Poland 11 days

11-day Jewish Tours to Poland:

The in-depth Jewish Heritage Tour

This Jewish Heritage tour will begin in Warsaw, taking you to Tykocin, Lublin, Zamosc, Tarnow, and Krakow. It is our most complete Jewish tour of Poland. A unique cultural journey, it features visits to sites of Jewish heritage, offering unique encounters with 1,000 years of Polish Jewish history as well as opportunities to celebrate the revival of Jewish life today. You will experience both great cities and small shtetls. Momentum Tours uniquely includes legendary Galicia region by adding Zamosc and Lancut to the journey. This itinerary is infused with unique insights and perspectives into the country’s profound Jewish soul.

EXPLORE OUR 7 DAY JEWISH TOURS TO POLAND

DAY 1 THURSDAY ARRIVAL IN WARSAW

Arrive in Warsaw, Poland’s capital, a city reborn from ashes where the past and present live side by side. Transfer to your centrally located hotel. In the afternoon, begin exploring the rebuilt Old Town, lovingly reconstructed after near-total wartime destruction. Stroll through the Saxon Garden, one of Europe’s oldest parks, and along the Royal Route, lined with baroque churches and aristocratic palaces. Pause at the Warsaw Uprising Memorial, a powerful tribute to the city’s courage and indomitable spirit. Return to the hotel in the late afternoon. Dinner. Radisson Collection Hotel.

DAY 2 FRIDAY WARSAW

This day is devoted to Warsaw’s Jewish story – once one of the great centers of Jewish life in Europe. Before the war, more than 350,000 Jews lived here, nearly one-third of the city’s population. Visit the Jewish Historical Institute, home to the Emanuel Ringelblum Archives – the secret chronicles of ghetto life buried during the war and miraculously unearthed after. Continue to the Nozyk Synagogue, the city’s only surviving prewar house of prayer, once again filled with life. Walk through an area of the former ghetto, and later visit the Okopowa Jewish Cemetery, among the largest in Europe, where generations of Warsaw’s Jews rest – from the Gerer Rebbe to writer I.L. Peretz. The overgrown gravestones and ornate mausoleums whisper centuries of life and faith. Pause at the memorial to Dr. Janusz Korczak, the beloved educator who chose to perish with the children of his orphanage rather than abandon them. See fragments of the Ghetto Wall and return to the hotel. Radisson Collection Hotel.

DAY 3 SATURDAY WARSAW

Begin at Umschlagplatz, from where thousands of Jews were deported to Treblinka. Follow the Path of Remembrance through the former ghetto, pausing at memorials that tell the story of courage and resistance. At Mila 18, see the site where Mordechai Anielewicz and the Jewish Fighting Organization made their last stand during the 1943 Ghetto Uprising. Continue to the Rappaport Monument before entering the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, a world-class institution that unfolds the thousand-year story of Jewish life in Poland – from medieval settlement to vibrant cultural flowering, through destruction and into renewal (self-guided visit). Return to the hotel in the afternoon, or explore the museum further at your own pace. Radisson Collection Hotel.

DAY 4 SUNDAY WARSAW – TYKOCIN – TREBLINKA – WARSAW

Depart on a full-day excursion into the Polish countryside to explore Tykocin, Lopuchowo, and Treblinka — places that reflect both the richness of Jewish life and the depth of its loss. Begin in Tykocin, one of the most picturesque and best-preserved former shtetls in Poland. Visit its magnificent 17th-century synagogue, its walls adorned with Hebrew inscriptions and baroque stucco. The adjoining yeshivah recalls the town’s long tradition of Jewish learning. Continue to the nearby Lopuchowo Forest, where the Jews of Tykocin were murdered in August 1941. The forest stands silent today, its memorial stones marking mass graves — a place of profound sorrow and remembrance. In the afternoon, travel to Treblinka, among
the most haunting sites of the Holocaust. Between 1942 and 1943, nearly 900,000 Jews, including most of Warsaw’s ghetto inhabitants, were murdered here. The memorial is stark and symbolic: thousands of jagged stones stand for each destroyed community, radiating around a monumental sculpture that evokes both anguish and dignity. After time for reflection, return to Warsaw in the late afternoon. Radisson Collection Hotel.

