Auschwitz Birkenau Museum Tour from Krakow with Ticket & Transfer
Description
Join a respectful, professionally organized day trip from Krakow to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum – a powerful and unforgettable experience that offers deep insight into one of history’s darkest chapters. This all-inclusive tour includes round-trip transportation from Krakow, skip-the-line entry tickets, and a licensed museum guide who will lead you through the most important areas of the former Nazi concentration and extermination camps. You’ll visit both Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau, exploring preserved barracks, memorial sites, original structures, and exhibits that tell the story of the victims and survivors of the Holocaust. Throughout the journey, a dedicated tour leader ensures everything runs smoothly, allowing you to focus on reflection and learning. The tour is conducted with the utmost respect, historical accuracy, and sensitivity.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Your trip starts with a ride from Krakow, either from your hotel or a meeting spot you pick. It takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes to get to Auschwitz. When you arrive in Oswiecim, take a quick break for coffee or to look around outside. Then, a friendly local guide, licensed by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, will meet you and lead your tour.
When you arrive at your destination, you will be met by your professional guide and enter the site at Auschwitz I, walking through the gate to the camp that bears the inscription Arbeit Macht Frei (Work Sets You Free). The Auschwitz-Birkenau complex was established in 1940 in place of old polish army barracks. Originally to hold Polish POW`s political prisoners, and operated until its liberation by advancing soviets in 1945. During its operation, more than 1.5 million Jewish, Polish, Italian and French prisoners were brought here ,of which 1.1m. was exterminated as part of largest genocide in human history. Leaving survivors terribly scared for live. The Auschwitz complex comprises of original buildings and you can see the original roads, fences, watchtowers and railway ramps, and death wall. Visit some of the barracks on the Auschwitz I complex, which now house a collection of original exhibitions and documents, as well as articles stolen from prisoners upon camp arrival.
The second part of the tour - Birkenau (Auschwitz II) - the largest camp from over 40 camps and sub-camps from Auschwitz complex. Originally planned as a camp for Soviet prisoners of war, it eventually became a concentration camp for prisoners of various nationalities and a center of the extermination of Jews. Its construction began in October 1941 by hands of slave labourers, in a place of displaced and mostly demolished village of Brzezinka and three kilometres from Auschwitz I. It was design to hold 125 000 prisoners at one time. Who was from the start destined to die from cold, hunger, diseases and of exhaustion. Prisoners was treated as redundant and easily replaceable work force. You will sea unimaginable living condition, prisoners have to adapt. You can walk to preserved camp barracks. You will see rail ramp, when infamous Dr. Mengele oversaw selection process of new arrivals, when split second decided of you life or death in gas chambers. Which were only 200m away.
After the tour, we don't hurry you. You'll have at least 20 minutes to stop at a bookstore, grocery store, or just take a break. Then, after another 1 hour and 15 minutes on the road, we'll take you back to a set place in Krakow.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
If you've chosen the hotel pick-up option, please provide the address from which you'd like to be picked up during purchase. If you select the meeting point option, you will be picked up from Pawia 18b. Please contact the supplier to confirm your exact departure time the day before the tour. If you do not specify your hotel address we will be waiting for you on our pick-up place: Pawia 18b, kiss and ride stop, next tothe Mercure hotel.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- VISIT️️: During the tour, we kindly ask for solemnity and respect due to the tragic nature of this place. Smoking, eating, and loud behavior are prohibited in the Museum.Not recommended for children aged 14 and under
- PICKUP : Some hotels in Krakow are located in a restricted traffic zone. In such cases, your pickup will be arranged from the nearest available location. You will be informed about this one day before the tour.
- BREAKS ⌛️: Breaks during the tour are no longer than 10 minutes. We encourage you to wear comfortable footwear as there will be a lot of walking during the tour .
- DEPARTURE TIME ️: The start time of the tour may change due to the limited number of guides available at the Auschwitz Museum. Please contact the supplier to confirm your exact departure time the day before the tour. If you not specify your hotel adress we will be waiting for you on our pick-up place: Pawia 18b, kiss and ride stop, next to Mercure hotel.
- DOCUMENTS : Please make sure to bring with you ID or passoprt. Because before the entrance seciurity will ask about it.
- LUNCH : We encourage you to bring food and drinks as we do not plan a lunch break during the excursion. You can also choose the option of a tour with lunch included in the price
- WEATHER CONDITIONS⛅: Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately. The tour mostly takes place outdoors, so we encourage you to bring an umbrella or a raincoat in case of bad weather.
- REFUND: In rare cases when no guide is available, the tour may be changed to a self-guided tour or cancelled with a full refund
Reviews(4,047)
Grateful for the experience provided by Discover Cracow. John and Ana were fantastic tour guides. The driver drove us safely to and from the destination. The only thing is, at least one of the breaks could be changed to 20 minutes to give us a chance to eat properly and do anything else. On that note, I recommend that people pack some food for afternoon tours, as they last approximately 8 hours in total including the journey. It was a very insightful experience, one could only hope that every individual who learned about this ghastly part of our history will ensure that this will never be repeated nor replicated in any way shape or form. I am deeply sorry for all the people who suffered brutally in the most inhumane way possible. Ana clearly is a very knowledgeable and experienced tour guide. I would highly recommend this tour to people with the stamina to walk around for hours, able to do stairs, have very good trainers, and are ready to experience a trip that you will never regret having.
