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Auschwitz Tour: Self-Guided Memorial Visit
4.6
18 Ratings
Kraków
Explore the Holocaust memorial at your leisure, free from any rush or inconvenience. All the information from the official museum guidebook will be provided in your preferred language.
Explore the Holocaust memorial at your leisure, free from any rush or inconvenience. All the information from the official museum guidebook will be provided in your preferred language.
Duration:
11 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
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Auschwitz-Birkenau - “Judenrampe” - The Judenrampe, or Jewish Ramp, served as a railway unloading platform during the Holocaust from 1942 to 1944 at the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp. It was situated between the Auschwitz I (main camp) and Auschwitz II-Birkenau camps.
Today, the Judenrampe stands as a memorial site with plaques…
- Auschwitz-Birkenau - “Judenrampe” - The Judenrampe, or Jewish Ramp, served as a railway unloading platform during the Holocaust from 1942 to 1944 at the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp. It was situated between the Auschwitz I (main camp) and Auschwitz II-Birkenau camps.
Today, the Judenrampe stands as a memorial site with plaques commemorating the victims. Unlike the infamous “Gate of Death” at Birkenau, the Judenrampe played a crucial yet lesser-known role in the mass deportations.
- Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau - The tour begins at Auschwitz camp, entering through the gate of Auschwitz I, the first camp, initially established as a concentration camp for Polish citizens arrested after Germany annexed the country in 1939. Visitors pass under the notorious sign “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Work Makes You Free). This part of the tour typically lasts two hours, with headsets provided to ensure clear communication from the guide. The group size is limited to 30 people, in accordance with the Museum’s regulations, ensuring a comfortable and accessible experience for all participants. Explore the original wooden barracks, fortified walls, barbed wire fences, gas chambers, and crematoria, which together leave a haunting impression and allow visitors to understand the immense scale of the Holocaust.
- Memorial and Museum Auschwitz II-Birkenau - Following Auschwitz, the tour proceeds to the second, larger camp—Birkenau (Auschwitz II), located just 3 minutes away from Auschwitz. Birkenau, the largest camp, was constructed and operated with the sole purpose of making Europe “Judenrein” (free of Jews). The guide continues the powerful narrative at Birkenau, located in the village of Brzezinka. Built in 1941 under the orders of SS commander Heinrich Himmler, the camp could accommodate around 90,000 prisoners. Visitors will hear harrowing accounts of the brutal living conditions, the cruel selection process, and the pseudo-scientific medical experiments conducted by Nazi doctors, including Josef Mengele. The tour concludes with the story of liberation when soldiers from the 60th Army of the First Ukrainian Front opened the gates of Auschwitz on January 27, 1945, leaving participants with a profound understanding that such genocide should never have occurred—and must never happen again.

What's Included
- Entrance Ticket to Auschwitz 1
- Entrance Ticket to Auschwitz 2
- Roundtrip transportation
- Documentary movie “The liberation of Auschwitz” on the way to the museum
- Guidebook in your language with the route and detailed description
- Entrance Ticket to Auschwitz 1
- Entrance Ticket to Auschwitz 2
- Roundtrip transportation
- Documentary movie “The liberation of Auschwitz” on the way to the museum
- Guidebook in your language with the route and detailed description
What's Not Included
- Live guide
- Food and drinks
- Skip-the-line ticket
- Live guide
- Food and drinks
- Skip-the-line ticket
Location
Radisson Blu Hotel, Krakow
Floriana Straszewskiego
Please await for the driver on the bus stop in front of the entrance to Radisson Blu hotel.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.6
(18 Ratings)
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J6418uusarab
Feb 20, 2025
Auschwitz tour with Michael - Just back from Auschwitz your with Michael; very informative and friendly guide, he is a credit to the company. Would definitely recommend that everybody does this tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Andynich72
Jan 12, 2025
Auschwitz is hard but a must when in Krakow. - A very humbling experience but one i feel anyone who visits the area should do. Our driver and guide WALKER was superb and was able to speak about and get points across that are obviously hard to do! Also a shout out to Krakow directs boss for snow tyres on the minibus as Walker was able to navigate the snowy conditions. Thermals and comfy walking shoes a must during winter. I think the winter tour really gives a further perspective on the whole experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Compass47250408827
Dec 12, 2024
Auchwitz - As the pick up from our hotel was 5.30 am , it was lovely to see and meet a friendly driver .Pavel was friendly and bright through the morning. Nice chats on the journey . Offered to stop for beverage /food and it was very welcome and appreciated !
It was lovely to meet you and thank you for helping us enjoy our trip . Dublin ladies who like Mc Donald’s 😜
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lytpkings10
Nov 1, 2024
Excellent experience with Krakow Direct! - Excellent tour. Friendly, Polite, professional staff. Everything ran smoothly. Picked up and dropped off in a nice car, everything was on time and as advised. Driver explained the day well, gave us interesting facts as we passed different places. Couldn’t recommend this company highly enough. Book with them!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Bushfromhamble
Oct 31, 2024
Best Company - Fantastic experience and all helped by Michael our guide. Michael was exceptionally good, best guide I have had in my 62 years on the earth highly recommend this company!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Annsn329bw
Oct 12, 2024
Tour Company to seriously consider. - If you want to take a tour then this is the Company to go with........great driver on lovely transport, very helpful and informative, and a super informed guide once in the camp. On the way a video was played which was harrowing but taken from factual evidence at the time therefore setting the scene depicting what happened at this camp.
A lot of walking, as expected, but a huge boost to our grandsons history knowledge.
Highly impressed with this Companys offering of a tour, one to seriously look at if you are considering visiting Auschwitz.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Helenf37
Oct 10, 2024
Krakow - I would highly recommend Krakow Direct. We booked via our hotel who have used them, great communication.
The trip was brilliant along with our tour guide for Auschwitz Birkenau Guided Tour. The lady (apologies I forget her name) was very informative and even shared her own personal families experiences, which made the experience even more touching.
My husband also left his phone on the mini bus when we got back to our hotel. The hotel contacted the driver who returned the phone to the hotel for us.
Fantastic service all round and I'll be using this company again when I return the Krakow.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lorrainemr2038mj
Sep 29, 2024
Auschwitz and Birkenau tour - Tour guide/coach driver Michael was very friendly and knowledgeable. We had booked 11am tour but was moved to 1pm which due to short notice we had no choice but to attend. This seems to happen quite a lot so do t make any other plans for that day. never the less everything ran to time and we arrived back in the Old Town at 8pm. Lots of opportunity’s to eat and drink from beginning to end. Auschwitz was very busy with lots of other tours but this could be the norm for a Saturday. Plenty of toilets and vending machines at Auschwitz as well as a restaurant. Very uneven/stoney ground for people with mobility issues at both sites. But all in all we had a great day very poignant and we learnt so much thanks to the knowledge of Michael.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
140saskiar
Jan 22, 2024
Must do tours in Krakow - Booked both the Auschwitz/Birkenau and salt mine trips through Krakow direct. As mentioned when booking, they emailed me the day before to confirm the time of pick up. Both drivers were super friendly and arrived promptly. The tour guides were also very knowledgeable, especially Nicholas, an ex-miner in the salt mine who was good fun. It was also a bonus to be able to join a walking tour of the old town for free which we did on our first night.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
478stb
Aug 16, 2024
Not as advertised - Advertised as shared minibus wich is max 16 pax and you find yourself in full bus 50 people group!!!logistic of transfers and pickups take more then 1 hour Beware.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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