During IAHR 2025, we offer a variety of extracurricular activities. These include a selection of full day trips in and outside of Kraków, afternoon events and tours in Kraków, and a visit to the Jagiellonian University Museum Collegium Maius (for premium participants). We also offer free entry or discounts to selected museums in Kraków.

Full day trips || Afternoons in Kraków || The Collegium Maius Museum || Free museum visits

The full day trips are scheduled for Wednesday, the 27th of August. Please note that no academic sessions or keynote lectures are scheduled for that day.

27.08.2025. Start time: 10:00; Return to Kraków: 16:00.  Price: 42 EUR

Come see the lesser-known religious sites around Kraków! Our coach will take you to see the religious wonders of Kraków’s Communist-era worker’s paradise, Nowa Huta, including Kościół Arka Pana (1960s-70s – looks like Noah’s Ark landed on a concrete bunker) and Parafia Szklane Domy (1980s – built of the same brick as workers’ homes but with large geometric glass windows). We’ll grab lunch at the ‘Stylowa’ restaurant, unchanged in décor since the time of the People’s Republic, and then jump forward to one of Krakow’s newest additions to the religious landscape, the Hindu Mandir in Brzegi.  

27.08.2025. Start time: 9:00; Return to Kraków: 16:00.  Price: 60 EUR

The monastery of Jasna Góra (Bright Hill) at Częstochowa is Poland’s most famous and most frequently visited pilgrimage site, with more than 4 million visitors a year.  It is home to the famous icon of the Black Madonna who bears scars to show her suffering at the hands of attackers. (And she also does extra duty as the Loa Erzulie in some quarters.) Our coach tour will include the gorgeous Baroque architecture of the shrine, the monastery, and the Saint Pope John Paul II Museum, as well as a stop for lunch. 

27.08.2025. Start time: 8:00; Return to Kraków: 17:00.  Price: 70 EUR

Our longest tour will take us to see ‘Karpacka Troja’, an archaeological site with not one, but two lost cities – built thousands of years apart – one on top of the other. Sections of the cities’ buildings have been reconstructed for visitors, and there is a museum show the treasures uncovered, as well as a small experimental farm with older varieties of domestic animals. We’ll have a picnic lunch and a choice of workshops (pottery or archery) and then head to the Jagiellonian University vineyard on the way home for wine-tasting.

These trips are organized by an external provider (SeeKrakow) and should be arranged individually. They can be booked for the 27th of August, or for any other day before or after the congress. Due to high demand, we recommend you book those trips as soon as possible. Please follow the links below for details:

Auschwitz Birkenau: Find out more and book

Wieliczka Salt Mine: Find out more and book

You may register for one event of your choice in the congress registration system. Registration will be open until Wednesday, 20th August 2025.

All the events are free of charge, except for The Polish Vodka Experience, during which you have to pay for the vodka directly at the bar (see below). The number of participants for each event is limited – participants will be accepted on first-come first-served basis.

On Thursday evening, we invite you to a two-hour audiovisual and organoleptic introduction to Polish Vodka (in other words, you get to drink the stuff together with a lecture explaining what you are drinking). We will cover vodka’s history and cultural meaning (even with a little religion in there), and taste eight of its many varieties. Please eat a meal and stay hydrated beforehand! Places are limited, so please sign up. The event will take place at a local bistro, roughly a 12-minute walk from Auditorium Maximum.

Podgórze, a historic neighbourhood on the other bank of the Vistula, was an independent town between 1784 and 1915. Formerly a significant economic centre, located on a hill among lime rocks, it is cherished by the locals for its distinct architecture, landscape and character. The walk will be inspired by the title of an exhibition at the Podgórze Museum—Two banks, one city—and will take the participants through the sites telling the history of Podgórze, from its beginnings as a small settlement, through its glory days in the 19th century, until its modern days as a part of Kraków.

Please note: You may also visit the Podgórze Museum for free at another time as part of our free museum visits.

Located just a few blocks away from the Old Town, Kazimierz is Kraków’s historic Jewish district. An independent town between the 14th and the 19th century, Kazimierz tells a rich and colourful tale of one of the most active Jewish communities in that part of Europe. The walk will take the participants through the landmarks that tell the history of this community, its culture, and its traditions.

Please note: You may also visit the Old Synagogue for free at another time as part of our free museum visits.

Premium participants will able to register for a free tour of the museum at the beginning of the congress, at the registration desk. At the museum, admission will be granted upon presenting the congress ID badge.

You will be able to choose from the following hours:

Monday, 25th August

Tuesday, 26th August

Wednesday, 27th August

Thursday, 28th August

Friday, 29th August

Saturday, 25th August

The number of participants for each time slot is limited, the slots will be filled on a first-come first-served basis. A guided tour takes around 1 hour.

Entry will be granted upon presenting the Congress ID badge at the museum entrance.

Eagle Pharmacy
The Barbican
The Celestat
Intangible Heritage Interpretation Centre of Krakow
Zwierzyniec House
Hipolit House
Museum of the Scouting Movement
Nowa Huta Museum
Podgórze Museum
City Defence Walls
Krzysztofory Palace
Nowa Huta Underground
Museum Harbour
Rydlówka
Old Synagogue
Thesaurus Cracoviensis
Pomorska Street
Town Hall Tower

Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology

Discounted entries:

The Enthnographic Museum in Krakow – discount admission (10 PLN) ; codeword: KONGRES RELIGIOZNAWCZY