Excellent organization for transfers and tickets. Intense experience managed by a Polish guide who is a native Italian speaker.
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a wonderful review! We are truly delighted to hear that the transportation and ticketing organization met your expectations so smoothly. The Wieliczka Salt Mine is an extraordinarily atmospheric place, and we are thrilled that your Polish, Italian-native tour guide made the underground journey such an intense, engaging, and memorable experience! Thank you for choosing Discover Cracow. We hope to welcome you back on another exciting adventure in Kraków soon! Kind Regards, Discover Cracow Team
A must-do. Our French-speaking guide was brilliant
Merci beaucoup pour votre magnifique retour ! Nous sommes ravis que vous ayez apprécié votre visite d’Auschwitz-Birkenau et que notre guide francophone ait contribué à rendre cette expérience aussi enrichissante. Nous ne manquerons pas de lui transmettre vos compliments. Merci d’avoir choisi DiscoverCracow et au plaisir de vous accueillir à nouveau à Cracovie ! 😊
Was a very informal tour particularly for the subject material
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us. We take your comments very seriously. Auschwitz-Birkenau is a site of immense historical significance, and a respectful, solemn tone is essential when presenting this deeply sensitive material. We are sincerely sorry that the tour felt overly informal and did not reflect the gravity and dignity you expected for such a visit. Please rest assured that we are addressing this feedback directly with our tour team to ensure that all visits maintain the proper level of reverence and sensitivity required for this memorial site. We truly appreciate your honest input, as it helps us uphold the highest standards for such important historical experiences. Kind Regards, Discover Cracow Team
Oliwia, our tour guide, was incredibly knowledgeable and provided a very informational tour. The admission fee was reasonable for what I got in return.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your feedback! We are glad to hear that you had a valuable and educational experience at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. Providing deep, respectful historical insight is our top priority for such an important site. We will be sure to pass your kind words along to Oliwia—she will be delighted to know that her knowledge and guidance made your tour so meaningful! Thank you for choosing to visit with us. Kind Regards, Discover Cracow Team
Ghastly to see the horror of what went on. Excellent guide. Very informative. There's a lot of walking. It was good to go on a shorter tour. Bus takes an hour and a half to get there.
I was disappointed with our visit to Auschwitz. We specifically booked a Czech-language guided tour so that our entire family could stay together with one guide. Some members of our family speak only Czech, while others are native English speakers who also understand Czech. Unfortunately, our guide was not a native Czech speaker. Her Czech was difficult to understand, and the family members whose first language is English struggled to follow her explanations. The second issue was the audio equipment. The headset frequently cut out, the sound was distorted with constant crackling, and at times there was no audio at all. This made it even harder to understand the guide. I also don't understand why Auschwitz doesn't offer a fully digital audio guide as an alternative to live guided tours. Visitors could simply choose their preferred language with a native speaker and explore the museum at their own pace, without being rushed or limited by the quality of the guide's language skills. Another major disappointment was that we were not shown many of the buildings and exhibitions that the museum has to offer. There was so much we missed because the tour followed only a limited route. The entire visit felt rushed, leaving little time to reflect on such an important and emotional place. I believe the experience would be much better if visitors could choose a self-guided tour using high-quality audio commentary, allowing everyone to explore the site at their own pace while still receiving accurate and meaningful historical information.
This guide made me feel that she did not know enough about the history of the camp, and in the first camp, she spoke very briefly and briefly.
Dear Visitor, Thank you for sharing your feedback. We are very sorry to hear that the commentary in the first camp felt too brief and lacked the depth you expected. Please note that all guides at the Memorial are independent educators employed and managed directly by the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, rather than our local agency. Because of this, we do not have direct influence over their individual speaking styles or presentation methods. Furthermore, they must strictly follow the tight schedules and time limits enforced by the museum to keep visitor groups moving. Nevertheless, we understand how important a comprehensive narrative is for such a meaningful visit. We take your comments seriously and will forward this feedback to the Museum's guiding department to help them maintain the highest standards of education for all visitors. Kind Regards, Discover Cracow Team #DiscoverCracow #AuschwitzTour #VisitorFeedback #AuschwitzMuseum
Very good guide 👍 Mycket bra inlevelse
Dear Visitor, Thank you very much for your feedback! We are delighted to hear that you had a very good guide and appreciated their great empathy and dedication (mycket bra inlevelse). Delivering the history with the right emotional depth and respect is incredibly important to us, and it is wonderful to know our guide achieved this. Thank you for choosing to explore with us! Kind Regards, Discover Cracow Team #DiscoverCracow #GreatGuide #KrakowTours #CustomerSatisfaction
Fantastic trip our guide was very knowledgeable,professional and she obviously cared deeply about the subject matter.
Dear Traveler, Thank you so much for taking the time to share your feedback with us. We are deeply gratified to hear that your tour was a meaningful experience. Our guides strive to be not only knowledgeable and professional but also to approach this deeply sensitive history with the utmost respect and genuine care. Knowing that her empathy and dedication to the subject matter shone through means a great deal to us. Thank you for choosing to visit this important historical site with us. Kind Regards, Discover Cracow Team #DiscoverCracow #AuschwitzTour #ExceptionalGuide #ProfessionalService #NeverForget #KrakowHistory
