KRAKOW – LOCATION GUIDE
RELIGIOUS STUDIES
Exceptional Tours Expertly Delivered
Our location guide offers you information on the range of visits available in Krakow. All visits are selected with your subject and the curriculum in mind, along with the most popular choices for sightseeing, culture and leisure in the area.
The information in your location guide has been provided by our partners in Krakow who have expert on the ground knowledge of the area, combined with advice from education professionals so that the visits and information recommended are the most relevant to meet your learning objectives.
Making Life Easier for You
This location guide is not a catalogue of opening times. Our Tour Experts will design your itinerary with opening times and location in mind so that you can really maximise your time on tour.
Our location guides are designed to give you the information that you really need, including what are the highlights of the visit, location, suitability and educational resources. We’ll give you top tips like when is the best time to go, dress code and extra local knowledge.
Peace of Mind
So that you don’t need to carry additional money around with you we will state in your initial quote letter, which visits are included within your inclusive tour price and if there is anything that can’t be pre-paid we will advise you of the entrance fees so that you know how much money to take along.
You also have the added reassurance that, WST is a member of the STF and our featured visits are all covered as part of our externally verified Safety Management System.
JUDAISM VISITS
AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU An integral chapter in the story of the Holocaust, Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest of the extermination camps in Poland and is the only remaining structure of this type.
Guided tour: A 3½ hour guided visit with an official Auschwitz guide is essential for school groups. A maximum of 30 visitors is allocated to a guide, so if you have more than 30 in your group you will be split into 2 groups. Your guide will allow approx. 90 minutes at the Auschwitz I site, then you will transfer on your coach (5 minute drive) to Auschwitz II-Birkenau for a further 90 minute tour.
Top Tip: If it is your first visit to Auschwitz we can arrange for a guide to accompany you on your coach journey. Whilst on board your coach you can watch a 15 minute film which presents the first moments after liberation, to help your students prepare for their visit. Once you arrive there your guide will assist you with locating your official Auschwitz guide. This is ideal if you are new to Auschwitz as it is a large site and can get very busy.
Location: Oświęcim – approx. 90 minute drive from Krakow Website: www.en.auschwitz.org.pl
GALICIA MUSEUM The Galicia Jewish Museum exists to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and to celebrate the Jewish culture of Polish Galicia, presenting Jewish history from a new perspective. This museum is a great centre for Holocaust and Jewish studies and offers a number of services. Those most suited to GCSE and A Level students are :
Traces of Memory permanent exhibition The exhibition features photographs by the late Chris Schwarz and texts by Prof. Jonathan Webber (UNESCO Chair of Jewish and Interfaith Studies, University of Birmingham, UK). Over a period of twelve years, they worked together to gather material that offers a completely new way of looking at the Jewish past that was destroyed in Poland. The exhibition pieces together a picture of the relics of Jewish life and culture in Polish Galicia that can still be seen today, interpreting these traces in a manner which is informative, accessible, and thought-provoking. Your group will be guided round the exhibition by a specialist guide from the museum.
Meet a Concentration Camp Survivor or Member of the Righteous Among the Nations The Galicia Museum offers a unique opportunity for students to meet and engage with somebody who experienced the Holocaust first hand and to fully understand what life was like at this time. A guide from the museum will be present to accompany and translate. We highly recommend this experience to you. Not only will this unique chance to experience ‘living history’ enable your students to
empathise further with their subject, it is quite simply something that you will remember forever.
Specialist workshops The Galicia Museum offers half day workshops based on a range of topics to support study of Jewish culture, tradition and the Holocaust. Workshops are led by qualified, experienced educators from the Museum’s Education Department.
Top tip: All the guides at the Galicia Museum are Graduates of Holocaust and/or Jewish Studies so their knowledge on the subject is superb. Feel free to encourage your students to ask lots of questions to help them further with their studies.
Location: Kazimierz, former Jewish district of Krakow, 15 minute walk from Krakow Old Town Square Website: www.galiciajewishmuseum.org
GUIDED WALKING TOUR OF KRAKOW A half day walking tour is an essential part of your itinerary. Krakow is such a compact city which allows you to cover a lot of important sites and locations within the walking tour. Our walking tours are all led by guides from the Galicia Museum who are Graduates of Holocaust and/or Jewish Studies. This means that you won’t just get the regular script from a local city guide. You’ll get an in depth expert insight into the reality of Jewish life before and during the Holocaust. Your walking tour will include a comfort stop at the Galicia Museum, either for a hot chocolate or juice, depending on the season. The tour will generally focus on:
Kazimierz This former Jewish district was once the hub of Jewish life in Krakow. Your tour will give you an insight into where the community lived, worked and worshipped prior to the occupation. Sites to visit are Synagogues including the Remu’h Synagogue, cemeteries and market squares.
Podgorze The Wartime Ghetto. The Jewish population in Krakow was moved into this small area in March 1941. For many Polish Jews this ghetto was the last stop before the death camps.
Top Tip: Your walking tour can be tailor-made to meet any of your specific requirements. We can put you in contact with your guide in advance so that you can discuss any learning objectives or particular sites you wish to focus on.
