Kraków Trip Overview
Visit the World War II Auschwitz-Birkenau complex and learn about the Nazi Holocaust on this 7-hour trip from Krakow. You will be picked up from the city centre and take you by coach to the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Oświęcim. Explore the two camps with a professional guide who will carefully, and sensitively explain everything that you can see, including the barracks and poignant museum exhibits at Auschwitz I, as well as the gas chambers, watchtowers and memorials in Auschwitz II-Birkenau. You will learn about the history of the Holocaust and the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945, as well as hear individual stories of some of the camp’s prisoners.
After purchasing the service you will receive a link for DIY Krakow audio guide in English as a complimentary gift.
Additional Info
Duration: 7 hours
Starts: Kraków, Poland
Trip Category: Day Trips & Excursions >> Day Trips
Explore Kraków Promoted Experiences
What to Expect When Visiting Kraków, Małopolskie, Poland
Visit the World War II Auschwitz-Birkenau complex and learn about the Nazi Holocaust on this 7-hour trip from Krakow. You will be picked up from the city centre and take you by coach to the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Oświęcim. Explore the two camps with a professional guide who will carefully, and sensitively explain everything that you can see, including the barracks and poignant museum exhibits at Auschwitz I, as well as the gas chambers, watchtowers and memorials in Auschwitz II-Birkenau. You will learn about the history of the Holocaust and the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945, as well as hear individual stories of some of the camp’s prisoners.
After purchasing the service you will receive a link for DIY Krakow audio guide in English as a complimentary gift.
Stop At: Floriana Straszewskiego, Kraków, Poland
Be at the pickup place (centrally located) – Straszewskiego 14 Street, and then travel by coach to the site of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oświęcim, a small Polish town roughly an hour away.
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
Stop At: Panstwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau, ul. Wiezniow Oswiecimia 20 Entrance to the Museum is located at Stanisławy Leszczyńskiej Str. no. 11, Oswiecim 32-603 Poland
When you arrive at your destination, you will be met by your professional guide and enter the site at Auschwitz I, walking through the gate to the camp that bears the inscription Arbeit Macht Frei (Work Sets You Free).
The Auschwitz-Birkenau complex was established in 1940, originally to hold Polish political prisoners, and operated for five years before the remaining prisoners were liberated in 1945. During its operation, more than 1.5 million Jewish, Polish, Italian and French prisoners were brought here as part of one of the world’s largest attempts at genocide.
The museum and memorial were founded in 1947, combining the area of KL Auschwitz (Auschwitz I) in Oświęcim and the Birkenau camp (Auschwitz II) in Brzezinka. The camp comprises approximately 150 buildings and you can see the original roads, fences, watchtowers and railway ramps that have all been preserved.
Visit some of the barracks on the Auschwitz I complex, which now house a collection of original exhibitions and documents, as well as articles confiscated from prisoners upon their arrival at the camp. After exploring the Auschwitz I complex, your host will meet you to take you by coach for the short journey to nearby Birkenau (Auschwitz II) where your tour will continue. Here you will see the original fences and crematoriums as well as the remains of the colossal gas chambers.
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
Stop At: Brzezinka, Brzezinka, Lesser Poland Province, Southern Poland
The second part of the tour – Birkenau (Auschwitz II) – the largest camp from over 40 camps and sub-camps from Auschwitz complex.
Originally planned as a camp for Soviet prisoners of war, it eventually became a concentration camp for prisoners of various nationalities and a center of the extermination of Jews. Its construction began in October 1941, in a place of displaced and mostly demolished village of Brzezinka and three kilometers from Auschwitz I.
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
Stop At: Stare Miasto, Rynek Glowny, Krakow 30-062 Poland
Your tour then concludes with a drop-off at the city centre.
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
