Large numbers of Poles are getting ready to attend the beatification of John Paul II in Rome on 1 May, media reports.
 
The majority of pilgrims will travel by coaches, but there are those who will travel by planes, cars or even by bicycle.
 
So far 32,000 Poles have declared their intention to make the journey by coach. 500 pilgrim groups who will travel by coaches have been already registered, Father Piotr Studnicki from the Information Office for Polish Pilgrims in Rome told the PAP news agency.
 
There are also many who will travel on their own and not as part of a larger group, adds the agency.
 
Many of them will leave on 28 April and return on 3 May, Poland’s constitution holiday.

According to travel agencies, the cost of such a trip varies from 600 zloty (150 euro) up to a hefty 2,800 zloty (700 euro) depending primarily on the mode of transportation.
 
Many Poles who are still looking for an affordable mode of transportation will not be able to travel on board a special train which was to set off from the city of Bydgoszcz as the organisers managed to sell only one hundred tickets out of the six hundred prepared.
 
The most numerous groups of pilgrims registered so far are to set off from Warsaw, Lublin and Katowice. (di/jb)