KRAKOW The Royal Capital

5 days | £2495 per person with flights | 26 - 30 August 2025

The Royal Capital

With the exception of Prague, Krakow is the only metropolis in eastern Middle Europe to have survived wars and regime changes unscathed. Despite the rise of Warsaw from the 17th century, Krakow has remained Poland’s secret capital, the cradle of Polish statehood. Political significance, cultural riches and intellectual charisma manifest themselves in the cathedral and castle on the Wawel hill, residence of Poland’s kings from the 11th century to 1609. They are also reflected in the university, founded in 1364, and in the main market square, dominated by the brick Gothic church of St Mary and the enormous Renaissance Cloth Hall, both testimony to the kudos of Krakow’s merchant burghers.

Inscribed into UNESCO’s World Heritage list in 1978, long before the fall of the Iron Curtain, Krakow boasts over 5,000 listed buildings and is home to a staggering two and a half million works of art. In recent years this abundance has been distributed to various branches of the National Museum throughout town: from Leonardo da Vinci’s enigmatic Lady with an Ermine to ‘Młoda Polska’ – modernist art of ‘Young Poland’. Krakow’s churches are equally plentiful, with treasures such as Veit Stoss’ carved tour de force Altar of the Virgin or the luminous art nouveau stained glass designed by the playwright, poet and painter Stanisław Wyspiański.



Day to day Itinerary

Day 1

Fly from London to Krakow. Coach transfer to hotel, check in and short introductory walk before a walk through the 14th-century Floriańska city gate to the main market square dominated by the 16th-century Sukiennice, the Cloth Hall, hub of the city's commerce, whose upper floor halls house Polish art of the 19th century – the period of Polish Partitions between Habsburg Austria, the Russian Empire and Habsburg Austria. Return to hotel for our first meal together.

Day 2

Morning walk up the Wawel Hill. The tombs and chapels of the cathedral, site of the coronation of Polish kings until 1734, is a wondrous ensemble of styles from Byzantine to Danish Neoclassism, while the royal palace combines German Gothic and Florentine Renaissance architecture. A highlight of its eclectic collection are precious tapestries from Brussels. One of the many handsome palaces flanking Kanonicza Street will be our lunch venue, while the early 16th-century residence of Bishop Erazm Ciołek, houses icons and religious art from the 12th to the 18th centuries. The abruptly ending hourly bugle call from the belfry of St Mary’s commemorates a trumpeter who was shot by a Tatar archer during the Mongol siege in 1241. Inside the church, Veit Stoss’s Altar of the Virgin is the greatest of all late mediaeval wooden polyptychs, comprising nearly 200 figures, carved over a period of twelve years. After an included lunch, we conclude today's visits with the Bishops Palace Art Museum. Return to the hotel for an independent dinner.

Day 3

Morning visit to the Krakow Medical Society House, where the Apollo stained glass windows by Stanisław Wyspiański are among the most beautiful anywhere.  Continue to Kazimierz just south of the Wawel for a walk through its streets. From its beginnings in the 14th century to the early 19th, Kazimierz was an independent royal city, but from c. 1500 it became a thriving ‘Oppidum Judaeorum’. After an included lunch in Kazimierz, coach excursion to Wieliczka, known in the 11th century as ‘Magnum Sal’. For centuries its mines’ salt provided a third of the Polish state’s revenue. Explore this World Heritage Site’s vast subterranean halls and chapels, embellished with salt sculptures and illuminated by crystal chandeliers. Independent evening.

Day 4

A full day spent in Krakow concentrating on its museums.  the National Museum’s main building, now dedicated to applied arts from mediaeval silverware to Art Nouveau pewter and glass objects, and to Polish art of the 20th century. After some time for refreshments, our study of the latter will focus on Polish modernist art of ‘Młoda Polska’, c. 1890-1918, including trends of Neo-Romanticism, Symbolism, Impressionism and Art Nouveau and also explore Leonardo’s ‘Lady with Ermine’ which now hangs in this museum.  Morning walk through the 14th-century Floriańska city gate to the main market square dominated by the 16th-century Sukiennice, the Cloth Hall, hub of the city’s commerce. Krakow’s university headquarters, the Collegium Maius, are nearby: its collections include a globe of 1510 – the first to delineate America.  We enjoy our final meal together.

Hotel Polski Pod Białym Orłem

Situated in the heart of Krakow, in front of the mediaeval defensive walls is Hotel Polski Pod Białym Orłem. This traditional hotel has been offering accommodation in its stylish boutique rooms for over 200 years. Each room has its own unique character and provides guests with all necessary amenities such as tea / coffee making facilities, a safe and a hair dryer.

With Flights: £2495

Join Direct: £2345

Single Supp: £195

Deposit: £450

Departure Dates:

26 - 30 August 2025

Please note that there has been a change of dates due to flight schedule



Duration:

4 nights / 5 days

Your Holiday Includes:

• Return flights (Economy class) from London to Krakow
• Four nights’ bed and breakfast at the Hotel Polski Pod Białym Orłem
• Private coach transfers and excursions
• Two evening meals and two lunches
• Guided visits to the sites and monuments listed in the programme
• Services of the tour lecturer and a tour manager
• Detailed programme and study notes
• All entrance fees, taxes, and gratuities for coach drivers and serving staff
  

Tour Lecturers

Tom Abbott

Tom Abbott studied psychology and art history in the US before completing his graduate research in the history of art and architecture in Berlin, where he now lives. Tom also studied at the Louvre School of Art History in Paris and has lectured around the world, specialising in architecture and art from the Renaissance to the Baroque and beyond.



Travel Information

The price does not include extras at the hotels or travel insurance.



Please note that Art Pursuits use hotels of character featuring a variety of rooms & styles.

Stamina

Please note that some of our tours can involve a fair amount of walking, sometimes across uneven ground. Please contact us if you would like more information.