The half-day tour begins with morning pickup at your Krakow hotel in an air-conditioned minivan for a comfortable ride. Learn about the unique local tradition of building mounds to honor fallen heroes and important national figures as you set off with a guide to explore the four mounds of Krakow. From the top of these historic hillocks, take a peek through provided binoculars to see the entire cityscape spread out below, and perhaps even catch sight of the Tatra Mountains on a clear day.
Begin with a glimpse into how 20th-century politics shaped life in Poland with a visit to Nowa Huta, the city’s former Communist district. Looming large over the neighborhood is the Mound of Wanda, built to honor the daughter of Krakow founder Prince Krak. Continue on to nearby Podgórze, a historic neighborhood that became a forced ghetto for the city’s Jewish population during World War II. Here you can see the Krakus Mound, thought to date back to the 7th or 8th century and built in memory of Prince Krak himself.
Climb to the top of the Tadeusz Kosciuszko Mound, constructed in 1823 in honor of the Polish national war hero and leader of the 1794 Insurrection. Finally, soak up the serenity of the Lasik Wolski forest, where the most recent and largest of Krakow’s mounds, the 115-foot (35-meter) Piłsudskiego Mound, was built in the 1930s in memory of Marshal Jozef Pilsudski. The 5-hour tour concludes with drop-off back at your hotel in the early afternoon.
