Visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau
Entrance to Auschwitz
If you’re heading to Poland, especially Krakow, then it’s likely you’re considering a trip to Auschwitz. There’s a lot of information out there about the best way to do the trip - I’ll be sharing my experience and personal recommendations about how to get there and what kind of trip to do. Auschwitz is open for the majority of the year aside from Jan 1st, Easter Sunday, and Christmas Day - along with any days that may come up during the year - you can check opening on their website. Opening times change during the year, the closing time is the last time that you can enter, giving you 90 mins to complete your visit. With the full trip including the Birkenau visit taking around 3.5 hours I recommend starting earlier in the day.
It goes without saying that although incredibly interesting and important, it’s very heavy going. That may seem obvious but you don’t really realise just how heavy going it is until you’re there. We went on about 4 hours sleep after a very delayed flight and that definitely didn’t help!
Opening times:
08:00-14:00 December
08:00-15:00 January & November
08:00-16:00 February
08:00-17:00 March & October
08:00-18:00 April, May & Septmber
08:00-19:00 June, July & August
THINGS YOU MUST KNOW:
Make sure you arrive half an hour before your start time so that you have time to get get through security and collect your audio set (this is how your guide talks to you, it’s not pre-recorded).
Bring photo ID! You need this to get through security even with your ticket.
It is a LOT of walking - wear appropriate shoes.
The vast majority of the tour is outside so check the weather and figure out if you need a coat or SPF (it can get very warm).
There are only coffee and snack vending machines available. Eat breakfast before and bring some snacks and water with you!
Be respectful. While you are allowed to take photos there are some places it is forbidden. There were people setting up tripods and using selfie sticks which just looked so disrespectful - don’t be that person!
Ways of Visiting:
Pre book tickets either with a guide or without.
Book a tour through a third party tour company (GetYourGuide for example). The benefits of doing this mean you can generally get transfers included and not have to worry about getting there yourself.
For Prebooked Visits:
Firstly, you absolutely NEED to book your tickets online, during peak season, bank holidays and weekends it can get extremely busy. For the 9am start and with a tour guide I paid 110 PLN per person (around £22). A google search brings up multiple places you can buy tickets from, however it is recommended to buy tickets from the official page. You then have the option to choose group or individual tours. You are able to go around Auschwitz without a guide but firstly you won’t have the first clue at what you’re actually looking at, and secondly the times that are available for you to go without a guide tend to be later in the afternoon (around a 5pm start time). Booking on a tour with a guide was definitely the best thing we did. We were able to start at 9am with the total tour taking around 3.5 hours which includes a visit to Birkenau, a shuttle bus there is also included.
Booking with a tour company.
Expect to pay a fair amount more as you’ll often get transport included in the price. If you think this is what you’d prefer to do I would recommend booking through GetYourGuide. If you’re staying in Warsaw I would recommend getting the train to Krakow and changing to catch the train to Oswiecim from there, otherwise you’d be looking at a 300km+ drive.
Otherwise I would look to see what day tours are available that give you round trip transportation. I’ve included some links to tours that have high ratings. One includes transport from Krakow, one is just for the tour (ideal for if your date is sold out on the official website) and the other is from Warsaw including a visit to Krakow.
Getting to Auschwitz:
By Car:
There is plenty of paid parking available on site for those that are renting a car. From Krakow the drive is around 1hr45.
By Bus:
Bus would be the cheapest method of travel (from Krakow), costing 20 PLN for a one way ticket. Again you would need to book these in advance. Buses leave from Krakow Bus Station starting from 6:40am and travel time taking around 1.5-2 hours. I have heard of fellow travellers having difficulty getting return journeys by bus however!
By Train:
My personal recommendation (although it can be a bit confusing online). We purchased a one way ticket from Krakow Glowny to Oswiecim and from there it is around a 20 min walk to the entrance or 5-10 min by bus. I booked our outward journey through Polish Trains and it cost around 12 PLN per person. Including the walk to the entrance the journey took around 1hr50. On the way back we simply bought a ticket at the ticket office for about 22 PLN per person as there wasn’t anything available to pre book online. When looking online it didn’t look like there were any return journeys available (as in no trains running) but when we got the station that simply wasn’t true. If in doubt, just go to the ticket office.
Overall, we ‘enjoyed’ (if you can say that) our visit to Auschwitz albeit deeply depressing. It sets you up to understand the history for the rest of your trip, especially if you’re continuing your stay in Krakow where remnants of the atrocities can be seen while you’re walking around.
If you’re looking for a guide to Krakow, I’ve pulled together some information including a walking tour of the Old Town here.
Enjoy!