Lublin & Majdanek — Private Day Trip from Warsaw

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For centuries, Lublin was one of the most important Jewish centres in Poland. In the 16th and 17th centuries it hosted the Council of Four Lands — the autonomous assembly representing the kehillot of Polish Jewry. The Podzamcze quarter, known as Jewish Lublin, had a population of tens of thousands before the war. In 1930, the Yeshivat Chachmej Lublin (the Yeshiva of the Sages of Lublin) opened — the most modern Talmudic institution in Europe, with its own library and dormitory. Its founder, Rabbi Meir Shapiro, introduced the Daf Yomi cycle, the daily Talmud study programme still practised worldwide today.\n\nMajdanek (KL Lublin) was a concentration and extermination camp located literally within the boundaries of Lublin — the only camp of its kind situated so close to the inhabited centre of a major city. It operated from 1941 to 1944. Estimates suggest between 60,000 and over 80,000 people perished here, with Jews constituting the largest group of victims. Liberated by the Red Army in July 1944, Majdanek was among the first camps to be documented and subjected to judicial proceedings. Preserved barracks, gas chambers and a mausoleum containing the ashes of victims make it one of the best-preserved Holocaust sites in the world.\n\nThe trip includes Lublin's Old Town with the Kraków Gate and the former Jewish quarter, the Yeshiva building, and a full visit to Majdanek. The programme is substantial — hence the 12-hour duration.

Departure from Warsaw takes place early in the morning; the journey via the A2 motorway and the S17 expressway takes approximately two and a half hours. On arrival in Lublin, the programme begins in the Old Town: the Kraków Gate, the market square, the Gothic-Renaissance castle. The route then leads to the former Jewish quarter of Podzamcze, where fragments of walls, cobblestone streets and traces of the original urban layout survive — though most of the pre-war buildings are gone.\n\nThe next stop is the Yeshivat Chachmej Lublin building on Lubartowska Street. The impressive 1930 structure now houses a medical university, but the historic hall, library and part of the rooms are open to visitors; an exhibition documents the academic life of the yeshiva before the war and the devastating fate of its professors and students during the Holocaust.\n\nAfter a lunch break — at a restaurant in the city centre or, depending on preferences, with a light meal in the vehicle — the trip continues to Majdanek. The camp visit takes between one and a half and two hours: the camp grounds with preserved barracks, gas chambers, the crematorium and the mausoleum housing an urn containing victims' ashes. Time is given for a focused, unhurried visit.\n\nThe return to Warsaw takes place in the afternoon, with arrival in the city centre by evening.

The trip is priced individually depending on the number of guests, pickup location and scope of programme. You book the entire vehicle — a Mercedes V-Class accommodates up to six people at the same transfer cost. Please send enquiries to kontakt@viptransfers.pl or via the contact form. A quote is provided within one business day. The price is final and inclusive of all transfer costs.

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A guide specialising in the Jewish history of the Lublin region and the Majdanek camp can be arranged for the trip. The guide leads visits at the camp and in the Old Town, explains the significance of each exhibition and answers historical questions. Available in Polish and English. Please let us know at the time of enquiry so we can plan the day with the right person.