Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland (September, 2023).

There was never a discussion about whether to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau Memory Place and Museum while we are in Kraków.  It was always understood.

Several weeks before arriving in Kraków we began researching our options.  Even though we generally are not fans of guided tours, one seemed appropriate for this visit.  Context matters, and we hoped a guide would provide that extra bit of information, making our visit all the more meaningful. So, a guided tour was decided. 

Guided tours cost 90 Zł (about $22 per person), are conducted in groups of 30, and led by an authorized guide, using headphones.  Obviously we booked an English language tour, but tours are also readily available in Polish, German, Russian, Spanish, Italian, and French.  No language barriers here.

Self-guided tours (free) are possible only in the late afternoon each day.  A reservation is required to enter the grounds regardless of whether you are on a guided or self-guided visit.

Having decided on a guided tour, the next question was how to get there.  We had three options.  One, take a bus.  Lajkonik has a dedicated bus route to and from Kraków and Auschwitz I at a round trip cost of 38 Zł (about $9 per person).  The buses run several times a day, and appear to be a great option.

Two, grab a train ticket on Polish Trains.  Trains run several times a day between Kraków and Oświęcim.  At the train station in Oświęcim you’ll need to catch a ride on a dedicated shuttle bus that goes to Auschwitz I.  For the round trip, plan on spending 36 Zł (about $8.50 per person) on the train and 8 Zł (about $2 per person) on the shuttle bus.  The trains run a few times each day, but not as often as the buses.

Three, schedule a private tour.  This is what we decided, hopefully to avoid any travel mishaps.  We booked a tour with Krakow-Auschwitz Tours through Trip Advisor.  The cost of our tour, which included transportation and the guided tour at Auschwitz, was $45 per person.

The cost of a private tour was only about $13 per person more than making our own travel arrangements.  Not having to navigate public transportation to get to Auschwitz at a set time for our guided tour was worth it to us.

At 7:00 AM on Wednesday we left our Airbnb and walked about five minutes to the pick-up point for the start of the drive.  We rode in a van along with the driver and two other couples.  During the trip our driver could not help but point out all of the other vans taking folks to Auschwitz-Birkenau from Kraków. There were quite a lot.

We arrived at Auschwitz I about 8:30 AM.  Once there our driver put us in touch with the other folks in our group.  Remember, there are 30 individuals per tour group.  Basically we were lumped together with other folks who arrived in a similar fashion to take an English language tour.  Each tour group had a different colored sticker.  Ours was yellow.

Next up, security.  We got in a relatively quick moving line of a few hundred people.  Identification is required.  A cursory glance was given to our passports, presumably to match names to our tickets.  There were four or five security scanners, just like an airport.  Actually, if you can believe it, I think it was more rushed and hurried than an airport.  Empty pockets.  Remove all metal.  Shoes stay on.  Small purses, backpacks, and camera bags go through the scanner. 

We left our backpack in the van, which is one benefit of having a private driver.

9:00 AM.  The tour starts at Auschwitz I.  We meet our guide, pick up and test our headphones, and start walking. We learned very quickly that our group of 30 was right on the tail of another group of 30, and barely in front of another group of 30.  Think of it as a tour of about 90 people. 

Auschwitz I is located in barracks built prior to WWII for the Polish Army.  The buildings are brick and appear well preserved.  Regular tours go through four of the blocks, each with exhibits covering (in a very general sense) facts and figures, possessions, living conditions, and punishments and executions. Enter a building, walk down the hall, pass through a few rooms, see some exhibits (usually briefly and at a distance), go up the stairs, more rooms, more exhibits, down the stairs and out.  Walk to the next building, stopping several times on the way for more history.  Rinse and repeat four times.

After the blocks, tours pass by the gallows, the appellplatz (roll call area), and then the crematoria in Auschwitz I.  The total tour time in Auschwitz I is about two and a half hours.

I thought the most interesting and meaningful part of the Auschwitz I tour was seeing war time photographs of the camp, about a dozen of them.

After Auschwitz I we turned in our headphones and walked out into the parking lot for a 15 minute bathroom and lunch break.  Yes, you and another few hundred folks will be out in the parking lot scarfing down a quick bite to eat.  Inexplicably there is no picnic area. We brought our usual travel lunch: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chips, and cokes.  The tour company offered to sell us a sack lunch for $12, which we politely declined. 

A few buses and dozens of vans load up their passengers for the mile or so drive to Birkenau.  The van drivers for our English language group all park in the same parking lot about 100 yards away from the entrance to Birkenau.  We trudged to the entrance to meet our guide from the morning’s tour.

The Museum operates a shuttle bus between the two camps for those who do not otherwise have a ride.

Next, the tour continues in Auschwitz II, a/k/a Birkenau. The tour of Birkenau is almost entirely outside, with zero shade.  Luckily we had great weather, sunny and cool.  Headphones are not used during this part of the tour.  Thankfully the tour groups are able to spread out a lot more and do not trip over each other as in Auschwitz I. 

After passing through the entrance our group walked slowly down the train platform and headed towards the rear of camp.  There, lying in ruins, are two of the four massive crematoria, destroyed at the end of the war.  Between them stands a monument.

Reversing course the tour continues towards the front of Birkenau, passing through an area with numerous standing wooden barracks.  A quick walk is conducted through one of them.  After about an hour and a half, the tour of Birkenau concludes. 

We then meet up with our driver, start the trip back, and arrive in Kraków at about 2:15 PM.

So, what did we learn?  Primarily that Birkenau is more massive in size and scale than you can imagine.  It is difficult to convey the size of Birkenau.  Most of the barracks were dismantled after the war by locals who needed wood.  While some remain standing, you can see rows upon rows of brick chimneys where barracks used to be.

The same goes for the size and scale of the four crematoria located there. 

And apparently that there is no place on earth safe from selfie-takers.

We were surprised that the tour guide just recited basic information and history.  I guess that should have been expected.  We took the standard group tour, which is going to be given to the lowest common denominator.  Longer, in depth private tours (six hour study tours) are also available.  Perhaps that would be a better choice for those that already have a good understanding of history.

For sure the tour was worthwhile, but with reservations.  Notably, the tour groups are too large and too frequent, especially in Auschwitz I.  It’s like jumping on a fast moving conveyor belt.  I can only assume that one of the missions of the museum is to expose the horrors of the camps to as many people as possible.

Really the museum ought to double (or triple) the price of the tour, cut the size of the group in half, and slow it down.  It would be a much more meaningful visit if not so crowded and rushed.

In hindsight we should have ridden the bus and taken the late afternoon self-guided tour. Then we just might have been able to read and appreciate some of the exhibits a bit more.

Garrett and Stephanie

P.S.  We found this post at fullsuitcase.com very helpful when planning our visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

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