Krakow: Auschwitz & Birkenau Guided Tour
Description
Choose the option that best matches the experience you want. The “Auschwitz-Birkenau National Museum Guided Tour” option includes entry to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. With this option, you visit Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau inside the official museum area with a licensed museum guide, following the standard educational route through the former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp. The “IG Farben, Auschwitz & Birkenau Camp Remnants Tour” option does not include entry to the Auschwitz-Birkenau National Museum. On this route, you see Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau from the outside only, without entering the museum grounds. The tour focuses on the wider history of the Auschwitz complex, including IG Farben/Buna, Auschwitz III-Monowitz and selected external remnants connected with the camp system. This option is for guests interested in historical context beyond the standard museum visit.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Start your tour with easy transportation from Krakow. During the trip, a friendly English-speaking leader will be there to help. When you get to Oswiecim, take a quick break for coffee or to check out some outdoor exhibits. Then, meet your local guide. They're officially approved by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum and will show you around.
Guided tours of Auschwitz I Museum provide visitors with a profound and educational experience, as knowledgeable guides lead them through the haunting remnants of the camp. Explore the barracks, watchtowers, and infamous "Arbeit Macht Frei" gate while learning about the systematic oppression and unimaginable suffering endured by prisoners. Witness the chilling exhibits, including personal belongings, photographs, and documents, which serve as powerful reminders of the human cost of hatred and intolerance. Pay your respects at the memorials and monuments dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust, and take a moment for quiet reflection at this hallowed ground. A visit to Auschwitz I Museum is not only a historical journey but also a solemn reminder of the importance of remembrance and the ongoing commitment to ensuring that the atrocities of the past are never forgotten.
After the 1st camp short break up to 15 minutes is planned. You will be taken by us to visit the second part of the tour - Birkenau (Auschwitz II), only 3 minutes away, which is the largest camp built and operated for the specific purpose of making Europe ''Judenrein'' (free of Jews). The same guide continues a poignant lecture about the camp in the village Brzezinka (Birkenau) which was constructed in 1941 on the order of Heinrich Himmler (SS commander) and could hold some 90 000 prisoners. You will be told about terrible stories of unimaginable living conditions as well as cruel selection and pseudo-scientific medical experiments made by prominent Nazi doctors including Josef Mengele. A history about soldiers of the 60th Army of the First Ukrainian Front opened the gates of Auschwitz on January 27, 1945, which meant the final liberation, ends your tour with a feeling, both this genocide should never have happened and it can not happen again.
At the end of the tour, there's no hurry from our side. You'll have at least a 20-minute break where you can visit a bookstore, grab some groceries, or simply relax. Then, after another 1 hour and 15 minutes on the road, we'll drop you off at your chosen address in Krakow.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Please make sure to bring with you ID or passport if Auschwitz-Birkenau National Museum Guided Tour is selected
- We encourage you to bring umbrellas or raincoats in case of bad weather.
- Breaks during the tour are no longer than 20 minutes
- Departure time may be changed due to Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum's policy. If Auschwitz-Birkenau National Museum Guided Tour option is chosen
- Due to the high tourist traffic, there may be a queues at the entrance. We kindly ask for your patience.
- Not recommended for people with serious health or mobility restrictions
Reviews(517)
We booked this tour two months in advance as we heard that it can be difficult to get tickets last minute. The day before the tour we received confirmation SMS and tickets sent to us. In the morning of the excursion we stood and waited for the car to pick us up. When it was 15 minutes ago, we call the company. They then tell us that they canceled the tour but forgot to notify us. Do not book this trip, book directly on the museum website instead and take a taxi to the museum.
An eye opening experience and humbling tour arranged by Discover Cracow. Stress free organisation and management by our host Filip. Overall, would recommend.
Pilip was excellent.kind and a great host.5 star
Brilliant tour and experience. Filip was extremely helpful and made the day stress free!
Amazing experience with philip as our tour guide he was very funny and polite and explained everything very well.
John kept us very well informed of pick up time and place to be he is all so informative of places of interest on the way. Our guide for Auschwitz-Birkenau tour was very good too
Overall experience was great. It's an emotional heart wrenching tour but very informative & educational. We booked with discover cracow & had John as our leader, he did a great job in keeping us informed & educating us on landmarks on our travels to the site. Would definitely recommend booking.
Our guide Filip was helpful and friendly, organized the journey well. The tour guide explained the history really well and we learnt a great lesson from the heartbreaking past there. I would suggest the tour offers a slightly longer break e.g 30mins in between for lunch and rest as the tour has quite a lot of walking:)
Nice experience with well knowledge tour guide, which explain so well. But whole trip is quite rush, dun have enough time for lunch.
Tour guide philp was friendly welcoming and funny amazing experience although a later start then planned would go again with this guide
