CHRISTMAS IN LVIV

CHRISTMAS IN LVIV

plus Krakow and Budapest

December 20 – 30, 2023

11 Day

All Inclusive

First class

Escorted Tour

Krakow (3) Lviv (6) Budapest (1)

Plus : Wieliczka Crystal Caves and Slavsk Ski Resort

Visit these cities in their holiday splendor of kiosks, lighting and Christmas revelry. Join family and friends in Ukraine who will be celebrating Christmas for the first time on December 25^th.

Tour cost:                   $2500 Land rate per person double room
Single supplement:   $600
Gratuities:                  $120
Arriving:                     Krakow
Departing:                  Budapest

INCLUDED:

• Airport transfers

• English speaking tour director

• Centrally located 4 star hotels: Krakow – Andel’s, Lviv – Astoria, Budapest – Astoria

• Welcome dinner in Krakow and farewell dinner in Budapest

• Daily breakfast and lunch or dinner as specified on itinerary

• Guided sightseeing tours in each city as per itinerary including admission

• Touring by modern motor coach in Poland and Ukraine

• Private coach transfer from Krakow to Lviv

• First-class sleeper rail tickets from Lviv to Budapest

• Hotel taxes and service charges

• NOT INCLUDED: Airfare from USA and Canada

Please be at your gateway AIRPORT at least 3 hrs prior to flight departure time. Your baggage must be checked to your final destination: KRAKOW (code KRK)

Kraków, a southern Polish city near the border of the Czech Republic, is known for its well-preserved medieval center and Jewish quarter. The old town, encircled by Planty Park and remnants of the city’s medieval walls, is located on the stately, expansive Rynek Glówny (market square). This plaza is the site of the Cloth Hall, a Renaissance-era trading outpost and St. Mary’s Basilica, a 14th-century Gothic church. 

Upon arrival, you will be met and transferred to your hotel in the heart of the city.

Afternoon walking tour will feature Wawel Royal Castle, home to three dynasties of Poland’s monarchs. You will also visit Wawel Cathedral, main burial site for Polish monarchs since the 14^th century. Its 18 chapels are true architectural marvels. Following Wawel, you will walk to the Old Town, with its restored Main Square of impressive houses and palaces. There you stop at St. Mary’s Basilica to see the magnificent wooden altar. In the middle of the square is Cloth Hall, built before 1349. Renovated in the 16^th c. it features many shopping stalls inside. Dinner under own arrangements.

After breakfast, an AM guided tour to Wieliczka Crystal Mines. Some 14km southeast of Kraków, the Wieliczka salt mine has been welcoming tourists since 1722 and today is one of Poland’s most popular attractions. It is a subterranean labyrinth of tunnels and chambers, about 300km.

The salt-hewn formations include chapels with altarpieces and figures, while others are adorned with statues and monuments. And there are even underground lakes! The highlight of the tour is the vast chamber (54m by 18m, and 12m high) housing the ornamented Chapel of St. Kinga. Every single element here, from chandeliers to altarpieces, is made of salt. It took over 30 years (1895) for three men to complete this underground temple, and about 20,000 tons of rock salt had to first be removed. Other highlights are the salt lake in the Erazm Barącz Chamber, whose water is denser than the Dead Sea, and the awe-inspiring 36m-high Stanislaw Staszic.

We return to Warsaw for lunch (own arrangements) and an afternoon walking tour of the

Underground Museum of Krakow. Opened in September, 2010, this unique museum is situated underneath Rynek Glowny (Main Market Square). It was built on the site of an archaeological excavation that unveiled secrets of Krakow’s evolution since its founding in the early Middle Ages. Visitors can walk underground from the main exhibit area to other exhibit chambers over a glass-bottomed footbridge. This Museum also includes videos and medieval artefacts that will introduce tourists to the medieval times in Kraków.  

Dinner in nearby restaurant.

A coach will come from Lviv for your private transfer. Breakfast at hotel. Approx. 8AM departure. Prepare for a long drive. Meal/ rest stops will be made in Poland.

Upon arrival in Lviv, you will be driven to Astoria Hotel where your tour guide will meet you. Hotel Astoria **** is located across the street from the Opera Theater. It is updated with free Wi-Fi and Mon Chef Restaurant, serving European cuisine. A welcome cocktail and dinner awaits you.

Situated in the western part of Ukraine, Lviv, the “City of Lions”, is its heart and soul. Founded in the 13^th c. by King Danylo Halytckyj, it was named in honor of his son Lev (Leo). Through centuries of Polish, Austrian and Soviet occupation, Lviv was the gateway to “the East”, but with independence in 1991, Lviv is finally free to develop its own Ukrainian identity.

Highlights of today’s morning city center walking tour are: Rynok, the 15-16^th c. city square, the Dominican Church, Armenian Church Complex, the Chapel of the Bojim Family, the Armenian Quarters and the Opera House. Lunch under own arrangements. Afternoon is free to roam the streets and shop the Christmas kiosks of Lviv.

Dinner tonight is the traditional Sviata Vechera with 12 dishes and more. They say you are supposed to fast all day until this delicious meal. However, we will not tell anyone if you break your fast early in the day for a pampushok or a drink of warm medivka!

Free day. Lunch and dinner under own arrangements.

We will provide you with a list of concerts, opera performances, symphony and theater shows. Your Lviv tour director will be more than happy to obtain tickets for you.

Today after breakfast, a full- day excursion to Slavsk, a nearby ski resort in the Karpaty Mts. with lunch at the top of the mountain. Evening return to hotel. Dinner under own arrangements.

Free day. Lunch and dinner under own arrangements.

We will provide you with a list of concerts, opera performances, symphony and theater shows. Your Lviv tour director will be more than happy to obtain tickets for you.

Morning free. Prepare for your train journey with snacks and drinks. On the train, a food cart will pass by to offer coffee, tea sandwiches and sweets.

Today you say goodbye to family and friends. At 5:00PM, you board your overnight sleeper train to Budapest, arriving at Keleti rail station the following day at 8AM.

Upon arrival, you will be transferred to your hotel for breakfast and check-in.

At 11AM you will join your guide /coach for a tour of BUDA and PEST. From the hills of the PEST side, you will see St. Mathieu’s Church, Hungary’s Gothic Coronation Church and the fairytale-like Fisherman’s Bastion, including the Parliament and the Historical Square on the Buda side.

Lunch under own arrangements. Afternoon free.

Dinner at hotel with folkloric music.

After breakfast, morning transfer to airport for flights home.