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★ Hosted by Fr. Larry Richards
Catholic Pilgrimage · 10 Days · Poland

Pilgrimage to Poland with Fr. Larry Richards

Join Fr. Larry Richards on a Pilgrimage to Poland including stops in Warsaw, Czestochowa, Zakopane, Krakow, the Divine Mercy, and more.

Dates
September 10–19, 2024
Departs Cleveland or New York
Duration
10 Days
Trip code 24JA09POLR
From
$3,395
The Pilgrimage

Walk in the Footsteps of Faith

Fr. Larry Richards and a Christian guide will meet your party at the airport and accompany you every step of the way as you visit the holy sites of Poland, including Warsaw, Czestochowa, Zakopane, Krakow, and more.

Fr. Larry Richards
Your Host

Fr. Larry Richards

Priest of the Diocese of Erie, preacher, retreat leader, author, and Catholic media speaker

Fr. Larry Richards is a priest of the Diocese of Erie, ordained in 1989, and a nationally known preacher, retreat leader, author, and Catholic media speaker. He is the founder of The Reason for Our Hope Foundation and developed the Divine Mercy Encounter retreat program. His direct, practical preaching calls Catholics to conversion, prayer, Scripture, the sacraments, and active discipleship. He currently serves as pastor of St. Luke and Our Lady of Mount Carmel parishes in Erie, Pennsylvania, while continuing an extensive schedule of parish missions, conferences, broadcasts, and retreats.

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Know Before You Go

What's included

✓ Included

  • ✓Roundtrip airfare from NY or Cleveland to Krakow
  • ✓Airport taxes and fuel surcharges
  • ✓First-class hotels for 8 nights
  • ✓Service charges and hotel taxes
  • ✓Buffet breakfast daily
  • ✓1 lunch in a restaurant
  • ✓4 hotel dinners at the hotels (standard 3-course menu, beverages may be purchased at an additional cost)
  • ✓2 restaurant dinners with a choice of beer or wine
  • ✓1 dinner in a brewery
  • ✓Folklore performance
  • ✓All transfers with a private A/C motor coach as per itinerary
  • ✓Professional English-speaking tour director throughout
  • ✓Entrance fees are included to sites specifically listed (outside view means no entrance is included)
  • ✓Luggage handling at hotels (one piece per person)
  • ✓Select International Tours Travel Portfolio
  • ✓Confirmation of daily private Mass
  • ✓Whisper sets for groups of 30 or more passengers

× Not included

  • ×Personal expenses
  • ×Medical Insurance
  • ×Any items not explicitly mentioned in the listed inclusions
  • ×Beverages at meals unless otherwise noted
  • ×Gratuities for the guide(s), driver, and wait for staff (please refer to the suggestions we will make available to you)
  • ×Church donations
  • ×Any airline baggage charges
  • ×Baggage handling at train stations, airports, and hotels in excess of one suitcase per person
  • ×Any charges incurred due to excessive luggage including the cost of an additional baggage vehicle or porterage charges

See the official trip information for gratuities, shipping and handling, payment fees, and any optional-extension charges.

Day by Day

Your pilgrimage, mapped out

Tap any day to explore. Meals: B breakfast · L lunch · D dinner.
Day 1September 10, 2024
DEPART
+

We depart Cleveland or NY on an overnight flight to Krakow. Dinner and breakfast will be served on the plane. Add-on flights are available from most major cities upon request.

Day 2September 11, 2024
KRAKOW – ZAKOPANE
+

Welcome to Poland. We are met by our tour director and transferred to the mountain area of Zakopane. We celebrate Mass and enjoy the rest of the day at leisure, hiking or exploring the town while we acclimate to a new time zone. Dinner and overnight at the hotel in Zakopane.

D
Day 3September 12, 2024
ZAKOPANE
+

Following breakfast, we make our way to the Sanctuary of the Holy Virgin of Fatima, a chapel constructed in 1999 in gratitude for Pope John Paul II’s survival from an assassination attempt. Here we celebrate Mass. Lunch will be at a local restaurant. We continue our tour with a cable car ride to Kasprowy Wierch for a stunning view of the Tatra Mountains. Return to Zakopane for a folklore show and dinner accompanied by wine at a local restaurant. Overnight in Zakopane. (B.L. Welcome dinner)

BLD
Day 4September 13, 2024
ZAKOPANE – CZĘSTOCHOWA
+

After breakfast and a leisurely morning, we depart the mountainous area driving to central Poland and the town of Czestochowa. En route, we stop at Zywiec Brewery to taste local beer. Częstochowa is a place known worldwide, primarily due to the image of Our Lady of Częstochowa, the icon of the Black Madonna, located in the monastery of the Pauline Fathers at Jasna Góra. We visit the Shrine where Mass will be celebrated. Dinner and overnight in Czestochowa.