Meeting Point: The Galicia Museum in Kazimierz, 15 minute walk from the Old Town Square.
SCHINDLER FACTORY AND MUSEUM The old enamelware factory, made famous by the film Schindler’s List, is located in Podgorze. You can view this from the outside as part of your guided tour, or go inside to view the brand new exhibition covering the story of the Jews in Nazi occupied Krakow.
Top Tip: Your guided walking tour will finish in Podgorze so this is an ideal visit to add on to the end of the tour. It is approx. 40 minutes’ walk from Podgorze back to the Old Town Square so if you want to avoid walking or public transport we can hire a coach to transfer you back.
Avoid visiting on Mondays as opening hours are shorter and once a month the museum closes on Monday.
Location: Podgorze Website: Schindler Factory
CHRISTIANITY VISITS
CZESTOCHOWA Take a full day coach trip to Częstochowa where you can visit the Monastery of Jasna Góra. This is one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the world and is home to the icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa. This Monastery is seen as the Centre of Polish Catholicism. An English speaking guide will accompany you for the day which will include a guided tour of the Monastery, lunch in a local restaurant and some free time for sightseeing.
Top Tip: The coach journey is approx. 2½ hours from central Krakow.
Website: http://www.krakow-info.com/czestoch.htm
GUIDED WALKING TOUR – CHRISTIANITY IN KRAKOW Krakow is often known as a ‘northern Rome’ for its abundance of historic Roman Catholic churches. This guided walking tour will focus on St Mary’s Church which has one the largest gothic altars in Europe, along with a visit to Wawel Royal Cathedral and Chambers on Wawel Hill. You can also combine the Pope’s window and the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy in this trip.
GUIDED WALKING TOUR - TRACES OF POPE JOHN PAUL II In Poland Pope John Paul II is a national hero. Born in Wadowice, a town close to Krakow, he became the Bishop of Krakow at age 38. On this half day walking tour you will walk in the footsteps of this political and spiritual giant including St Florian Church where he served as a Chaplain, St Mary’s Church and the Pope’s window at Franciszkańska Street.
SANCTUARY OF DIVINE MERCY A visit here allows visitors to view the Lord’s Mercy icon in the Old Church which also contains the mortal remains of Saint Sister Faustina, the herald of Divine Mercy, who commissioned this icon. You can also visit the new Basilica which was consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 2002. The Sanctuary is located in the Łagiewniki district of Krakow and is reached by coach. This visit is guided.
Top Tip: Everyday at 3.00pm there is a special prayer – Rosary to the Divine Mercy – that visitors may participate in. This lasts for 20 minutes.
Website: http://www.krakow-info.com/lagiewni.htm
CULTURE
KRAKOW OLD TOWN Krakow Old Town is a centre for medieval heritage. A guided tour of the Old Town including the iconic Wawel Hill with the Castle and Cathedral and finishing in the Old Town Square, will take you from 11th Century right up to the present day.
Top Tip: Wawel Hill has a great selection of stalls for tourists, so your students should be able to pick up some well-priced souvenirs of their visit here.
WIELICZKA SALT MINES One of Poland’s most visited tourist sites, students can take a guided tour through this fascinating underground city to see centuries of history and tradition. The salt mines are a UNESCO Heritage Site.
Top Tip: A guided tour is compulsory here so we will always include an English speaking guide when we book this visit for you.
Location: Located approx. 30 minutes’ drive south east from Krakow centre.
LEISURE
PINK BOWLING Ideal if you want to keep your students entertained in the evening.
Location: Krakow outskirts – approx. 15 minute drive from the centre. Website: Pink Bowling
PARK WODNY – WATER PARK This is Poland’s biggest indoor pool, with slides, wave pools, rapids, climbing walls, fountains and also a snack bar. It’s open every day until 10.00 pm.
Location: Krakow outskirts – approx. 15 minute drive from the centre. Website: www.parkwodny.pl
Top Tip: Fantasy Bowling and Park Wodny are both located on the outskirts of the city and can be reached by tram. However, we can easily arrange coach hire to pick you up from the hotel and take you back when you have finished.
LASER PARK Includes a paintball arena and laser maze. This is a great evening activity and we’ll arrange a coach transfer for you.
SHOPPING Krakow has some excellent shopping opportunities during the day time or into the evening. Except for Sunday the shops are open until 10.00 pm. Here are the main shopping locations within easy access of the centre and most of our hotels:
Krakow Old Town Square The Square is surrounded by restaurants, high street shops and smaller souvenir shops. Combined with the street entertainers, there are lots to keep you busy.
Galeria Krakowska This is a huge indoor shopping centre located next to the main train station, just a short walk from the Old Town Square.
Galeria Kazimerz A modern indoor shopping centre located on the outskirts of the Kazimierz District. You’ll find lots of high street stores, well known brands and a great range of eateries to choose from.
RESTAURANTS Why not make a night of it and book your evening meal in a restaurant? Our most popular choices are traditional Jewish restaurants in Kazimierz or traditional Polish restaurants with a folklore show. We can also book restaurant meals with a more international menu around the Old Town Square.