Travelling To Auschwitz

Travel Guide Advice & Information for Visitors Planning To Visit The Nazis Auschwitz & Birkenau WW2 Concentration & Death Camps.

Even if you have no relatives or or friends who were murdered here going to Poland and visiting the Nazis Death & Concentration Camps at Auschwitz and Birkenau sixty four years after it was liberated, however informed or prepared you are at the outset, is a distinctly sobering experience.

It is advisable to visit 'the Auschwitz Museum' before the 'Birkenau Camp as the former explains the history of the two camps. Simplified at the outbreak of World War Two 'Auschwitz was a Polish army barracks which was commandered by the SS. It was here that Dr Mengele conducted horrendous medical experiments on children many of them twins. It was here that the gas for use in the gas chambers of Auschwitch and other camps was developed. To facilitate the 'final solution' the Birnkenau camp was subsequently built.

To visit both places may take several hours so this is effectively a day trip. Some tour operators and local coach companies will suggest that that you it is possible to do visit both camps in two - four hours. This is not sufficient time. Please read the advice given carefully.

Admission to the Museum is free It is open seven days a week as follows:

Please note this is not like any normal museum as it is the place where the the methods of imprisonment, torture and murder were tried and tested before the  death camp at  ' Birkenau '  was built. Close to the main entrance there is a small cinemea which screens a very informative short film about the history of Auchwitz and Birkenau. This documentary is strongly recommended as it gives visitors an insight to the the sequence of events that culminated in the worst genocide of the 20th century. The English version of the documentary is generally shown at 11am daily.

You can go around the camp alone or you can join a guided tour. The cost of this is €45 -€50 for a three and half hour tour with 15 other people. Full details on the official Auschwitz site. The guided tours are very informative and detailed and available in many languages.

For some, visiting the Auschwitz Museum and its many attendant horrors is very personal experience and emotional experience. It can be disturbing and may be something not everyone wishes to share with strangers . For those who choose to go around alone detailed information in english is displayed throughout the museum.

There is also a good cafe which is very useful if your visit is at a sedate pace  Unaccomapanied it is very easy to spend 3-4 hours here.

Travelling Between The Auschwitz Musuem & The Birkenau Death Camp The distance between these places is about 1.5km. There is a free hourly bus service.

Birkenau Death Camp

Watching the film and viewing the pictures of this place at 'The Museum' before coming here gives you a basic understanding of Birkenau. However, it is still very sobering walking around what was simply a factory of death.

Birkenau was the final stop for thousands of prisoners who had been brought here by trains from all over europe. It's sheer size makes it  very difficult to comprehend the scale and size of the operation of slaughter which took place. The fact that around 75% of each train load of prisoners died in the gas chambers within hour of arriving here preys on your mind as you walk alongside the rail tracks.

Even on a warm summers day it has a definite air of coldness and that with the rarity of birds gives you the feeling that you have reached a place which was hell on earth.  A place from which for so many there was no escape and where there was was no dignity in dying or in the life of the few that survived to burn the dead.Now sixty four years on though sanitised it has an unnerving eerie silence about it.

This is a vast place - it enormity is frightening & it is easy to spend 1-2 hours here.

GPS coordinates: GPS coordinates: 19.20363 E, 50.0266 N

International Airports: Krakow International & Katowice.

Nearest Major Towns: Krakow and Katowice.

Closest Railway Station: Oswiecim. Oswiecim is accessible by road from Krakow and Katowice the above places using the A4 & 933.

Public Transport: It is possible to travel by train from Katowice or Krakow to Oswiecim Stn which is about 1km from The Auschwitz Museum. These train services can take up to 2.5 hours. The services from Krakow are not recommended as they depart at breakfast time and arriving 2 hours before the screening of a short but informative film (in english) at 11am.

Recommended Travel: The most practical journey is by coach from the terminus outside Krakow main railway. station. This leaves daily at 9am arriving at The Auschwitz Museum at 10.30 costing around €6.00 or 20PLN.

Cautionary Note:
When waiting for the bus you may be invited by touts to travel to Auschwitz in a luxury private minibus. These services, cost anything from €20 or 70 PLN upwards (you will be asked for double these amounts at first), have a serious drawback as your stay is limited from 2-4 hrs which is not long enough to visit Auschwitz and Birkenbau

Return Jouneys: Check with the coach driver on your out-ward jouney the time of the last return jouney. This is usually about  6pm from the main road directly outside The Museum. Please note the return services unlike the out-ward services do not enter the car  park. You can check these details on arrival at the information desk.

Alternative Return Journeys:
After this time you may have to walk to Oswiecim Station and get a train or alternatively a minibus from the opposite side of the road to the station. The minibus servicess cost approx €1-2 approx 8-10pln

Polish National Rail Network Services To & From Oswiecim: Full details of these services can be found at the following Polish Railways link.

Important Note For Travellers: When purchasing tickets to Auschwitz at rail stations etc you should ask for ' Oswiecim' . (Auschwitz was the name given to the Camp by the Nazis and many Poles refuse to recognise the name even if they know what you mean).

For further information on the cities of Krakow Gdansk & Warsaw in Poland please go to our Poland Page

Travel Details

Note: Some pictures on this page may disturb and not be suitable for children

 The Auschwitz Album- Visual Evidence of Mass Murder at Auschwitz-Birkenau

The Auschwitz Album is the only surviving visual evidence of the process of mass murder at Auschwitz-Birkenau. It is a unique document and was donated to Yad Vashem by Lilly Jacob-Zelmanovic Meier