Testimonials

September 2024

Kasia was by far the best guide we have ever had! She was amazing! knowledgeable, friendly and patient. She did research on our genealogy before we arrived, and was therefore able to organize a very exciting, efficient and helpful genealogical tour of both sides of our family—the Jewish side and the Catholic side. She was amazing with her know how finding genealogical details in the digitized records and take us to the registrars of non-digitized genealogical information in various towns. She even helped us track down and meet cousins that we had not seen for 35 years and with whom we had lost all contact! Her winning personality opened the door to the house and hearts of our cousins. She knows the history of Poland and of the Jewish people of Poland very very well. She answered every question we asked about any and every topic. She did not shy away from the difficult discussion. She gave us memorable tours of Treblinka and the Museum of the History of the Jewish people in Poland, accompanied by clear and comprehensive explanations. We highly recommend Kasia as a top genealogical guide in Poland! and PolishOrigins to organize such tours.

September 2024

Daniel was a great guide! We wish he could have been with us the entire time! So personable, kind and full of knowledge! Even Mario our driver was always very helpful and contributed to our care and comfort! We got to tour the places where our grandparents were born, married, worked and lived! What a treat to actually meet a relative and his family. We plan on staying in contact! Thanks again for a trip of a lifetime! We loved every minute! We also made memories to last forever!

September 2024

Our guide, Zbigniew, was wonderful. He was prepared, eager to find relatives for us, which he did, found wonderful places for us to eat, and was full of ideas for what we could do to find additional records and relatives. He was patient with our tendency to wander off. We came to this tour after a tour of Warsaw and Krakow with Roads Scholar which was everything they are known for but the trip with PolishOrigins was made extra special by the work Zbigniew did which allowed us to find our cousins in Poland. It really made the trip extra special for us and both my sister and I enjoyed this tour more as a result.

We went on the tour hoping to find, if not relatives, the places where they lived and wanting to learn about what life would have been like when they lived there. We did not expect to find our grandfather’s relatives as they were part of the relocated. But through a stroke of good luck, and persistence by Zbigniew in tracking down Sembrats, we were able to meet our 3rd cousins (who were lovely), see the church built after the original one burned down, and visit the former rectory for the church. Additionally, we found the house our grandfather and other relatives were born in and were given a tour where we saw the original walls of the house which has since been remodeled. The gentleman who lived in their old home, recommended a local/close by museum, Park Etnograficzny that allowed us to see a more intimate view of farm life during our grandparetn’s time. With our grandmother’s family, we were less successful but met a few families with the same last name who tried to help us and learned that our line most likely either died in a pandemic or moved away after surviving. So, an answer. One of the families kindly shared a book on the history of Konskie. Meeting these families allowed us to see “real” Poland and was a very special experience. We connected with Maria, our tour guide for the Sanok Open Air museum and got a better understanding of life during our grandparent’s time. Of course, no one is ever satisfied with their family research, nor ever truly finished, but having the opportunity to meet family who remained in Poland, seeing the house our grandfather and his family lived and died in, and learning about life during their time made it a very special experience.

July 2024

(This review was originally published on Google along with some photos: https://g.co/kgs/oQPE2NR )

You may be like myself, having done quite a bit of research already on your ancestors, and wanting to take your first trip to Poland, to discover a bit more. I thought I had located many records already, and had done research on the small villages where my ancestors had lived, so I went into my Polish Origins tour with rather low expectations of simply walking through my ancestral homelands with a Polish-speaking guide. On the contrary, our guide (and genealogist) was able to locate records that we had no idea even existed, to peel back multiple layers of history for us, and to actually change our perception of the origins of our family. Our guide and genealogist was friendly and resourceful, pointing out so many items of interest to us in the villages that we toured, from the landscape, the flora and fauna, the architecture, and the ecclesiastical relationships among parishes. He painted for us a living and far more complete picture of what life may have been like for our ancestors in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, before emigration to the United States. While the cost for the genealogy tour is not cheap, it is so well worth it, and I treasure the experience and value the knowledge that we have gained from it, which will benefit our family for many generations henceforth.

