Krakow and Auschwitz

After dropping off your luggage and having breakfast at your four star hotel in Krakow, you will be free to explore this beautiful renaissance city with countless attractions like Wawel Castle and the nearby salt mines. You will also have the opportunity to visit Auschwitz Concentration Camp**** to learn of the horrors of the holocaust, and other excursions will also be available from your on site tour manager.  A stop-n-shop at the pottery factories in Boleslowiac on your return trip will allow you to start or complete your Polish pottery collection.  

Spaces on this trip are expected to sell out quickly. Reserve yours today with Kaiserslautern Outdoor Recreation.

Thursday: Check in

After settling into your seat you will lean back and relax while your comfortable coach whisks you away to Poland. Don’t forget the essentials for your overnight ride. Blankets, pillows, power banks, snacks and drinks will all help to make your journey to Krakow more enjoyable.

Friday: Krakow

Don’t worry about breakfast, it will be waiting for you when you arrive at your hotel. After dropping off your luggage, you will have a morning tour of Krakow followed by free time for the rest of the day. The horse-drawn carriage rides* starting from the Main Market Square are an excellent way to see the city, and you are sure to enjoy your dinner at one of the many traditional restaurants, pubs and cafes located underneath the vaulted ceilings of the medieval cellars. Remember, no visit to Krakow is complete until you have had a ring shaped Obwarzanki*.     

Saturday: Free day in Krakow or Salt Mines Excursion**/***

Today you can continue to explore Krakow on your own, or you can take an optional excursion to the Wieliczka Salt Mine**.  Get ready for some cardio; the salt mines reach a depth of 327 meters through over 287 kilometers of tunnels, the 3 kilometer tourist route including over 380 stairs will take you to four underground chapels, past countless statues carved from the living rock salt, and an underground lake***.

Sunday: Free day or visit to Auschwitz***/****

Auschwitz will forever remain the black hole of the entire human history, and is an important and tragic reminder of the horrors of the past which must never be allowed to happen again. Your visit to both Auschwitz and Birkenau will horrify you, but is one of the things which should be on your to-do list while serving in Europe. While nobody will ever say that they enjoyed their visit to the camps, your free evening in Krakow, maybe with a meal of Pierogi*, dumplings stuffed with the filling of your choice, is sure to lift your spirits.

Monday: Pottery Return to Kaiserslautern

After breakfast you will board the bus expecting to arrive in Kaiserslautern in the evening. On your way home, you will stop in Boleslowiac, where hand-made ceramics with a distinctive blue glaze have been a local specialty since the middle ages, and buying directly from the factories will keep your collection costs low.

* Not Included
** Optional excursion at additional fee paid directly to tour manager
***Extensive walking on uneven surfaces required
**** Auschwitz Concentration Camp reserves the right to refuse entry to children under 12

Price on or prior to Friday, December 15:

• Double Occupancy: $549 per person
• Single Occupancy: $729

Price on or after Monday, December 18:

• Double Occupancy: $629 per person
• Single Occupancy: $799
   
• Up to 2 children under 12 in family room or adjoining double room with 2 paid adults: $479 p.c.
• Infants under 3 in existing bedding with adult: $199 p.i.

• Room assignments for families will be determined individually by the hotels based on their specific capacity and available room types. 
• Families will be assigned to Family Rooms or adjoining double rooms by the hotels.
• Kaiserslautern Outdoor Recreation will request Family rooms upon customer request, but does not guarantee the room configuration assigned by the hotel. 

Trip Includes: 

• Round trip tour bus transportation 
• 3 nights lodging at Golden Tulip Krakow Kazimierz**** or equivalent
• 4 daily breakfasts
• Polish Pottery Stop-N-Shop
• Guided tours of both Krakow and Auschwitz

  • Auschwitz Concentration Camp reserves the right to refuse entry to children under 12

Optional Excursion, paid cash directly to tour manager:

• Wieliczka Salt Mines:  €35 per person

Physical Fitness:

• Both Auschwitz and Wieliczka Salt Mines involve extensive walking on uneven surfaces.
• The Wieliczka Salt Mines tour involves at least 3 km of underground walking, including a total descent of 135 meters and over 380 stairs.

What to Bring: 

• Comfortable, weather and activity appropriate shoes and clothing
• Credit/Debit Card or Polish Zloty
• Power Banks (ODR cannot guarantee charging capability on 3rd party contracted busses)
• Military ID and Passport

Departure: 6:00 p.m. 

Return:  Monday night