English

Cantor Audrey Abrams
Dana Yugend-Pepper, Chairperson
Eastern Europe
October 15 - 26, 2017

Tour Rates & Dates:

There are no Departure Dates available for this Package.
*Please note that all rates displayed are based on standard room double occupancy.
All rates above are in US Dollars, and are based on full payment by credit card unless otherwise noted.
If check payment discount is available for this tour, it can be selected after clicking "BOOK" above.
(Deposit can still be paid by credit card). Upgraded room categories may be available to book later in the booking process.
If Land & Air price is displayed, the air portion includes tax and fuel surcharges, which are subject to change until ticketed.

Tour Overview:

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2 nights Hotel Yasmin, Prague, Czech Republic
2 nights Continental Hotel, Budapest, Hungary
3 nights Hilton Garden Inn, Krakow, Poland
3 nights Novotel Warsaw Centrum, Warsaw, Poland
All touring and sightseeing per an agreed upon itinerary in a deluxe
air-conditioned vehicle with English speaking guides in each city
Professional tour director throughout
Breakfast daily
Welcome Dinner in Prague
Danube Cruise and Dinner in Budapest
Shabbat Dinner in Krakow at the JCC Krakow
Additional Dinner Krakow
Farewell Dinner at Beit Warsawa in Warsaw
Meeting with Jonathan Ornstein at the JCC Krakow
Luggage handling at hotels
(1 piece per person upon arrival & departure) |
Transfers included if arriving/departing with the main group
Entrance fees as per itinerary
Porterage
Whisper headsets throughout

NOT INCLUDED - These prices do not include:

Roundtrip airfare departure taxes and fuel surcharges 
Flight Prague to Budapest
(will be arranged separately - est. of $200 - $300/person)
Any border taxes or visas
Tips to guides, driver, and dining room waiters
($15.00 per person, per day-pre-collected)
Any items of a personal nature
Travel Insurance
(Highly recommended)

Tour Itinerary:

DAY 1, Sunday, October 15, 2017: DEPARTURE

• We depart the United States on our overnight flight to Prague.

DAY 2, Monday, October 16, 2017: WELCOME TO PRAGUE

• We arrive in Prague, the Czech capital, also known as "the City of One Thousand Spires" with its Baroque churches, promenades, parks and ancient city walls. We are met by our local host and begin our tour.
• Today we'll visit the 1,000 year-old Royal Castle of Hradcany and St. Vitus Cathedral, the biggest and most important church in the Czech Republic.
• Stroll the Charles Bridge and see the nearby John Lennon Wall, as well as the famous Astronomical Clock
• Time to check-in and refresh.
• Welcome dinner together at a local restaurant, joined by a representative of the local Jewish community for an introduction to the Prague community.

O/N Prague

DAY 3, Tuesday, October 17, 2017: TEREZIN

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Enjoy a sightseeing tour of Jewish interest sites, with a visit to the Old City to view the Josefov, Prague's Jewish Town with its Old Town Hall, the Alt-Neu Synagogue, the Pinkas Synagogue, the Maisel Synagogue, the Jewish Cemetery and the State Jewish Museum.
• We depart for Terezin, the former "model" Nazi concentration camp.
• We visit the Fortress, Jewish Cemetery Museum, the hidden synagogue, and the Memorial Monument.
• Return to Prague for free time in this magical city.

O/N Prague

DAY 4, Wednesday, October 18, 2017: BUDAPEST

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Check out of our hotel.
• This morning, we enjoy a special VIP Visit with Andrew H. Shapiro, U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic. (Pending final confirmation)
• Transfer to the airport for our short flight to Budapest, the capital of Hungary. Situated on the opposite banks of the Danube River, the former cities of Buda and Pest are linked by a series of graceful bridges.
• This afternoon, we view the Parliament, the largest parliamentary building in the world situated at Pest's riverbank and the symbol of Hungary's independence.
• Continue past the Royal Palace to the Castle Hill area, and Fisherman's Bastion, for some of the most spectacular views in all of Hungary.
• We conclude our day with a two hour cruise on the Danube River, including dinner on board!