DAY 5 MONDAY WARSAW – LUBLIN

Travel southeast to Lublin, once known as the “Jerusalem of Poland.” Begin at the Grodzka Gate – or “Jewish Gate” – now home to the Brama Grodzka Center, dedicated to preserving the memory of Lublin’s Jewish residents. Not much remains of prewar Jewish Lublin, but nearby the Old Jewish Cemetery holds gravestones dating back to the 16th century. Later in the afternoon, check in at the hotel housed in the former Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva, once among the greatest centers of Torah learning in Europe. The building, now restored, still preserves its original synagogue. Dinner. Ilan Hotel.

DAY 6 TUESDAY LUBLIN – ZAMOSC – BELZEC – LANCUT

The day begins at Majdanek Concentration Camp Memorial, one of the first Nazi camps liberated during the war, its preserved barracks and crematorium standing as chilling witnesses to history. Continue to Zamosc, a Renaissance gem once known as the “Padua of the North,” where Jews made up nearly half the population before the war. Visit its restored synagogue, now a museum celebrating the community that once thrived there. In the afternoon, pay respects at the Belzec death camp, where more than 600,000 Jews were murdered. The memorial’s vast field of dark stones, barren of life, powerfully evokes the scale of loss. Continue into Galicia to Lancut. Dinner. Sokol/Lancut Hotel.

DAY 7 WEDNESDAY LANCUT – TARNOW – KRAKOW

Lancut’s treasures include its splendid Renaissance castle and the exquisitely preserved synagogue nearby. Visit both in the morning before traveling along the Chassidic Route to Tarnow, once a thriving Galician Jewish center. Only the bimah of the Old Synagogue remains, standing alone in a small square as a silent witness. Nearby, the forest of Zbylitowska Góra marks the killing fields where thousands, including 800 children from the Tarnow Ghetto Orphanage, were executed. Continue to Krakow, Poland’s cultural capital, where Jewish life once again pulses with vitality. Radisson Blu Hotel.

DAY 8 THURSDAY KRAKOW

Unlike Warsaw, Krakow emerged from the war largely untouched. Its streets, squares, and synagogues bear witness to a once-vibrant Jewish world. Begin with a walking tour of Kazimierz, Krakow’s historic Jewish quarter, where narrow lanes and quiet courtyards speak of centuries of faith and community. Visit the Jewish Community Center (JCC), a symbol of renewal and hope; the Remuh Synagogue, active for over four centuries; and the Old Jewish Cemetery, where time seems suspended. Cross the river to Podgórze, the site of the wartime ghetto, where memorials honor courage and suffering. Return to the hotel in the late afternoon. Radisson Hotel.

DAY 9 FRIDAY KRAKOW – AUSCHWITZ – KRAKOW

Early morning transfer to Oświęcim, known as Auschwitz, one of the most solemn sites in human history. This place, the epicenter of Nazi atrocities, has become an enduring symbol of the Holocaust. Millions come to honor those who perished and to pay tribute to those who survived. The visit includes both Auschwitz I and Birkenau (Auschwitz II), where countless lives were extinguished, but the human spirit endured. It remains a site of sorrow, remembrance, and the eternal call — never again. As evening falls, gather for a Shabbat Dinner with the local community. Radisson Blu Hotel.

DAY 10 SATURDAY – KRAKOW

Enjoy a morning walking tour of Old Krakow, once Poland’s royal capital and among Europe’s most beautiful cities. See the Wawel Royal Castle, Collegium Maius, the oldest building of the Jagiellonian University, and the Market Square, crowned by the Renaissance Cloth Hall. The afternoon is free for you to explore on your own: visit the Schindler Museum, the Czartoryski Art Museum, or relax in a café overlooking the square. This Shabbat offers a moment of calm and reflection amid Krakow’s timeless beauty. Radisson Blu Hotel.

DAY 11 SUNDAY KRAKOW – HOME FLIGHTS

Transfer to Krakow International Airport for flights home. Depart with hearts full – touched by memory, inspired by resilience, and strengthened by the eternal message: Am Yisrael Chai – the People of Israel live.