Aushwitz tours

Meathlass

Heading to Krakow sat 8th Nov for 5 nights and definately want to do the above. I know we could get the local bus and do it on our own but family members who've been there said a guided tour is the way to go as there's not much info walking around. We have a choice between a private car from the hotel or booking a tour. I'm concerned that if we get a tour there that goes from hotel to hotel picking up people we'll spend most of the trip doing collections and drop offs and maybe be hurried around the place to get the bus back. We're staying in Sheraton and have heard very good things about its private car and driver service. The difference in price is only about 5 euros each.

Any other Krakow hints, particulary nice restaurants greatly appreciated.

spurious

Whatever you do, get out to the Auschwitz museum (Auschwitz I) before half nine or ten (it opens at 8), otherwise you risk getting caught up in the thousands that arrive by bus from half ten or so on.

Hire an English-speaking guide in the main building, or join an English guided group while there. Most buses or private taxis show you a DVD on the way there, so you can probably give the film a miss.
If you have a private car, they can leave you at the back of Birkenau (Auschwitz II), up by the gas chamber ruins and you can walk the tracks down to the guardhouse and the wooden structures.

If you like Polish food, Kuchnia Dorota on ulica Miodowa (25) is basic and cheap but very good.
There is a fabulous restaurant in Pod Roza hotel (ulica Florianska 14). You will pay Dublin prices and more for the food and it's worth every zloty.
Here's a menu:http://www.hotel.com.pl/podroz/h_resta.htm
The prices are way over most Polish restaurant prices.
Make sure to try Zurek when you're there and come home and go to Gospoda Polska on Capel Street to relive the experience.

darrenh

Aushwitz was a pretty odd place and for obvious reasons. I got the local bus from Krakow and then took an english speaking tour while there. it was perfect and probably less expensive than going on a tour from krakow. when i was there i thought it was over run by jewish teenagers running around with israeli flags around their shoulders. they looked like football supporters and it was cheap. All in all it was an experience and to say i enjoyed it would be weird!
We were one of the last people to leave the grounds and it was starting to get dark. We had half an hour to wait for our bus with only about 10 people around the area. the silence was uncomfortable and made our half hour wait seem like an eternity. Apparently birds dont fly over Aushwitz/Birkeneau (bad spelling) and to be honest we didnt see a single one. maybe just a myth but true the day i was there.
The salt mines is another great tour. really worth going to. something you have to do if you ever visit krakow. you go 150mts under ground through the mines and see amazing churches and statues carved out of the salt rock. you can get married down there too, with the reception!!
Wavel castle
The huge square
Big shopping centres
great food
cheap drink
nice people
great city.
Enjoy!

Random

I went on a tour from Krakow and found the whole thing very rushed. Might be a good idea to make your own way up there and try arrange a tour when you get there - but I haven't followed this course myself.

Kintarō Hattori

Well I think spurious has mentioned everything. Whether you book the tour ahead or simply join one when you're there shouldn't make too much difference. The only problem we had was taking the bus back. I have never in my life seen such a disgusting rush for the bus, it really was a free for all and women and children were getting pushed around really quite badly.

As another poster has mentioned, the salt mines are worth taking in, as is Morskie Oko, which is a stunningly beautiful lake at the top of a mountain. Also someone else mentioned it but the Wawel is also worth taking in, this was the seat of the kings of poland.

There is a part of Krakow called Kazimierz, which is the jewish part. Lots of history and museums to see. The missus is shouting to me now about the university (apparently it's one of the oldest in poland), not something I found terribly interesting myself, but I guess others might.

Feelgood

Meathlass,

I know you are going to be taking photos though is there any chance that you could post some of them?. Would be very grateful..

Definitely let us know how your trip went. Always wanted to go to Auschwitz...

brendansmith

I agree with the rushed comment, get the private car and take a good look around. We were told to get back on the bus and i hadnt seen half of it.

Pi$$ed off about that now that i think about it. Seriously interesting place.

That traintrack sent shivers down my spine a second ago when i thought about it again.

Random

Some photos attached.

Clare Bear

Funny I thought the tour of the Saltmines was the longest day of my life! But Auschwitz was an experience to say the least. It will stay with me for life the feeling I got there. I also noticed that about the birds, I looked out for it after I heard the rumours. Might not be true but I didn't see a bird that day either. We didn't do the tour, we made our own way there and took our time, would hate to be rushed, it's not somewhere you want to leave if you haven't seen everything.

Enjoy Krakow, I had a great time there.

Random

more ...

Random

And a couple more .. zipped this time (sorry for multiple posts). Bit of a shocking place. Sometimes it's hard to actually get your head around what happened there.

Feelgood

Cheers Random...

Excellent stuff.

Feelgood

Random wrote: »

Bit of a shocking place. Sometimes it's hard to actually get your head around what happened there.

Most definitely, the thing that got me the most was the story of the Auschwitz brothel, to which the male prisoners were given passes for "good behaviour". Apparently the Nazi's insured that the women working in the brothel had a whole host of diseases that could be passed on to the prison men who visited the brothel.

Its hard to imagine that level of human evil in any shape or form....

Meathlass

Feelgood wrote: »

Most definitely, the thing that got me the most was the story of the Auschwitz brothel, to which the male prisoners were given passes for "good behaviour". Apparently the Nazi's insured that the women working in the brothel had a whole host of diseases that could be passed on to the prison men who visited the brothel.

Its hard to imagine that level of human evil in any shape or form....

I've never heard that before. Where the women working there also Jews?

