the most attractive spots on the tourist map of Europe. This is a place where legends, history and modernity intertwine. The city, which lies on the banks of the Vistula River, is famous for its priceless historical monuments of culture and art.

Welcome to Warsaw interesting and happening city in Europe!
Today the city has undergone a huge transformation process. Many old buildings gave way to modern sky scrapers and dilapidating old town was restored. Worth seeing subsection includes sample walks around Warsaw and has suggestions on trips outside of Warsaw.

Warsaw – a charming capital
Warsaw is a city with many faces where tradition intermingles with modernity. From the terrace on Zamkowy Square, where the Royal Castle and St. Anne's Church are located, is a view of the new Świętokrzyski Bridge. The dominating silhouette of the city centre belongs to the Palace of Culture and Science, which today shares the city skyline with numerous office towers. You can feel the breath of history in the Old Town, on Nowy Świat Street and everywhere where the city's roots have been preserved.

We hope you enjoy your stay in one of the most interesting and happening places in Europe!
This site enables you to make the most of your travel to Warsaw. It offers export recommendations for sights to visit, places to stay, car rentals, excursions, restaurants as well as provides useful practical traveller’s information. Hotels, car rentals and excursions can be now reserved online using our fast and reliable service. If you wish to contact us regarding personalized trip to Warsaw or Poland please e-mail us and one of our reservation clerks will get back to you with useful information.

general info:
spa: lowland spa
climate: lowland climate, moderately stimulating
height: 250 m above sea level
postal code: 32-020 Wieliczka
telephone area code: +48-12

Main treatment areas:
respiratory system diseases, particularly bronchial asthma, and rheumatic disorders.

Natural therapeutic features:
therapeutic microclimate in a salt excavation site with salt particles in the air, in the salt mine at a depth of 200 m.

Location:
Wieliczka lies on the border between Sandomierska Valley and Wielickie Upland, 15 km from Cracow. The town centre is in a hollow surrounded by hills. The development of the spa, famous for its historical salt mine, began in 1964, when the world's first underground anti-allergy sanatorium was established in the mine's chambers.

Treatment facilities:
spa hospitals with 153 beds.

Attractions and cultural events:
It is worth visiting the historical Salt Mine, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. After 700 years of exploitation, the mine forms an extensive subterranean town. Sights include wonderful salt lakes, unique chapels with salt sculptures, and mining machinery and equipment. Banquets, concerts and seminars are held in the mine's underground rooms. In the town above ground, interesting sights include historical military stables with characteristic arcades similar to Cracow's Cloth Hall, and the architecture of Wieliczka's town centre.

Tourism and sports:
indoor swimming pool, 3 tennis courts, numerous hiking and biking routes in the area. It is not far to Ojcowski National Park, which has a lot of unusual rock formations and old trees.
Wieliczka is famous for one of the world's oldest salt mines, which is open to sightseers. The valley of the Pradnik River, part of the Ojcowski National Park, is a unique nature reserve with a fairy-tale landscape carved from limestone. The ruined Gothic castle in Ojców and the beautifully preserved Renaissance castle in Pieskowa Skała are two more reasons to visit the park. Just 35 km south of Cracow is the Beskidy mountain range and 100 km away in the Tatra Mountains lies Zakopane the winter capital of Poland.

address:
Ojców National Park
32-047 Ojcow 9

Description: 
Ojcow National Park is situated in the southern part of Poland, in Malopolskie Voivodeship, 16 km north of Cracow, on the Cracow-Czestochowa Upland. The Park encompasses valleys of two small rivers: the Pradnik and Saspowka as well as adjacent parts of the Jura Plateau. The Park was established in 1956 over the area of 1,440 ha. Its current area occupies 2,146 ha, out of which 1,528 ha are covered by forests. 251 ha of forests are strictly protected. The Ojcow National Park is the smallest national park in Poland. Beginnings of nature conservation in the area go back to 1924 when, on the initiative of Prof. W. Szafer, the first natural monography of the region was prepared together with plans for nature reserves in the Pradnik and Saspowska valleys.

The Ojców National Park, marked by countless caverns, canyons and curious rock formations resulting from karstic processes. The town of Ojców is situated at the outer edge of Ojców National Park. Gothic castle ruins are a possible stop over.

Auschwitz-Birkenau (Oświęcim-Brzezinka in Polish)
All over the world, Auschwitz has become a symbol of terror, genocide, and the Holocaust. It was established by the Nazis in the suburbs of the city of Oswiecim which, like other parts of Poland, was occupied by the Germans during the Second World War. The name of the city of Oswiecim was changed to Auschwitz, which became the name of the camp as well. June 14, 1940, when the first transport of Polish political prisoner deportees arrived in Auschwitz, is regarded as the date when it began to function. Since 1940 it was the location of a concentration and later of the extermination camp. By January 1945 around 2 million people had been killed here, mostly Jews but also Gypsies, as well as political and war prisoners. The camp was designed to be an organized death factory. Everything was thoroughly put into accounts. On leaving the camp, the SS blew up part of the facilities. The barracks once crammed with prisoners, the torture and execution sites and the rail-tracks leading straight to the camp remained on place to stand witness to this appalling cruelty. Tourists can watch the movie made by the Soviet troops during the camp’s liberation. This memorial site can be visited every day. It was added to UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.