I continue today the story of my recent trip to Poland. After visiting Krakow, I write this article about my visit of the Auschwitz I concentration camp as well as the Auschwitz II extermination camp called Birkenau. Namely that in the city of Auschwitz there was a third camp: Monowitz, completely destroyed. Indeed many people tend to confuse the two, they are two separate camps that had different goals, they are located in the same city and are a few kilometers apart. For visit Auschwitz and Birkenau count a day. Even though visiting Auschwitz and Birkenau only takes 4 hours, the trip from Krakow takes between 1 and 2 hours depending on the means of transport chosen. You will therefore need nearly 8 hours to get to Auschwitz and visit the two camps.
Visiting Auschwitz and Birkenau is often done from Krakow. Indeed the city of Auschwitz (Oświęcim in Polish) is located less than 70 kilometers from Krakow.
Summary:
> How to get to Auschwitz from Krakow?
> Price to visit Auschwitz and Birkenau
> Opening hours of Auschwitz and Birkenau
> Visit Auschwitz
> Visit Birkenau
> Visiting Auschwitz and Birkenau: Review and personal opinion Book your visit:
Book your camp tour directly with transport from Krakow. During high season, be sure to book your visit several days in advance. Book your visit
How to get to Auschwitz from Krakow?
First stage of the trip, reach Auschwitz. The distance between Krakow and Auschwitz is 72 kilometers.
For this there are several means.
Auschwitz tour from Krakow via agency
The first solution is to visit Auschwitz with the help of the many tour guides that you will meet in Krakow and who will offer to pick you up at your hotel and take you directly to Auschwitz. The price includes the journey and the visit. This solution, although more practical, will cost you more, count around 40 euros per person. If you don't have a lot of time, public transport doesn't mean anything to you (and you'll see that this can be understood) and the price suits you, then I advise you to book your visit to the Auschwitz camps from Krakow. This will save you precious time and a certain comfort!
Note that it is possible to opt for a guided tour of Auschwitz (in French) from Krakow or simply for transport + entrance ticket (without guide).
Looking for a Krakow travel guide?
Like many, I often travel with a travel guide. If you are looking for a guide for your visit to Krakow, let me recommend the "Cartoville" guide from Gallimard. These guides are perfect for directing you during a city trip.
Organized in neighborhoods with numerous maps, the “Cartoville” guides really stand out from their competitors by their practical and intuitive aspect. You will discover the essentials of each district, the places to eat, where to go out, etc. Buy this guide to Krakow
How to get to Auschwitz from Krakow by your own means (Bus or Train)?
It is therefore not this solution that we chose on the day of our visit. Indeed we opted for the most economical solution but, I grant you, the least comfortable and the longest. After asking our bed-and-breakfast for information, we chose to take the bus trip and buy our tickets ourselves at the place of the visit.
Go to Auschwitz by bus
To take the bus, meet near Aleksandra Lubomirskiego, near the Krakow bus station located a little outside the city. The bus will cost you around 6.5 euros (just under 28 zloty). The journey is quite long, just under 2 hours and relatively uncomfortable.
So around 10 am we take the bus to Auschwitz. Arrival for 12 noon, departure time for the visit in French (which we almost missed because of the regular bus).
Be sure to check the schedules of the visits according to the desired language. Hours may vary depending on the season. This link may help you: Information on Auschwitz
Go to Auschwitz by train
Other solutions are possible, in particular the train. Indeed you can get to Auschwitz by taking the train from Krakow. The camp is located a few kilometers from the Oświęcim station.
Regardless of your means of transport, your visit will begin on the site of Auschwitz I, the concentration camp. Indeed it is on this site that the purchase of your tickets takes place.
From Krakow: transport and visit to the camps!For the visit of Auschwitz I advise you to opt for a visit from Krakow. Much less restrictive than going to Aleksandra Lubomirskiego to take the bus which will take almost 2 hours to arrive. For 12 euros more it is possible to book a shuttle that will pick you up at your hotel and take you to the camps. The price of tickets for the visit is included in the price. This will save you precious time but will also be more pleasant than the regular bus. See offers for this tour
Price to visit Auschwitz and Birkenau
- Normal price: 40 PLN (i.e. 10 euros) for one person
- Student rate or under 26 years old: 30 PLN (about 6 euros)
- Guided tour with shuttle from Krakow: Around €38
- Single ticket with shuttle from Krakow: Around 26€
Tours are available in: Croatian, Czech, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish and Swedish.