Thanks for all the replies. I'll post a report when I come back. I think we'll take the private car and driver then. We'd have a bit more comfort that way and can ask questions along the way. Considering we'll be out of the city for around 6 hours is there anywhere to eat in Auschwitz or Birkenbau?

bills

Lucky you staying in that sheraton-We went there for dinner in someplace else(mexican restaurant in sheraton) and the foyer aea looked lovely so I'm sure its nice to stay in.

I know you were looking for restaurants and i would reccomend da pietros on the main square in krakow. I cant remember there been anything great to eat in auschwitz- all i remember is a booth that selled coffees.I remember there been a huge queue.

Enjoy krakow-its a great city. Aushwitz is just surreal- i thought i would be more upset but its hard to take in how awful it was even though your seeing the conditions with our own eyes if that makes any sense.

kraggy

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Well I think spurious has mentioned everything. Whether you book the tour ahead or simply join one when you're there shouldn't make too much difference. The only problem we had was taking the bus back. I have never in my life seen such a disgusting rush for the bus, it really was a free for all and women and children were getting pushed around really quite badly.

As another poster has mentioned, the salt mines are worth taking in, as is Morskie Oko, which is a stunningly beautiful lake at the top of a mountain. Also someone else mentioned it but the Wawel is also worth taking in, this was the seat of the kings of poland.

There is a part of Krakow called Kazimierz, which is the jewish part. Lots of history and museums to see. The missus is shouting to me now about the university (apparently it's one of the oldest in poland), not something I found terribly interesting myself, but I guess others might.

I second the Salt Mines. The tour lasts about 2.5 hours. Amazing stuff to be seen down there not least the beautiful chapel which is carved from salt like everything else in the mines.

I also second Morskie Oko but it's just over 2 hours from Krakow to Zakopane, then you have to get a local bus for about 25 mins and then you have to walk nearly 2 hours up the hills/mountains. But it's worth it when you get up there. Google it. It's like a fantasy painting.

Regarding Aushwitz, I'd DEFINITELY get a guide. Otherwise you'll just spend your time going in and out of doors and cellars with no real insight. Yes, some of the rooms and situations speak volumes, but it'd be nice to top up the visual with some more information.

You can get a public bus from the station in Krakow. These run every few mins. Or else you could also get a lift out with local Polish people who try to make a living acting as your guide for the day. The prices are reasonable but of course there's the risk that they mightn't speak very good English or are not as well informed as others.

Enjoy Krakow, tis great fun. If you like clubbing, going to Prozac.

And if you need somwhere central to stay that's cheap, go to Mama's hostel just off the main square.

Have fun.

Feelgood

Meathlass wrote: »

I've never heard that before. Where the women working there also Jews?

Yes indeed Meathlass the women that were working there were Jewish women. Its not well advertised as you can imagine as the Jewish people don't want people to know that Jewish women worked as prostitutes, which is understandable though given the conditions that they were in they didn't really have the choice!.

I have read about it in several articles and as far as I can remember it is mentioned in the BBC's The Nazi's and the Final Solution. Think its Block 24?.

1966

Apparently birds dont fly over Aushwitz/Birkeneau (bad spelling) and to be honest we didnt see a single one. maybe just a myth but true the day i was there.




- was there in June. Birds do fly there 'cause I had heard that too but I watched out for them. Guide was asked about it and seems that when the camp was active birds didn't fly there as the chimneys puffed out toxic smoke

darrenh

1966 wrote: »

Apparently birds dont fly over Aushwitz/Birkeneau (bad spelling) and to be honest we didnt see a single one. maybe just a myth but true the day i was there.




- was there in June. Birds do fly there 'cause I had heard that too but I watched out for them. Guide was asked about it and seems that when the camp was active birds didn't fly there as the chimneys puffed out toxic smoke

maybe they were evil birds!

Morskie Oko is definately worth a trip. Perhaps a day trip to Zakopane. 5 days is a short time to fit in all below.

Meathlass

That lake sounds fabulous but definately not going to have time to do all that. We've going to the afters of a wedding the night before and then have to get to Shannon for the 6.30am Ryanair flight so that should be fun. Even though we'll get to the hotel around midday I'd imagine we won't do much that day apart from walking around the main square in the evening. Sunday and Monday will be taken up with day trips outside the city and that leaves Tuesday and Wednesday to see the city itself. I figure we could probably spend the day in Wawel Castle alone.

In regards to the Sheraton I think we got a good deal on it. 664 euros for 5 nights for 2 people with breakfast included. That's just over 115 euros a night and the breakfast is supposed to be amazing so will fill up there for the day. Got that price on hotels1800, the price on the Sheraton's own website was 1070 euros for the same room and breakfast.

Four of a kind

Feelgood wrote: »

Meathlass,

I know you are going to be taking photos though is there any chance that you could post some of them?. Would be very grateful..

Definitely let us know how your trip went. Always wanted to go to Auschwitz...

I did a slide show of my visit to Auschwitz in Feb. You can view it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f873uRVqq2g


I was so moved by the whole experience, that I went back again in June. Auschwitz is somewhere that everyone should go to, in order to see just how evil the human can be.

SuperStarHoney

Hi Meathlass,

We were in Krakow for four nights November last year and also stayed at the Sheraton. I don't remember their trips being as competitive as the bus trips but this may have changed, the concierge in the Sheraton wasn't at all helpful to us in organizing tours, they just didn't seem interested. In saying that the hotel was great and has a nice bar that serves good on the go food. We didn't eat in the main restaurant.

To answer your other question, I don't think there is that much food on site at Auschwitz, think we survived on crisps and chocolate!

Also you won't need a whole day for the castle, there's not as much to see or do at it as in other cities like Prague or Budapest. I would definitely recommend that you visit the Jewish area and in particular the museum which was excellent.

Hope some of the above helps.