Upon arrival to Krakow, your guide will be waiting for you at the Krakow airport for your transfer to your hotel for check in. Afterwards, take some time to settle in the city and enjoy the rest of your day at leisure. The orientation tour of the city will be held in the late afternoon. Your evening will entail a welcome dinner at the local restaurant where the plan for the next day will be discussed! Overnight in Krakow

The tour will include Wawel Castle with the cathedral, as well as the main market square with the Cloth Hall and St. Mary’s Church. You will also have the chance to unwind and taste some traditional liqueurs in a famous historic café. Kraków is undoubtedly one of Europe’s most beautiful cities in Europe . Ensconced in the very heart of the city is the Market Square. The biggest medieval square in Europe has served for centuries as the center of Kraków’s cultural, social and trading life. Standing in the middle of the Market Square is the yellow Sukiennice cloth hall, where you will find stalls much as you would have in the 13th century. Nowadays they sell souvenirs, including works of folk art and amber jewelry. In the afternoon, you will enjoy lunch at a local restaurant before having the rest of the day free. Learning Experience: Krakow Journey Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch Overnight in Krakow

Your local guide/researcher will meet you in the hotel lobby and guide the journey of this day. You will visit the local archives, where your guide will help you search for birth and death certificates, marriage records, property deeds and other documents. After your exciting morning learning about your family history, it’s time to visit the amazing Wieliczka Salt Mines on a private journey! Take part in an evening immersion of the medieval galleries and halls hewn in rock and salt deposits. The world famous Wieliczka salt mine, whose beginnings date back to the Middle Ages, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. The mine is an astonishing labyrinth of underground galleries and chambers close to 300 km in length. The public can visit a section lying at a depth between 64m and 135m, and which winds through numerous chambers and lakes, chapels featuring salt-sculpted figurines, bas reliefs and chandeliers. The Chapel of St. Kinga is especially beautiful, and with its dimensions is perhaps more deserving of being called an underground salt church. Learning Experience: Local Archives, Salt Mines Meals included: Breakfast Overnight in Krakow

After finding out more about your family history from the archives, you will visit the region from where your family came. Perhaps some of the locals will know of your ancestors! After, you will have the opportunity to meet with local wives to discuss and learn about Polish tradition, food, and local craft. You will also sample some of the popular local dishes such as pierogi, Bigos and zurek and many more! Learning Experience: Family Remembrance Journey, Visit with a local Meals included: Breakfast Overnight in Krakow

During the journey, you can speak with the staff of the Auschwitz Jewish Centre to further your knowledge during your visit. Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp is a UNESCO listed museum of martyrdom where the Nazis murdered Jews, Poles, Gypsies and Russians during WW II. Oswiecim, a small Silesian town, is the site of Auschwitz concentration camp. At the town border are the three gruesome areas of the former Nazi death camps which now make up a Holocaust Memorial. You will visit Auschwitz I as well as Birkenau, the second and less frequently visited camp. Learning Experience: Auschwitz - Birkenau Museum Meals included: Breakfast Overnight in Krakow

We will help you to build your family tree and place your own story within it. You will learn of the contributions of your ancestors and share your own family story, with personal help with your family story and family tree. After this experience, you will have time to explore different parts of your family village. Learning Experience: Ancestry Research Meals included: Breakfast Overnight in Krakow

Need to head back? We look forward to welcoming you on another Learning Journeys immersion. Choose to journey back to Poland or consider one of our journeys abroad in Greece, France, Germany, South Africa, Costa Rica, and more! Meals included: Breakfast