Sight seeing and day trip ideas

Meander Park Swim Centre at Orawice Just over the border, in Slovakia, on the slopes of the Tatra Mountains, a Polish group opened Meander Park Thermal Baths just over 4 years ago. The centre is a marvelous swim centre with 6 or more pools of naturally hot thermal mineral waters from the underground sea under the Tatras. Indoor and outdoor, massage jets, water massage beds and seats, sunbathing, wave pool, children’s pools and a huge flume slide, a day at Meander Park will be a family favourite. Our driver will take you there – a 45 minute trip from Raba Wyzna, with a stop in Chocholow wooden village if you wish - and either wait while you enjoy a 3 hour session, or leave you for the whole day, returning to collect you all at the end of the day. The centre opens at 09.00am and closes at 21.00pm. There is a poolside café, a restaurant, a bar, a snack bar. Orawice is on the edge of the National Park: before or after your swim session, you can take a peaceful car free walk up into the trees and enjoy the silence. Or take the chair lift up into the hills and enjoy the view of the mountains around you. The restaurant is outside the pool area: you can enjoy and evening meal there if you wish. We charge 250zl between 2-6 people for the 2 way trip. An all day ticket to the Centre costs 17€ adults, 12€ 7-14, f.o.c. 6 and under. In the winter, the ski slopes beside the swim centre have chair lifts and great slopes, for a variety of levels of experience. For big groups of 7 or more, spending the whole day here, we leave the Zafira in the car park and leave you the keys so you have a place to store ski/swim gear when not in use. Useful websites: Swim: http://www.meanderpark.com/PL/page.php Ski: http://www.meanderski.com/PL/page.php
	Krakow centre 1. You can travel to Krakow either by bus: 07.30 am or 11.20am: 14zl each way, 90 minute trip to Central Bus Station just north of the Main Square, the last return bus leaving Krakow at 20.00 (but you must check this yourselves when you arrive there) 2. OR by train, a 3 hour trip (!) leaving Raba Wyzna at 10.40, arriving at 13.30 and the return train leaving Krakow at 14.40, arriving Raba Wyzna 15.30 3. OR our driver can take you (2-6 people) one way to Krakow for 100zl 4. OR our driver can take you and bring you back, waiting in Krakow for you. You can leave him at Carrefour and take the tram into the centre and back (4zl) and find him in the car park where you left him (350zl between 2-6 people, up to 12 hours door to door) 5. OR he can drive you into the centre and wait in the parking beside the Main Square so you can return to the car with shopping bags and so on. 400zl between 2-6 people, up to 12 hours door to door. 6. OR if you have an evening flight back to the UK, our driver can return you to Balice airport free of extra charge, and you can leave your bags in the left luggage lockers outside, suitcase size 8zl/24hr ( http://www.krakowairport.pl/en/20/46/22/Baggage-lockers ). The shuttle train to Krakow Central Station costs 8zl and you can buy your ticket on board. http://www.krakowairport.pl/en/3/176/35/en 7. OR you may decide to spend either your first night or your last night at a hotel in Krakow. There is so much evening entertainment available, that it’s well worth while. If so, we are happy to collect or return you to the airport but only taxis can enter the centre of the city so we advise you to travel with luggage by taxi between Krakow centre and the airport. Once in Krakow centre, there is so much to see! We highly recommend taking a horse drawn carriage trip around the centre for an hour: you will be taken through the streets surrounding the Main Square (Stary Rynek), past the Castle (Wawel) and through the Jewish Quarter (Kazimierz). There are shopping centres next to the Main Station and south of Kazimierz, and the Main Square hosts market stalls and the Corn Market in the middle. Cafes and restaurants ring the Main Square with outdoor seating, bars and discotheques all round, and all sorts of evening entertainments take place in the Square throughout the year. Churches and museums abound. http://www.krakow.pl/en/


Day tour of wooden churches in Podhale plus Koscielisko If a group of you are interested in art, architecture and seeing as much of Podhale as possible by car, then this day trip is your choice. 350zl between 2 – 6 people, we will take you on a round trip, visiting a selection of churches, both wooden and of particular artistic interest. Rdzawka, Ludzmierz, Nowy Targ, Lesnica, Koscielisko, Bachledowka, Dzianisz, Chocholow, Spytkowice and the Church Museum at Rabka Zdroj are on the list but we may either spot more on the way, or call it a day after 6. Your call. If you would like to attend mass at a particular church during the day, let me know and we will arrange the day acccordingly. We usually stop for lunch in Zakopane, but again, it's all up to you.