O/N Budapest

DAY 5, Thursday, October 19, 2017: BUDAPEST

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• We begin our day at the Raul Wallenberg Memorial Statue and then visit the Dohany Synagogue, the 2nd largest synagogue in Europe.
• We continue to the Jewish Cemetery and Museum, the Holocaust Memorial and the moving the Shoes on the Danube Memorial.
• Enjoy a walk in the Jewish district of Budapest.
• This evening we enjoy a special community reception and concert with members of Beit Orim, featuring Dana Yugend Green and Cantor Abrams. We'll also hear from spiritual Rabbi Ferenc Raj about the challenges of Jewish life in Budapest amidst the Nationalist resurgence today.

O/N Budapest

DAY 6, Friday, October 20, 2017: TO KRAKOW

• Breakfast at our hotel & check out of our hotel.
• This morning we depart for Krakow, driving through the lovely hills and countryside of Slovakia, past the Tatras and into the Great Plains of Poland.
• Check into our hotel with time to refresh.
• This evening we enjoy Shabbat dinner together with the local Jewish Community at the Krakow JCC.

O/N Krakow

DAY 7, Saturday, October 21, 2017: SHABBAT SHALOM!

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Shabbat services this morning at one of the local congregations.
• Shabbat home hospitality lunch this afternoon hosted by members of the local community. (Pending confirmation)
• Enjoy a walking city tour including Wawel Castle, St. Mary's Church, the Renaissance Cloth Hall and other notable landmarks.

O/N Krakow

DAY 8, Sunday, October 22, 2017: AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• We drive to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the infamous Nazi concentration camps where many Jews and others perished in WWII. We see the Museum and pay tribute to the victims.
• We return to our hotel in Krakow with time to refresh.
• Dinner together later this evening, after a processing session led by Cantor Abrams.

O/N Krakow

DAY 9, Monday, October 23, 2017: TO WARSAW

• Breakfast at our hotel, & Check out of our hotel.
• This morning, we meet with Jonathan Ornstein, the Executive Director of the Krakow JCC for first-hand insight into the struggles and successes of the growing Jewish community in Krakow.
• We spend the morning volunteering with Jewish youth in need, through the JCC.
• Our Jewish Heritage tour includes the Old Jewish District, Kazimierez, where we see the Old Synagogue (a massive fortress-like building erected in the 15th and 16th Centuries), the Temple and the Remuh Synagogue. Time permitting, we may stop in briefly at the Pharmacy Under the Eagle, which was a key information source for the Jews of the Krakow Ghetto.
• We also pass by Schindler's Factory.
• This evening, we travel by train to Warsaw and check into our hotel.

O/N Warsaw

DAY 10, Tuesday, October 24, 2017: WARSAW

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• This morning, we enjoy a sightseeing tour encompassing the Warsaw Ghetto, the Jewish Resistance Bunker at Mila 18, Stawski Street buildings (where the SS had their headquarters), and the Gensa Cemetery (established in 1806, containing the graves of about 250,000 people and known as the largest cemetery in Poland). We stop at the Monument to the Ghetto Fighters and stop to marvel at the Keret house - the thinnest house in the World, designed by famed Israeli author, and Polish descendent, Etgar Keret.
• This afternoon, we'll walk through the completely reconstructed Old Town. We suggest a stop for a traditional pierogi lunch nearby (on own).
• The Old Market Square was leveled and rebuilt brick by brick. We view the Mermaid statue, the legendary protectress of Old Market Square and walk by the Royal Castle.

O/N Warsaw

DAY 11, Wednesday, October 25, 2017: JEWISH WARSAW

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• We spend the entire morning at the newly constructed POLIN Museum (The Museum of the History of the Polish Jews), now opened on the site of the former Warsaw Ghetto. The museum provides a unique learning environment with a wide range of media, documents and artifacts. We will see the amazing architecture in the main hall and hear from their excellent docents.
• We continue to the only surviving synagogue from WWII in Warsaw, the storied Nozyk Synagogue, founded in 1900.
• Enjoy the remainder of the afternoon at leisure.
• Tonight we enjoy our farewell dinner with members of Beit Warsawa, the Progressive Jewish Congregation leading the Jewish re-birth in Poland today.

O/N Warsaw

DAY 12, Thursday, October 26, 2017: ARRIVAL HOME

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Transfer to the airport for our flight back to the United States.

The Memories Last Forever!


*Itinerary subject to change