Experience the Chopin music festival in Warsaw

Arrival to Kraków John Paul II International Airport in Cracow. Upon arrival to Cracow a sightseeing tour of the city and visit to the renaissance Royal Castle at Wawel Hill, the residence of the Polish Kings for hundreds of years. Enjoy the fascinating Wawel Cathedral and the Museum of the Palace. After the dinner a walking tour of night Cracow.

Start the tour of Old Krakow from the statue of Grunwald Battle. Continue through Barbacan and St. Florian gate to Florianska street – the way used by Polish Kings to cross the city on special events. Shortly we will approach  “Rynek Glowny” – the Central Market with the fascinating St. Mary Basilica and Sukenicy – trading rows of the market.

Afterward turn to one of the side narrow streets to see one of the oldest universities in Europe. Among its famous students were Nicolaus Copernicus and Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II). In the afternoon visit Kazimierz, the former Jewish suburb of Cracow. In the evening enjoy a dinner together with Polish folk Shaw in a National cuisine restaurant.

Morning drive to Lodz, another Polish city about 230 km north of Cracow. In the 19th century, Lodz was a city of the largest Polish and Jewish industry and business. The biggest and most important business was textile. We will start our tour on the main Piotrkowska street to enjoy the numerous buildings designed in Art Nouveau style. Will see the wonderful sculpture of Arthur Rubinstein, the great pianist, a native of Lodz.

Continue to Lodz “Manufaktura” a former huge textile factory and palace owned by the local magnate Poznanski family. Today it is housing an Arts Center, shopping mall and Lodz City Museum. The interiors of the museum tell a lot about the lifestyle of the high society of Poland at the end of 19th century. Also, we will find here a wonderful exhibition devoted to the life of Arthur Rubinstein, best Chopin music performer ever.

After the breakfast we will start our sightseeing tour around the capital of Poland. Drive along the elegant streets Marschalkowska, Allee Jerozolimske, Nowy Swiat and others. Enjoy the Old town from the other side of the river Vistula. We will see the Royal Castle and stop at the Saxonian garden. At the Monument of the Warsaw Uprising, we will discuss the events of 1944.  Finish the sightseeing at the huge Palace of Culture and Science, the gift of the Soviet Union to the people of Poland. Time to refresh and rest. In the evening enjoy an inaugural concert of the festival “Chopin and his Europe” in Warsaw Philharmonics. 

This morning we will explore the city, its history, culture, and architecture.  Start with “Stare Miasto” – (Old Town) that was destroyed almost completely and restored after the WWII by the heroic efforts and participation of the whole nation. We will be walking in the narrow streets, stop at the Old market square, see the statue of “Sirenka” the symbol of Warsaw, which is depicted on the coat of arms of the city. Next stop at the panoramic platform with the view of Vistula River and the new city.

Our tour continues to so-called “Nowe Miasto” (New Town) outside the Old city wall. we will see the Barbacan and stop at the house of Maria Sklodowska-Curie, twice Nobel prize-winner. Here we will finish our walking in the old part by the impressive memorial of the Warsaw Uprising.

After the coffee break walking along the most beautiful Warsaw street “Krakowske Pszedmeisce”. Stop at the monument of the greatest Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz and read some extracts from his works. Nearby  Herbert Hoover square and then the statue of Nicolaus Copernicus in front of the Academy of Sciences. Observe the Warsaw University and Presidential Palace and stop at Prince Radziwill palace, where young Frederic Chopin played his first public concert. We will finish our walk at the Church of the Holy Cross, where an urn containing the heart of Frédéric Chopin was immured in a pillar after his death in Paris in 1849. After the rest at the hotel, piano music concert of the festival.

We will start the day with the Saxonian garden in the very center of Warsaw. Nearby we will explore the Unknown Soldier memorial and will recall the most remarkable battles of the Polish history. Next-door to the memorial we will see a huge cross erected on that same place where Pope John Paul II told his famous speech about the freedom during his first visit to the communist Poland in 1979.

Continue to Powazki Historical Cemetery, where many famous and deserving people of Poland are buried, including Tadeusz Kosciuszko, Nicola Chopin, Frederick father, composers Stanislaw Moniuszko, Henryk Wieniawski, Witold Lutoslawski, singer Jan Kiepura, film director Krzysztof Kieslowski and many others.

In the afternoon visit to Warsaw University Library, walking in the impressive Botanical garden located on the roof of the library.

We will finish this day tour in Lazienki Park, one of the most beautiful places in Warsaw.  Here you will find hundreds of centuries-old trees, thousands of flowers, peacocks that have become symbol of the park, and the early Classicist Royal Summer Palace. We will admire the spectacular romantic statue of Frederick Chopin. Every weekend the audience enjoy composer’s piano pieces at the edge of the monument.

In the evening we will listen to another music festival concert.

Today we will go outside Warsaw to visit a small town Zelazowa Wola, where Frederick Chopin was born in 1810. Visit the estate and the house of the Chopin family. Observe the authentic furniture, walk in the lovely park around the estate, see both old and new Chopin monuments.

We will enjoy a piano recital of Chopin music on the terrace of the house. Back to Warsaw to visit an exceptional modern and interactive Chopin museum. After the rest one more concert of the festival.

After the breakfast we will visit the National Museum in Warsaw, the largest art museum in the country. Its collection of about 830,000 exhibits consists of art works from Egypt, Greece, the Roman Empire, Western and Eastern Europe. We will see paintings by Cranach, Botticelli, Tintoretto, Bruegel, Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Renoir, Signac. We will pay special attention to the works of Polish artists, such as Wyspianski, Malczewski, Mehoffer, Gierymski, Gerson, Szymanowski and others. The jewel in the crown of Polish artists is undoubtedly, Jan Matejko, the author of many paintings on Polish-Lithuanian history. Among his other masterpieces we will admire the magnificent canvas of the Battle of Grunwald.

We will finish our stay in Poland at the Palace of Culture and Science in the center of the city. Built in 1955, this Soviet “gift to the fraternal Polish nation” continues to be Warsaw’s most recognizable symbol. From its tower’s height of 133 meters you will admire the spectacular panorama of the Polish capital.

In the evening we will listen to our last concert of the festival “Chopin and its Europe”.

Free time for self-exploring the city. Drive to Chopin International airport for flight back home.