	Auschwitz and Birkenhau II In summer, there’s no rush to set off for Auschwitz but bear in mind that in winter, Auschwitz closes at 15.00. You can leave anytime after 06.30am. Take a pillow with you and snooze on the way. The drive to Auschwitz takes between 80 and 100 minutes usually, depending on Romanian TIR convoys and so on. Our driver will take you northwest through Jordanow, Wadowice (where Pope Jan Pawel II was born), through Zator and then west to Oświęcim. He will park in the Auschwitz car park, then, if you wish, accompany you for the morning ensuring that you do not miss out on any particular part of the museum and camp. You will not have to keep up with a guide, which cost 50zl per person now, and can take photographs at your own pace. Remember, you cannot take photos INSIDE Auschwitz. The museum offer a film, duration about 1 hour, and you can buy guide books there. There is no charge for entrance to Auschwitz. After Auschwitz, you will return to the car and Stanislaw will drive you to nearby Birkenhau II. If you want to eat something outside the camps, there is a good pizza parlour Stan can take you to. He understands the word ‘pizza’. At Birkenhau, again Stan will be happy to walk around with you. Make sure you get up one of the towers for a view across the enormity of Birkenhau II. We charge 350zl for the day trip, between 2 – 6 people.
Dunajec River rafting to Szczawnica Driving east through Nowy Targ and into the region called Pieniny, brings you alongside Lake Czorstyn which in summer mornings often has a magical mist rising from it, so photographers take your cameras. You can visit Czorstyn Castle, a medaevil gem of a place, then drive on across the dam bridge where the Dunajec river flows on east past the lake, into the gorge. First, visit Niedzica Castle which was inhabited by the last family owners until the 2^nd World War. Then our driver will take you up to the start of the rafting. Take a cushion with you! This 2 and a half hour ride down the Dunajec River is on traditional Podhalan rafts with wooden seats. I have a set of old cushions you can borrow. It doesn’t matter if they get wet. Our driver will make sure you get seats on a raft, then he will drive round the back of the Three Crowns, the peaks to the north, and meet you at the dock at Szczawnica. If you are hungry, there is an inexpensive and very traditional Polish café in Szczawnicz beside the car park. We charge 350zl between 2-6 people for this full day trip.
	Niedzica and Czorstyn castles Driving east through Nowy Targ and into the region called Pieniny, brings you alongside Lake Czorstyn which in summer mornings often has a magical mist rising from it, so photographers take your cameras. You can visit Czorstyn Castle, a medaevil gem of a place, then drive on across the dam bridge where the Dunajec river carries on east past the lake, and visit Niedzica Castle which was inhabited by the last family owners until the 2^nd World War. The castle museum includes a torture chamber which children will love to view. Walk down to the lakeside and take a boat trip around the lake, then swim and sunbath on the lakeside beach. There’s a nice café above the beach, or take a picnic with you, so you can enjoy a full day out for 350zl for 2 – 6 people. We supply beach towels, and you can pack the car for a day out as our driver will stay with you all day (or at the car. I can’t see Staszek in shorts on the beach).
Climb Babia Gora We’ll drive you out through Spytkowice and Jablonka (on Wednesdays, you can combine this walk with a morning visit to Jablonka market), to the beginning of the marked trails at the edge of the forest above Lipnica Gorna, and armed with maps, you can either go west across the border into Slovakia, then climb north east up the steep side of Babia Gora to the summit, or you can take the track that ascends directly north through the forest up to the summit ridge. You continue along the marked track across the summit ridge heading east, and descend to the picnic area and car park above Zubrzyca Gorna where we will be waiting for you. Or, after your climb, you can walk down to the Ethnological Museum at Zubrzyca Gorna, and we will collect you from there. We charge 200zl for this full day trip which can also include Spytkowice Church, Garden Centre and Carpentry Shop.
