Tracing the life of Pope John Paul II

Day 1: USA - WARSAW. Board a transatlantic flight bound for Poland. Dinner served on board.

Day 2: WARSAW. Upon arrival, our guide and driver meets us at the airport and brings us to our hotel. Mass may be held at St. James Church, the church that St. Faustina went to when she arrived in Warsaw. The rest of the day is at leisure to relax. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.

Day 3: WARSAW. After breakfast, we visit all the landmarks of Warsaw: Old Town, Market Square, the Barbican, St. John’s Cathedral, Holy Cross Church, Warsaw Ghetto monument, Lazienki Park, the Chopin statue, and the magnificently restored Royal Castle. Mass may be held at 3-9 Zytnia Street where Faustina entered the convent. We also visit the birthplace of Sister Faustina. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.

Day 4: WARSAW - SWINICE WARCKIE - CZESTOCHOWA - AUSCHWITZ - KRAKOW. After breakfast, we travel to Czestochowa, with a stop in Swinice Warckie to visit the parish church of St Casimir where St. Faustina was baptized Helen Kowalska. Czestochowa is the site of Poland's greatest pilgrimage shrine, Our Lady of Czestochowa. We then visit Jasna Gora Monastery with the Black Madonna picture - one of the most important places of religious worship in the Christian world with tradition of pilgrimages that goes back to the 14th century. The Holy Father had frequently visited Jasna Gorna Monastery, also known as the Shrine of the Black Madonna. We celebrate Mass at the Pauline Monastery and view the priceless treasures contained within, including the Miraculous Icon. Then travel to Auschwitz, the notorious Nazi concentration camp. We see the cell that imprisoned St. Maximillian Kolbe and the Martyrdom Museum recalling the horrors of the Holocaust. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.

Day 5: KRAKOW. After breakfast, we enjoy a city tour focusing on the life of Pope John Paul II who spent many years in Krakow. Visit St. Mary’s Church and hear the silver trumpet of the bugler from St Mary's Tower. Within the Cathedral we may pray before the extraordinary Wit Stwosz altar. The surroundings of the square have remained unchanged for almost 700 years and contain buildings of historic value such as St. Mary’s Church with the famous wooden altar, the Town Hall Tower, the Cloth Hall and the Burgher’s houses. We tour the Cathedral, Coronation Chapel and the Royal Chambers where a superb collection of Arras tapestries is on view. Then visit St. Florians Church where John Paul practiced after becoming priest. We also visit Jagiellonian University where John Paul studied. Time this afternoon to explore Market Square on our own. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.

Day 6: KRAKOW - WADOWICE - BUDAPEST. After breakfast, we travel to Wadowice, the birthplace of Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul). Visit the house where John Paul II was born. It has since been turned into a shrine-like museum. We also visit the church he attended and was baptized as a child. Next, we continue on to Budapest. Often compared with Paris, this glamorous city has something to offer every visitor. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.

Day 7: BUDAPEST. After breakfast, we tour the older section of the city. After celebrating Mass at the 13th-century Cathedral of St Matthew, we see the Citadel on Mount Gellert, the Royal Castle, Fisherman's Bastion, the Parliament, Heroes' Square, and the Basilica exhibition. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.

Day 8: BUDAPEST – VIENNA. After breakfast we motor through the lush Austrian countryside to Vienna, Austria's capital. Enroute, we visit Esztergom to visit the Basilica and the Treasury. Upon arrival in Vienna, we have time at leisure to relax in this beautiful city. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.

Day 9: VIENNA. This morning, we celebrate Mass at St. Stephen's Cathedral, an imposing structure dating to the 13th century. We have time for Viennese pastry and coffee before seeing the Hofburg (Imperial apartments). Also see the State Opera House, home to the Vienna Boys' Choir. This sprawling, royal 'summer house' has 1,441 rooms including a Hall of Mirrors where Mozart performed at the age of six before a young Marie Antoinette. This afternoon, we visit the Melk Abbey and take a scenic Danube cruise. Return to Vienna for dinner and overnight at our hotel.

Day 10: VIENNA - NORTH AMERICA. After breakfast, we depart from Austria’s Vienna Airport for our return flight home – the end of a most memorable journey.