July 2024

Every guide we had was really top notch — I refer to both our genealogical guides, Daniel and Zbigniew, who did superb work for us, as well as our city guides. Literally every single one we had, in Warsaw, Gdańsk, Białystok (Daniel), Lublin, Zamosċ and Krakow, brought alive the history, art, architecture and culture of the place for us. We are very experienced travelers and this is the first time we’ve traveled when literally every guide we had was excellent (usually, we get 1 or 2 that aren’t very good.)

Genealogy part: Extremely well satisfied. In both of my ancestral places, we found and met living relatives and added information and records to our family tree, not to mention walking in and seeing where my ancestors were born and lived.

Preparation and communication before the tour: Yes, we were well informed in advance. I found the section on your website with book recommendations to be super useful, and I’d encourage you to suggest it to all your customers (whether or not they do the reading in advance is up to them.) We felt that the way you and we developed the itinerary together was also excellent.

General remarks: (…) We thank Kasia for her unfailingly excellent help with our other “asks”, eg finding an opera performance (we saw a performance in Wawel Castle; it was magical) and arranging logistics for a dinner in Warsaw with my cousins). Poland has such strength in the performing arts — classical music, opera, etc — you might want to ask your clients when planning their trip if they’d like to attend any performances while in Poland. To anyone considering a trip to Poland, with or without a genealogical interest, we would very strongly recommend Polish Origins.

June 2024

Aleksander is an excellent manager and has answered all my questions. Daniel is an excellent tour guide and shown me a lot visiting the villages of my ancestors.

I learnt so much about my ancestry since I contacted you 3 years ago. Thank you for all the research you did through the church records and the great two tours I have taken.

June 2024

Daniel Paczkowski was a fantastic guide. Beginning with his grasp of English, it was easy to communicate. What was most important was his comprehension. I did not have to explain what I was saying as I did with some other English speakers I encountered in Poland. He had extensive knowledge of how to go about doing the research both in advance and on the tour. He was a good detective and meticulous in his approach. We were able to confirm things and discovered a couple of new things. Most importantly I was able to see the villages and churches of many of my ancestors.

Very impressed with drivers. They were both very helpful. The driver who took me to my train actually placed me and my bag in the car. This connection was the one that I was worried about because I have almost no Polish language.

June 2024

I loved our itinerary! Our guides went out of their way to make sure they were accommodating everything we asked for!

I was able to locate a third cousin in Klimkowka! This made my day as I had no expectations that this would really happen!

All guides and drivers were exceptional. Loved Johanna. She was very interesting and shared many stories in Krakow. Adam was our friendly driver to Auschwitz. He shared a roadside restaurant with us that he knew. It was delicious! Robert was our Czestochowa driver-delightful and engaging throughout the trip. Of course, our genealogy-driver-guide Lucjan, who accompanied us through most of the trip. He helped us speak Polish names correctly and always worked to accommodate our requests.
Last, but not least-Kasia, our tour agent, who remained in contact with our guides to ensure everything was successful! Thank you for a great trip.

I think Poland is a hidden gem! It will not be long before other American find out!

June 2024

Zbigniew was very patient and helpful with my numerous questions. He did his best to teach me the Polish words I asked for. He got people to open up to him, a real pro.

You did a good job which is rare in today’s world.

(See also the post on FB): 

June 2024

PolishOrigins provides excellence in all aspects of its services, from geneology research to personalized tours. I highly recommend it to anyone to seeks ancestry research assistance or a personalized tour to discover how their ancestors lived and worked.

The communications were outstanding. The follow up perfect. I am so very pleased with the attention to detail and the concern for my well-being. Thank you, Natalia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The guides were wonderful. Very knowledgeable, engaging, easily adapted to my needs, and a joy to be with.

I was so impressed with my experience with PolishOrigins, that I have recommended it to family and friends.