Attention on the visits in French during the high periods. Be sure to book your guided tour in French several days before you travel during the summer period. The number of visitors being limited, this will allow you to avoid unpleasant surprises.
Opening hours of Auschwitz and Birkenau
Regarding the opening hours of the two sites, they will vary depending on the season. Here is when you can visit Auschwitz and Birkenau depending on the month you are going:
- December to February: 8:00 a.m. – 15:00 p.m.
- March and November: 8:00 a.m. – 16:00 p.m.
- April and October: 8:00 a.m. – 17:00 p.m.
- May and September: 8:00 a.m. – 18:00 p.m.
- June, July and August: 8:00 a.m. – 19:00 p.m.
Visit Auschwitz
Your visit therefore begins on the site of Auschwitz. After purchasing your tickets, you will receive an audio guide so that you can hear the explanations of your guide.
First impression of this visit, the world around us. Indeed I expected something less "touristy". Many groups are present at the entrance to the site. This mass effect fades as the visit progresses, the size of the site causing the groups to cross paths but no particular concern to hear your guide thanks to the headphones provided.
First striking image of the visit, this famous gate delimiting the entrance to the site with the famous German inscription “Arbeit macht frei”: “Work makes you free”.
Once past this gate, the visit crosses the site through several blocks. Some of the blocks have, in fact, been redeveloped. You will therefore be able to see a very large number of objects found there, having belonged to the millions of people exported. You will therefore see objects such as suitcases, with the names of people to whom they belonged, glasses, shoes but also, more shockingly, an impressive pile of hair found during the liberation. You will also have the opportunity to see registers as well as period images.
In addition to these “museum” blocks, you will discover several blocks that have been restored to the exact state of what they were at the time. You will therefore discover the living conditions of the deportees, with of course inhuman hygiene conditions and omnipresent promiscuity.
After visiting the blocks, you will end with the first gas chamber and the first crematorium. In this one you will see the furnace, but also a reconstitution of what were the gas chambers of Birkenau. That of Auschwitz was used very little, rather used on an experimental basis.
The visit to Auschwitz is almost 2 hours long. At the end of the visit, return to the site entrance to take a bus that will take you a few kilometers away to visit the Birkenau site.
Visit Birkenau
As said previously, Birkenau or Auschwitz II is located a few kilometers from Auschwitz I. As soon as you arrive you will immediately recognize this famous gate allowing a railway line so characteristic of this site to pass. Once past this porch one thing will strike you instantly, the immensity of this site. Indeed, barracks stand on either side of the railway line, as far as the eye can see. The visit begins with a long walk along this path, a first stop in front of one of the Wagons transporting the deportees, accompanied by explanations from the guide on the transport conditions of which many people were victims.
The walk continues towards what were the gas chambers as well as the crematoria. Only ruins remain, the Germans having destroyed everything before fleeing. The visit continues by passing near bodies of water where you can still see ashes at the bottom. This is followed by a visit to the “dormitory” barracks and then to the sanitary facilities. Here again, an overview of the living conditions in this camp. The visit to Birkenau ends with this famous building acting as a gate. You can go upstairs and realize, one last time, the immensity of the site. The return to Auschwitz is by bus. It is also from this site that you will return to Krakow, by bus, train or car.
Visit Auschwitz and Birkenau: Review and personal opinion
My opinion on this visit is very positive. She taught me many things about the events as well as the living conditions during the period 1939-45. I think it's important to visit these kinds of places, whether it's Auschwitz or another camp. These are the places that bear witness to the atrocity experienced by millions of people. The visit to Auschwitz is quite a hard thing, the visit is long and some people crack at the entrance to the barracks. This can therefore be difficult for some, especially for children. I therefore highly recommend this visit but beware of the harshness of the things you will see or hear.
