Krakow Excursions

One of the benefits of studying abroad is the ability to venture outside your host city and explore the surrounding area. Excursions are offered for all semester, year, and summer programs. Semester students are typically offered two to three excursions and summer students are typically offered one to two excursions. You will receive a calendar of the specific CEA excursions offered for your program during orientation. To give you an idea of the possibilities, we have collected typical experiences from some of the day trips and weekend tours offered to our students in the past.

Prague, Czech Republic

Prague, capital city of the Czech Republic, is known as the "city of a hundred spires", and "the golden city". It is said that everyone who sets foot in Prague falls in love with it. A city of museums and galleries, churches and synagogues, palaces and gardens, Prague has an amazing mixture of architectural styles and periods from the Middle Ages to the present. A full-day city tour will show students the main sights including Wenceslas Square, Old Town Square, Prague Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral, Charles Bridge, the National Theater and the Old Jewish Cemetery. Students will also visit Prague's main churches and synagogues, including the Gothic Church of Our Lady before Tyn, the Baroque Church of St. Nicholas and the Old-New synagogue in Prague's 13th century Jewish quarter (one of the oldest and best-preserved in Europe). The trip will also include free time for students to pursue their own interests or to visit some of the city's museums such as the Dvorak Museum, the Museum of Decorative Arts and the National Museum. There is no shortage of dance clubs, cafés, tea houses, restaurants, and beer halls to help them unwind when the museums and galleries have closed.

Hiking in the Tatra Mountains National Park

Zakopane is a small town at the entrance to the Tatra Mountains National Park, located near the border with Slovakia, about 60 miles south of Kraków. The town is popular for skiing in the winter and hiking in the summer. Zakopane has an attractive alpine appearance and offers an abundance of restaurants, markets and shops. Students will explore the Alpine peaks and dense forests of the National Park, sharing the trails with local shepherds, brown bears, falcons and marmots. Along the way, small restaurants located inside cozy timber chalets provide hot meals and cold drinks for weary hikers. Students may not make it all the way to Mount Rysy, the highest peak (8000 feet), but they will have a blast exploring Poland beyond the churches and monuments of the larger cities. Services of a mountain guide are included.

Going Underground

A trip to a salt mine might not sound like the ideal day away, but the Wieliczka salt mine is definitely on the must-see list. Keep in mind that in the Middle Ages, salt was as valuable as silver and for centuries Wieliczka salt was regarded as a major natural asset of the Kingdom of Poland! The mine has been in operation since the 12th century and has more than 200 miles of corridors. The rock salt itself is a grey color and looks like polished marble. Through the years, miners have carved out hundreds of statues from the salt. The Chapel of St Kinga is without doubt the highlight of the trip. It took 67 years to carve out this masterpiece, which lies over 300 feet underground. The entire contents of the chapel have been carved from rock salt, from the statues of Christ on the cross to the alter and even the chandeliers. The tour takes around two hours and ends at the deepest underground restaurant in the world.

Wawel Castle - Spiritual Capital of Poland

While Warsaw is the center of political power in Poland, Kraków is the spiritual capital, with Wawel Hill its historic heart. Polish kings were crowned and buried at Wavel for more than five centuries and it is said that here the legendary dragon of Kraków was slain by Skuba the shoemaker. The castle dominates the rest of the city and its mixture of architectural styles represents Poland's turbulent history. Its massive Renaissance courtyard is the largest in Europe, and the castle was one of the first in Europe to have flushing toilets and central heating. The interior has a display of 16th century tapestries, regalia, gold treasures and lavish Oriental objects. Within the walls of Wawel stands Krakow Cathedral, the final resting place of forty-one of Poland's forty-five monarchs. Here, students will also find the tombs of many of Poland’s national heroes such as the poets Mickiewicz and Slovacki. Guided tour in English.