	Morskie Oko Our driver will take you past Nowy Targ, then round the back lanes of Szaflary village, up and over to Lesnica, where you can stop and visit a beautiful wooden church if you wish. Then on up into the Tatra Mountains through Lysa Polana Pass at the border with Slovakia, continuing on the Polish side of the border to the car park at the base of the National Park road up to Morskie Oko. Here, you pay a small entrance fee to the National Park (between 2 and 5zl depending on time of year), then climb on board a horse drawn cart (summer) or sledge (winter) for a 2 hour journey (25zl each way, either single or return) up the Tatra Mountains. It’s worth packing an inflatable cushion if you intend to take this trip. About a 30 minute walk below the lake, the cart will wait while you walk up and around the lake. It’s worth checking what time your cart descends of you have bought return tickets. There is a lake-side restaurant which serves wonderful apple cake. A glacier feeds the lake, so expect it to be noticeably colder than home – sometimes 10 to 15 degrees lower than at Raba Wyzna. Don’t wear sandals, and make sure children have something warm to put on and a pair of gloves for May/June snowball fights beside the glacier. The more energetic can climb above Morskie Oko on the slopes, or to the peak of Rysy, the highest of the Polish Tatra Mountains. We lend you maps, and will advise against this is the weather is not right. Coming down, you can either take the cart again for a 1 hour descent, or walk down at your own pace. Our driver can wait for you in the car park, and return you to Raba Wyzna via Nowy Targ town centre square (300zl day trip for 2-6 people, up to 8 hour day trip). Otherwise, he can drop you off, and when you come down in the afternoon, there are tourist buses waiting in the car park to take you into Zakopane town centre, via the National Forest road along the base of the Tatras. Flowers in abundance! The train back to Raba Wyzna leaves Zakopane at 17.33, or if you want to stay later and eat out at one of the many lovely restaurants in Zakopane, our driver can fetch up to 6 of you, either from the car park by the market, or outside the bus station (which ever suits you), for 50zl, or 80zl after 21.00. Or a taxi for up to 4 people from Zakopane to Raba Wyzna will cost about 200zl.

Krakow Zoo Our driver will take you out to Krakow Zoo for a day trip, although it will probably be Helen who drives, and her daughter who shows you and your children enthusiastically around the Zoo. To the west of Krakow, high up above the city, the hilltop Zoo has loads of space for the animals which, by their behaviour, are obviously quite happy to reside there. I am not usually a Zoo fan, but Krakow Zoo is OK! We charge 250zl between 2-6 people for a day trip with one of our drivers. The zoo entrance fee is 16zl for adults, 8zl for children, 3 years and under get in free. http://www.zoo-krakow.pl/index.php
	Turbacz hill top BBQ Summer or winter, our friends Jacek and Asia will take you on a hair raising drive up the track to their shepherds hut on Turbacz for an evening BBQ. Food, drink and transport all included, you’ll pay them 90zl each. This is another one of those Star Trek excursions, where we take you where no tourist has been before. Local people who live on the mountain in huts will hear that you are there and will come and visit, with dubious bottles of home made alcohol, and musical instruments. If you are lucky, Asia’s father will turn up and put his old Jimi Hendrix tapes on. A night to remember! If you like, up to 7 of you can stay the night in the shepherds hut. There’s no electricity, but they’ll leave you a car battery so you can listen to music, and then come and collect you late the next morning. Pay them 120zl each if you stay the night. If you stay on a Saturday night, you can go to mass at midday, at the chapel on the summit of Turbacz. http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbacz
Wadowice Papal Tour There’s loads to see in Wadowice, the town where Pope Jan Pawel II was born. Visit the house at 7 Koscielna St where the future Vicar of Christ was born and raised. The house has been turned into a museum and exhibits include the Wojtyla family's former possessions and family pictures as well as personal belongings of Father Karol Wojtyl, a rucksack, a cap, a prayer book, etc. and a collection of photographs from his three visits to Wadowice as the Pope. The building is situated near the baroque church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the central square. Also, the nearby church itself where the future John Paul II grew up in its shadow, was baptized a Catholic and later confirmed in it, served as an altar boy and prayed daily here before its miraculous picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. The church's Gothic chancel dates from the 15th century while the late-Baroque nave and aisles were built in the 1790s. The left aisle contains a baptismal font where the baby Karol Wojtyla was baptized. Also the high school where young Karol Wojtyla was educated has remained in place. Our driver will take you there for a full day trip for 350zl between 2 – 6 people. Visit Google maps for a map of Wadowice showing the Jan Pawel II tourist trail around the town.