BD
Day 5September 14, 2024
OUR LADY OF CZESTOCHOWA
+

This holy site in central Poland houses Our Lady of Jasna Gora, also known as the Black Madonna. Tradition tells us that Saint Luke painted the icon on a tablet manufactured by Saint Joseph for the Holy Family that was taken from Jerusalem to Constantinople and given to Princess Anna, wife of Vladimir of Kyiv. After Prince Ladislaus founded the Jasna Gora Monastery in 1382, he entrusted the care of the Icon to the Hungarian Pauline monks who lived there. The icon is known as the Black Madonna because the faces and hands of the Virgin and Child are dark. The slash marks on Our Lady’s face were likely committed during a robbery and attack on the monastery by iconoclasts. The defense of Jasna Gora in 1655 during the Swedish invasion was a monumental point in Polish history. When King John Casimir made his vows in 1656, he crowned Our Lady of Jasna Gora as Queen of Poland. The Polish people belove her, and St. John Paul II entrusted his pontificate to Mary as Our Lady of Czestochowa under the motto of Totus Tuus. During our visit, we see the Treasury, the Knight’s Hall, the Refectory, the Basilica of the Holy Cross, and the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. We join in the Mass. Dinner and overnight in Krakow.

BD
Day 6September 15, 2024
KRAKÓW – WADOWICE – KALWARIA ZEBRZYDOWSKA
+

This morning, we visit Wadowice, the hometown of Pope St. John Paul II, and visit his childhood home, which is now a museum. We visit the Church of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, where he was baptized, and where we celebrate Mass. Lunch is on our own. In the afternoon, we visit Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, a popular pilgrimage place for Pope St. John Paul II when he was a young man, and, in the 17th century, the Palatine of Krakow founded a Franciscan Monastery. On the slope of the hill and the valley is an architectural “Way of the Cross” of 40 chapels set on the surrounding hills. Return to Krakow for dinner and overnight. (B.D) to fifteen thousand steps daily, often on uneven surfaces, cobblestones, and some stairs.

Day 7September 16, 2024
SALT MINES-KRAKOW
+

Today we drive to Wieliczka to visit Europe’s oldest salt mine, which UNESCO has listed as a World Heritage Site. The mines are a unique place where many generations of Polish miners have created a world of underground chambers and decorated chapels carved out of salt, including the famous Chapel of St. Kinga. Mass will be celebrated at the Salt Mines. After lunch, we tour Krakow, including Wawel Royal Castle (exterior view) and the Wawel Cathedral, one of central Europe’s most beautiful Renaissance residences. We continue to Krakow’s Old Town to see the main Market Square, St. Mary’s Church, Cloth Hall, and City Hall Tower. Tonight’s dinner is at the local brewery. Overnight in Krakow. (B. Special dinner)

BD
Day 8September 17, 2024
AUSCHWITZ – KRAKOW
+

This morning, we visit Auschwitz. In this Nazi concentration camp, St. Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein) faced martyrdom, and St. Maximilian Kolbe died in the Death Block from starvation after volunteering his life for that of a fellow prisoner. Following Mass, we return to Krakow for an afternoon of leisure. Dinner is at leisure in Krakow.

B
Day 9September 18, 2024
DIVINE MERCY – HAVE NO FEAR CENTER – KRAKOW
+

This morning, we depart for Lagiewniki, the capital of the Divine Mercy, where we see St. Faustina’s convent chapel and her tomb. We enjoy a tour led by one of the sisters. Here, the message of the Divine Mercy originated, which Christ himself wished to pass on to our generation through the mediation of St. Faustina. The Sanctuary houses the grace-working image of the Merciful Jesus and the relics of St. Faustina. We visit the newly constructed Shrine of Divinity dedicated by Pope St. John Paul II on his last visit to Poland in 2002. We celebrate Mass at the Shrine. Next, we visit the St. John Paul II Have No Fear Center nearby. We have free time for lunch and shopping before returning to Krakow. The afternoon is at our leisure for shopping in the city center. We have our farewell dinner accompanied by wine in a local restaurant tonight. Overnight Krakow. (B. Special dinner)

BD
Day 10September 19, 2024
RETURN TO THE U.S.A.
+

After breakfast at the hotel, we check out and transfer to the airport for our flight home.

B
Pricing

Choose how you travel

Most popular
Land Only
$3,395per person

Land Only. Main trip package.

Group Air from New York City
$1,000per person

Group Air from New York City. Add-on option.

Total Trip Cost from New York City
$4,395per person

Total Trip Cost from New York City. Main trip package.

Group Air from Cleveland
$1,200per person

Group Air from Cleveland. Add-on option.

Total Trip Cost from Cleveland
$4,595per person

Total Trip Cost from Cleveland. Main trip package.

Solo Traveler
$695additional

Solo Traveler. Additional supplement.

ETA Required
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Deposit
A deposit of $500.00 per person by check should accompany the enrollment form and a copy of your passport picture page by June 3, 2024.
Final Payment
Final payment is due by July 10, 2024.
Passport Validity
Your passport must be valid through March 19, 2025.
Payment Fee
For credit card prices add 4%.
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Completed

This departure has ended. Registration is closed.