Christmas period is magical for most of us but it is even more enchanting in historical Old Towns with Christmas markets in the main touristic routes. Immerse yourself in beautiful Christmas decorations, lights, scents of orange, ginger and fir trees. Taste traditional Polish mouthwatering delicacies of Christmas Eve dinner and learn how to prepare traditional Polish "pierogi" dumplings. Stroll along streets of Kraków's Old Town to purchase amazing Christmas gifts in good prices. Discover unique Polish Christmas traditions and ways of celebrating this world favourite winter holidays in one of the most popular Polish agglomerations.
3 days / 2 nights
HB ( 2 breakfasts, 2 dinners)
December
1 city, 1 town
10-300
Calm
Up to 30 days*
Arrival. Meet & greet at the airport, transfer to your hotel, check-in. 4 h sightseeing of Kraków with a guide. Entrance to St. Mary's Basilica, Franciscan Church and Wawel Cathedral. Dinner with Polish Christmas delicacies in one of the Old Town restaurants. Return to your hotel.
Kraków is one of the oldest Polish cities. The city attracts a lot of tourists from around the world. We will start sightseeing from the Old Town. Kraków Main Square is Europe’s largest medieval market square. You will see most of the attractions simply by walking. Spectacular Cloth Hall surrounded by historic tenement houses, the most famous Krakow artistic cellar - Piwnica pod Baranami, as also as St. Mary's church. We will continue our trip along Florianska Street. You will see a lot of small shops herein colorful...
Things you may not have known about Polish Christmas: 1. The most important day for us is the 24th of December – Christmas Eve. 2. We spend three days of Christmas with our families mainly at Christmas feasts (24th-26th of December). 3. Polish children find their presents under Christmas trees on 24th of December after festive dinner. Sometimes even Santa Claus brings them himself! In the south of Poland children also receive gifts from Baby Jesus or an angel. 4. We start celebrating main Christmas feast when the fi...
St. Mary’s Basilica in Kraków is one of the biggest and after Wawel Cathedral the most important church in Kraków. St. Mary’s Basilica is a Gothic church built in the 14th and 15th centuries. Since the end of the 15th century it has had a famous late Gothic sculpture masterpiece the Great Altar by Wit Stwosz. Tourists not only admire a grand scale of this building and the altar piece but also its rich ornaments, polychrome decorations and stained glass windows. The basilica is located in the north-east corner of the ...
St. Francis of Assisi Church is situated in the very heart of Kraków’s Old Town at 2 Franciszkańska Street just by the famous Pope’s Window. The church, currently Minor Basilica, was consecrated in 1296. It has been enlarged many times. In 1462, 1476, 1655 and 1855 the building burnt. Nowadays, it has a brick construction with a presbytery, transept, aisle and 3 chapels. Tourists usually want to see here stained glass windows made by famous Polish artist Stanisław Wyspiański and very original polychromy of the same a...
It is the best well known royal necropolis and real national pantheon. Close to the kings in the cathedral many noble people were buried, such as Cracow bishops, and Polish national heroes. Here you will find among other the tumbs of Kuyavia Ladislas the Short (Władysław Łokietek), Kazmir the Great (Kazimierz Wielki) and John III Sobieski (Jan III Sobieski).
Meal on Christmas Eve the 24th of December is Christmas dinner that should start traditionally when the first star appears on the sky. All family gathers together then and first reads the gospel about the birth of Christ and then family members share special Christmas wafer and give each other best wishes. Then they sit by the table which has white table cloth and underneath it there is some straw. On the table there are always 12 dishes. Traditionally these are lent dishes, so no meat allowed. The main dishes are fi...
Breakfast. Transfer to Wieliczka Salt Mine enlisted at UNESCO World Heritage List. 3 h sightseeing. Return to Kraków. Free time in the afternoon to stroll along Christmas shops and stalls at the Main Makret Square and in the streets of Kraków's Old Town. Dumpling making workshops and dinner with traditional Christmas sweets in one of the Old Town restaurants.
Wieliczka salt mine (13 km from Cracow) is an extended underground city and certainly one of the most interesting touristic objects In Poland. In 1987 it was put down to UNESCO World Heritage List. Every year the mine is visited by over a million tourists from all over the world. The main is no longer producing salt and since 1996 it has been only a touristic attraction. The mine has 9 levels, the deepest is at the depth of 327 m. One of the best well known chambers in Wieliczka is St. Kinga’s Chapel.
Christmas fairs in Poland became wide-spread. We encounter such small Christmas shop gatherings in majority of bigger Polish towns and cities. Usually they start at the beginning of December before St. Nicholas day on the 6th of December, when children find some small presents in their shoes. At main market squares in towns and cities we will find stalls with gifts and Christmas delicacies. Focal points are usually massive municipal Christmas trees and nativity sheds with live sheep and donkeys which are usually crow...
Dumplings are one of the most popular Polish traditional dishes. You can taste them in almost all restaurants. As they are so tasty, why don’t you learn how to make them? Dumplings are known since the 13th century, there are numerous recipes for the dough and feelings that make this dish as versatile as Italian pasta. The dumplings workshop is also connected with various dumplings tasting where the best well known dumplings just must appear: with meat, cabbage and potato filling. The participants can observe and perf...
Christmas sweets are gingerbread cookies which should be prepared about 2-3 weeks before Christmas. On Christmas Eve dinner table we find poppy seed rolls and all kinds of cakes with poppy seed as according to tradition, eating poppy seed cakes brings luck for the whole next year. Apart from these two sweets we will also find gingerbread cake with chocolate coating glaze, nut gateau, dry fruit cakes and honey cakes. Therefore, even though you don’t find Christmas pudding in Poland, you won’t definitely miss it.
Breakfast. Free time in the morning for your own Kraków Old Town exploration or optional trip. Teransfer to the airport. Departure.
Local guide for meet & greet at the airport and sightseeing
St. Mary's Basilica, Wieliczka Salt Mine, dumpling making workshops
Coach
Airport and hotel for sightseeing trips
Hotel, airport for departure
English, German, Norwegian, French, Spanish, Italian and others on request
City break
Yes, there is an interesting LEGO exhibition called History Land at the Old Railway Station (3 Jan Nowak-Jeziorański Square, 31-154 Kraków ) just 12 min walk from the Main Market Square. For kids we also recommend candy factory visit Ciuciu https://its-poland.com/attraction/candy-sweets-manufacture.
Cracow is world famous for its crazy stag parties. Choose this destination for a spectacular celebration. Come with your friends and discover the night life of this former Polish capital in the concise old town with multitude of pubs, clubs and re...
Cracow is world famous for its crazy stag and hen parties. Choose this destination for a spectacular celebration. Come with your friends and discover the night life of this former Polish capital in the concise Old Town with multitude of pubs, club...
Cracow is the best well known Polish tourist city. It is a former capital of the country and also often called a cultural capital. Here you will find numerous UNESCO sites such as Kraków Old Town, Wieliczka Salt Mines, Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum an...
Cracow is the best well known Polish tourist city. It is a former capital of the country and also often called a cultural capital. Here you will find UNESCO sites such as Cracow Old Town and Wieliczka Salt Mines and multitude of other historical a...