	Wieliczka Salt Mines What an amazing place! Our driver takes you for a day trip, 350zl between 2-6 0f you, north east through Mszana Dolna and Dobczyce with views across to Pieniny. Stop first at the Steam Train Museum at Chabowka if you like. Our driver will park, then take you up to the Mines and either to the Ticket office, or make sure you are in the right queue for the English language tour. Queues are a problem as the Mines are a very popular venue for all nationalities, winter and summer, but if you aim to arrive there after lunch, you’ll have a shorter queuing time. About 60zl for an English language tour in a group of up to 35 plus tour guide: or you can pay 75zl and have your own guide. There are 380 steps (in easy blocks of 10 and a little landing) down to the start of the 2-3 hour tour. Our driver will wait in the car park for you. If you have an evening flight, you can do this tour before our driver takes you on to the airport, about 40 minutes away. He’ll guard your luggage in the car. http://www.kopalnia.pl/
Chabowka Skansen Steam Train Museum Just 5 minutes drive from Raba 500, a wonderful collection of steam trains, many of which still run. You can book a day return trip to Zakopane on one of these beautiful old trains which regularly run down the valley where we live. It’s lovely seeing them go by. We’ll take you there free of charge, or you can combine it with a trip to Wieliczka Salt Mines if you like. 2zl children, 4zl adults and 10zl for a photography pass. Well worth it. http://www.parowozy.pl/
	Zywiec Brewery Museum and Brewery Tour Zywiec brewery is not a typical museum with glass covered exhibits and yawning visitors. Fully interactive makes you feel like if you were participating in the brewering process. The set up of different rooms refers to certain stage in the history of Poland and the Zywiec Brewery itself, showing how times, people and the beer was changing. 18 rooms, over 1,600 m2 everything to show the history of brewing and the brew methods gathered in one place. Cosy Pub with free beer testing is a huge bonus. http://www.muzeumbrowaru.pl/html/plan_muzeum.html Entrance to the Museum at Zywiec costs 19zl full tour and museum ticket, 16zl just the museum and 11zl for children. Our driver will take you on this day trip for 350zl between 2 – 6 people, and can include another stop along the way: see the page of suggested combinations for more info.
Wysokie Tatry, Slovakia A full day out and you’ll need an extra layer of clothing as it can be 15 degrees colder than Raba Wyzna on top of the Tatras. Our driver will drive out to Lysa Polana and over the border into Slovakia. Visit Lesnica wooden church on the way. The modern cable car with a capacity of 15 people takes you up, in 2 stages (buy tickets twice) to the Lomnický Peak ( 2634 m ) which is not accessible on foot. It is the second highest peak of the High Tatras. The views up there are amazing. In the middle of a huge number of the Tatras peaks stands the highest - Gerlachovský Peak ( 2654,4 m ). It is not situated in the line of the main mountain range, but it is one of the five out-standing peaks joining the main comb from the south. It is not open for the tourists, and it’s only possible to climb there under the leadership of a skilled mountain guide. You can hire one in Sliezky dom (Sliezky House). http://www.vysoketatry.com/chaty/sdom/pl.html
	Day trip to Kalwaria A full day out, our driver will take a group of 2 – 6 of you to spend the day at Kalwaria for 350zl. The Sanctuary of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska is located about 40 km. southwest of Krakow, and 15 km. east of Wadowice. In 1999, the Sanctuary of the Passion and of the Madonna of Kalwaria was added by UNESCO to its World Heritage List, with the following motivation: “Kalwaria Zebrzydowska is a cultural site of great beauty and of spiritual importance. Its natural setting, which contains some symbolic places of worship related to the Passion of Jesus Christ and the life of the Virgin Mary, has remained almost unchanged since the 17th century. Still today, it is a place of pilgrimage”. The Sanctuary of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska consists of a basilica in baroque style dedicated to the Madonna of the Angels, a convent of the minor Franciscan friars (called affectionately in Poland bernardini) and a series of baroque and mannerist style chapels situated in an area of six kilometres, dedicated to the Passion of Jesus and to the life of the Madonna. Click on this link to see the map of the devotional walk around Kalwaria. http://www.sacrimonti.net/User/index.php?PAGE=Sito_en/kalwaria_zebrzydowska_geog