Grand Tour of Poland & Masuria 2026-27

Masuria. It is likely that, to most people, Masuria is entirely unknown territory. But the idea for this tour was born of a new interest expressed by many in “the land of the great lakes”. A region of north-eastern Poland close to the Belarusian and Lithuanian borders, it was a candidate (alongside our own Vesuvius!) in the competition for the seven natural wonders of the world. And it truly deserves a visit, not only for its more than 2,000 lakes (on day 2 we shall cruise on one of the most beautiful), but also for its wonderful forests and rivers, especially beloved of kayaking enthusiasts. And as if that were not enough, there are Teutonic castles too (on day 3 we shall visit the largest in Europe) and shelters dating from the era of Prussian rule. We shall also have the chance to visit one of Hitler’s principal hideouts in Poland, the bunker at Gierłoż, set deep in the greenery, the site of the famous attempt on his life in 1944. This region preserves its natural, age-old richness, thanks also to the complete protection of its territory: any kind of industrial settlement, or anything disrespectful of Mother Nature, has always been forbidden. All this has led UNESCO to declare this Polish “green lung” a World Natural Heritage site. For the tourist, who often arrives unprepared, a stunning scene unfolds in which the blue of the crystal-clear waters shades into the green of the great parks and forest reserves that surround the entire lake region.

Wrocław is one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in Poland. It will surely captivate you with its distinctive features: its 12 islands and more than 100 bridges, the troubled history written into its city walls, its architectural gems, its picturesque setting, its rich cultural offering and its warm, friendly inhabitants. The heart of Wrocław is full of life at every hour of the day. At its centre stand the Cloth Hall (Sukiennice) and the Town Hall, a monument of Gothic and Renaissance architecture unique on a European scale, which today houses the Museum of Bourgeois Art. In front of its eastern façade stands a faithful copy of a medieval pillory, and in front of the western one the monument to the nineteenth-century Polish poet and playwright Aleksander Fredro. The Market Square is surrounded by characteristic colourful townhouses. From here it is a short step to another of the city’s points of interest, Nadodrze, an old artisans’ quarter that in recent years has become ever more fascinating, drawing visitors with its unique atmosphere. Ostrów Tumski (literally Cathedral Island) is the ancient settlement where the history of Wrocław began. Washed by the waters of the Oder, the island is home to wonderful architectural monuments such as the imposing Gothic Cathedral of St John the Baptist, rebuilt after the damage suffered during the war, and the Collegiate Church of the Holy Cross and St Bartholomew, a two-storey hall church. Here we shall also find the Archdiocesan

Museum, which for more than 100 years has been collecting treasures of sacred art, including the famous “Księga henrykowska” (Book of Henryków) of the thirteenth-fourteenth centuries, containing the first sentence ever written down in the Polish language and listed by UNESCO since 2015. What is more, only on Ostrów Tumski can you still meet the lamplighter who lights the gas lanterns at night. The headquarters of Wrocław’s oldest university stands in the largest Baroque complex in the city, once a Jesuit college and church. In the astronomical observatory of the Mathematical Tower we can admire antique instruments such as a fourteenth-century astrolabe, a sixteenth-century globe and a compass of 1665. Also worth seeing is the Ossolineum Library, the second most important library in Poland (after the Jagiellonian in Kraków), housed in the Baroque building of the former monastery of St Matthew. The Quarter of Four Denominations is the area of the historic centre made up of four streets: Kazimierza Wielkiego, św. Antoniego, Pawła Włodkowica and św. Mikołaja. In this area the places of worship of four different faiths stand within a short distance of one another: Orthodox, Catholic, Evangelical-Augsburg and Jewish.

The Racławice Panorama is an enormous panoramic painting depicting the famous Battle of Racławice (1794), in which a band of Polish insurgents led by Tadeusz Kościuszko defeated the Russians. The painting is circular in form and is currently displayed in a purpose-built structure, itself round.

The work was created in Lviv, then on Polish territory, between 1893 and 1894, to mark the centenary of the Kościuszko Uprising. Several artists worked on the painting – Tadeusz Popiel, Teodor Axentowicz, Włodzimierz Tetmajer, Ludwik Boller, Zygmunt Rozwadowski, Wincenty Wodzinowski and Michał Sozański – under the direction of Jan Styka and Wojciech Kossak. Completed in 9 months, the work immediately became one of the main attractions of the city of Lviv. Before starting the painting, the artists travelled to the site of the battle to study the topography of the area and understand precisely how the fighting had unfolded. The painting was initially exhibited in Lviv, in Stryjski Park, in a circular structure built specifically to house it. For one year only, in 1896, it was shown in Budapest, where 800,000 visitors were able to admire it. The painting survived the Second World War partly because it was carefully hidden, rolled up, inside a Bernardine monastery in Lviv. After the war, thanks to the efforts of the Polish authorities, the painting was brought to Poland. Once in Poland the painting became the subject of a restoration project that was, however, repeatedly postponed on account of political relations between the Polish authorities and the Soviet Union, which then controlled the country politically. It should be remembered that the painting depicted a Polish victory over the Russians, and the latter were not happy at the thought of the scene becoming a national monument! Only in 1980 did the restoration finally take place. The construction of the building that was to house the painting also proceeded very slowly. Work began in 1957 and the exhibition space opened to the public in 1985. At the end of the nineteenth century there was a fashion in Europe for creating panoramas with special optical effects, combining oil painting with decorative scenery elements. As a result, as you will notice, a visual effect of particular realism is created, so that the spectator looking at the image feels part of it. The method can in some ways be compared with modern three-dimensional techniques. Moreover, thanks to this method of execution, looking at the image from different angles reveals details that would otherwise be hidden. The dimensions of the painting are impressive. It covers a surface 114 metres long and 15 m high. In all, the fabric measures 1,800 square metres. It was painted on sailcloth brought from Belgium in fourteen pieces, each 15 metres long. These lengths of canvas were then sewn together on a steel scaffold.